I have never had this problem before. I don't know what to do. I sold one of my precious baby Sambava girls to this guy in new mexico. He has had her for two weeks now and he says he has not seen her eat. She's drank water but only from the floor at first. I thought for sure it was one of those "help she's not eating" but in reality she is eating it's just hard to keep track. Especially since he said he was giving her fruit flys and 1/4 inch crickets together (she is 3 months old or so). So I told him to get all the bugs out of there so they would not stress her out and put in like five so he could keep better track. Also I told him to weigh her. So he did he said she weighed 5.4 grams on 8/10 and then weighed her again the next day and she droped to 5 grams. He has seen her drink multiple times so that's a good thing. He also said she was walking around the cage allot all over the screen. It kinda sounds like something is bothering her so I asked him to send me a pick of his set up. He says she can't see the other chams? I think I got the pics on?? Anyways the first thing I thought was there is no leafs on the plant for her to drink! So I told him to get a new plant ASAP. And to get her up off the floor so she did not feel like pray. He did, I also told him to leave her alone for a few days and when he feeds her to pretend he does not see her. He said today that she was in her new plant for a short time and then drank water off the top of the cage, still she has not ate one cricket. She is probably stressed out from being poked at to much trying to make her happy. So I guess my question is did I miss anything? She was perfect when she left my home. I want her to do well. I just don't know how to help him? The last pic is her cage with the new plant and being raised off the floor.


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Howdy Nicole,

The changes that you suggested the new keeper make seem to be reasonable to help turn things around. Hopefully his location in New Mexico isn't too dry right now. Since he is now providing plenty of access to water via misting on the new plant then maybe any potential issues with dehydration will resolve. It's good that he raised her enclosure up high verses the previous location on the floor. It would be great if the new keeper would begin posting here too ! That way we could get his info from: How to ask for help

__________________
See Ya,

Dave Weldon
Panther & Veileds

Book Collection:
"Reptile Medicine and Surgery" 2nd ed. By Mader
"Chameleons - Their Care and Breeding" By Linda J. Davison
"Chameleons - Nature's Hidden Jewels" 2nd Ed. By Petr Necas
"The Panther Chameleon: Color Variation, Natural History, Conservation and Captive Management" By Gary W. Ferguson...
"Thoughts for Food" 3rd Ed. Edited by Ardi Abate
"Understanding Reptile Parasites" By Roger J. Klingenberg D.V.M.