Super difficult cham

[Angler Shark]

Hi guys,

I wasn't sure if I had to post this in the food or health section but since my cham is not very sick, I though it could be better here:

I have a panther chameleon of about 2 years old and I'm having troubles on feeding him. I have him since last August and everything had been fine for the whole rest of summer. He had been eating large crickets, super worms, silk worms, horn worms, butter worms and yeah. I kept on going with diversification until one day around the end of November, he decided that nothing at all was interesting EXCEPT the horn worms.

No mater how hard I try to feed him any other insects, he doesn't want any of them. I have butter worms in the fridge since about 1 month and a half and he still doesn't want any.

I wanted to know if that could be a danger to exclusively feeding him on horn worms? I know these are good feeders but aren't they rich in fat too? I don't want him to turn fat in the blink of an eye. I feed him about only one per two days for that he doesn't seem to want more than this (they're pretty huge).

I got tell to not feed him for a couple of days but this didn't change anything.

Will he decide to change his diet somehow by himself? I fear that he'll get tired of them and then will refuse to eat absolutely anything...

Also, I have noticed that his urines are all liquefied now and don't form these sort of curious white balls. It's now literal puddles and his feces also are getting like this, almost liquid with orange juice (gross but true). I believe it is because he is too hydrated because of the feeding that also is rich in fat but doesn't it expose him to any danger?

Out of this he is in a very good shape. Beautiful color, good temper, climbs everywhere and so on.

Thank you for your tips!

 

[ChameLIonLover]

My chameleon is also kind of on a hunger strike it seems as he is only eating a cricket or so everyday along with a superowrm, as well as a dubia roach or two. I recently ordered blue bottle flies, which I hear can be an exciting new feeder for chams. I'm not sure what they're like nutritionally.

I think because hornworms are a soft bodied worm and that is the cause of the liquid poops. Hopefully a senior member will chime in soon and help you out. Otherwise, I'd try to get in contact with a professional.

 

[carol5208]

where did you get the blue bottle flies from??

 

[Sanababit]

Going thru the same problem here, my cham used to eat lost of crickets and worms, and all of the sudden just one superworm a day, he doesnt seem lethargic or sick. I was really worried, but not anymore, at least he eats something

Sana

 

[Sanababit]

where did you get the blue bottle flies from??

Well i get them from mantidsplace.com

Sana

 

[ChameLIonLover]

Yeah, mine are supposed to be delivered today so within the next few days or so, I'll let yall know how it goes. I've seen my guy trying to go after the usual house fly even though it was scampering about on the outside of his reptarium. So I think he'll like em. Going to start really pushing the dubias though

 

[ChameLIonLover]

If you don't mind me asking, in what sphere of the world do you live in? Alby and I reside here in the Midwest, Omaha. I think the overall weather conditions here may (cold and dry) have to take part in his current attitude about the world.

Sanababit, if you live in a place where climate has changed dramaticaly within the past month or so due to the winter season, maybe our husbandry is off and we're not keeping our guys' rooms humid and warm enough.

Also, I was able to take him out more often when it was warm and sunny out. I have lots of plants from the outside, but I think the problem is that it's not warm outside for me to leave him in my cold basement with not much warmth from the sun shining though. I think maybe their bodies are not getting crucial REAL UVB from the sun and are therefore not thriving.

This is of course just a hypothesis, but I can't think of anything else that would be wrong with our guys. If my guys eating doesn't pick up soon, the next stop is the vet.

 

[Sanababit]

Altough i live in tijuana mexico, near san diego, we have really nice weather almost all year round, my husbandry skills altough i am new, i really try on keeping them safe for my chameleons, i only have trouble with humidity, but temps are mid high 80's, i have a mistking going every two hours for a minute, he just stopped eating, maybe its brumation, who knows

Sana

 

[Andee]

It's pretty normal for chams to go on foodstrikes sadly .___. it at least makes it interesting XD lol. But the point is if it is a subadult/adult cham that has good fat stores just wait him out. Keep offering him other kinds of feeders everyday and never offer hornworms, at least not until he's done with the strike. I think it has something to do with having the access to food so easily, they decide to pick and choose what they want because they are too smart for their own good. Silly little babies.

Also I agree that offering a new type of feeder like a fly will entice them to eat more likely. I often feed black soldier flies when all my phoenix worms have transformed.

 

[Angler Shark]

I am in Canada but it's very warm in my house and the humidity of his terrarium usually stays around 80. I have an Exo Terra Monsoon that sprays ever hours for about 2 minutes (his habitat is very large) but sometimes I come back from work and the humidity could have fell off to 40. So I spray the plants and all and it'll go back up. Sometimes it's harder and I thought it's because of the heat? The temperature is usually between 30 and 32 and it's damn hard to keep the humidity because of this. Is it too hot?

We sadly don't have phoenix worms here and I cannot have flies for that it's winter--

I called a professional and he told me I could even get to a week, even two without feeding him until he gets super hungry and will eat about anything I'll give him? I don't know, I think that two weeks is a lot of days...

I'll keep on trying every day different things except the horn worms (he finished the last one anyway xD). But I really don't want him to starve...

I guess we treat our babies a little too much great and they just know how to get their favorite stuff. They really are smart!

 

[crazychamzoo]

We just wait em out on food strikes, we have a few stubborn guys, but they learn to eat what's given them in our experience.