5 month old male veiled lost appetite :( help urgently needed

BenR

New Member
I'm starting to tear out my hair as my little guy isn't really eating much for quite a while and unsure on a few bits like temps.
I've had him nearly two months now he was a greedy little bugger to begin with eating 8-10 a day but the last month decreased the several weeks this has dipped massively.
His cage temps are 28-30 basking
20-23 middle of cage
Feeding him medium locust and crickets
Few wax worms occasionally
Have tried butter worms and calci worms recently he ate some calci worms but to begin with now none.
He has access to a dripper twice a day and drink from it most mornings
Urate is white but quite runny at times along with kinda squishy excrement
Lighting 12 hour cycle of an exo terra 5.0 and 2.0 he has a ceramic bulb on top for heat.
Vents are on the back and viv has a pure mesh top
I gut load his food with romain carrot sometimes cale and they always have a supply of bug grub and water
I dust with nitrobal 2 times a week and plain calcium 4 times a week
He has two live plants that are ficus.
He fully shed two weeks ago
Humidity is 80% after morning mist dips to 40-45 while I'm at work then evening mist takes it to 80% again that dips to about 40 by the morning
Cage size is 3ft tall by 22inch by 19inch
He base no substrate he can get to as there's a waterproof box covered by zoo med carpet (this to absorb the moisture from misting and is cleaned monthly.
He poos daily from what I can find and has grown in the last 2 monthes but just reading everywhere they eat 10-12 locust a day and mine never nears that :(

Today he ate a cricket out the pot but promptly spat it out
He's always green and likes to come out on my arm and have a wonder about
I'm just unsure about what temps should be as I've been told to many things by different people what size locust and crickets he should be eating. Large are bigger that his eye span most medium are smaller than his eyes

I'm just starting to worry if he's underweight When I moved his viv around and put in the new plants he seemed to eat a bit more for a day or to.

Help me please :(

His name is Mr Yemeni Cricket


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For some reason it keeps rotating two of the pictures grrrr!!! but the links above are to the photos the right way up alternatively just rotate your computer monitor 180 degrees :)
 
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Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon - male 4-5months old.

How long has it been in your care? Since march the 2nd

Handling - never forced I place my hand if he wants to come out if he doesn't I take me hand out. Even from when I first got him he never seemed scared of my hand or me in general

Feeding-not much ATM :( he eats romain sometimes mainly locust few crix wax worm occasionally and calci worms and butter worms he didn't seem to care for them much

What amount? At his best 8 a day but normally only 2-3 items a day it seems :(

How are you gut-loading your feeders? Bug grub cale carrot and romaine

Supplements - nutrobal 2x week plain calcium 4x a week but he doesn't eat much :(

Watering - Dripper 2x a day and misting 2 times

Fecal Description - white urate and brown poos little squishy tho

Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?No

History - all pet store could advise was that he was around 3 months

Cage Info:
Cage Type - all screen / 3ft-h /2ft-w /1.5ft-d

Lighting - exo terra products - 5.0 UVB goes length of cage (laying up top o n screen ) exo terra 2.0 to for visual light and a 100w ceramic bulb on top of basking on a thermostat

Temperature - 26-28 basking 20-23 in the middle back

Humidity - 40-85% after misting and drops to 40 while I'm at work then mist again to get 80's when home

Plants - Are you using live plants? Yes two small/med ficus benjamina

Placement - Where is your cage located? In my room but low traffic and he never see,s to get scared of me.

At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? He is about 1.5 feet elevated of the floor on a draw

Location - Where are you geographically located? Norfolk Uk

Current Problem - he won't eat much at all :(

Many thanks in advance for any help this is my second chameleon as I had a female for 6 monthes until she had to be put down :( so really want this to work out for him as he's a lovely little creature and very dear to my heart. Never thought it get so attached to the green eyed boggle things
 
I don't know too much about veileds, but from what it looks like, I think the 100watt basking bulb is too much for him, and I think he should be getting misted more than twice a day. I have a panther, we have a 60 watt basking bulb with a 5.0 UVB. I most at least 4 times a day and leave his dripper on all day for him. I hope this helps and I hope your little guy feels better :)
 
Thanks for the reply king Julian
With regards to wattage it is on a thermostat so it isn't pumping out all 100w of temperature. It will only go as high as I set it. I've tried a 60 wat invades ant lamp and a red lamp I wasn't to fond of the red nor was he. I was told to have it running 24 hours but the first night come 11 o'clock he was still up and about so that quickly got scrapped. Il try to increase his mistings but I don't have the funds for an automatic mister until pay day :(
 
They definitely shouldn't have lights on 24 hours, some people think they need a red heat lamp at night, but it will just keep them up. I have my lights on a timer. They come on around 8 am and go off at about 8:30. They need complete darkness or they will stay awake. I completely understand about the mister. They are pricey, but totally worth it since they will mist when you aren't home :)
 
Agree totally Kingjulian it's why his lights are on a timer now from 7.30-8.00
I've been told so many different things like put a red lamp on 24 hours a day. (I panned that idea after the first night. Also been told that his happy place should be 30'c (which makes his basking temp well over 100'f I felt it was to hot so turned it down but really just unsure now as to what temps it should be haven been told so many things. Hence why I posted on here to get proper correct advice :)
 
I wish somebody with more experience with veileds would take a look at this and give you some answers. I feel so bad that your Cham isn't eating, I just don't know why :(
 
I would try to get his basking spot no higher than 90 degrees. I think it's supposed to be closer to 85, but again, I'm not a veiled owner.
 
He looks exactly like my veiled at 5 months old also. Here's a pic
View attachment 77384
Yours looks good to me maybe bit under weight but that will be due to him not eating as much.
Might have something to do with the worms u have fed him he might of really enjoyed them and is waiting till u give him them again.
He will eat eventually when he's hungry try leave the locusts or crickets loose in his cage mine eats all 8 to 10 locust within half hour when I let them loose he loves it.
Try sticking to locusts and crickets maybe roaches and use the worms once or twice every two weeks as a treat.
He's a nice colour so looks happy.
Hope things are all good soon.
 
Also ur temps are abit low the basking should b about 30 no higher than 32 really. And his ambient temp should around 23 to 26.
Hope this helps
 
Thanks for the reply Jish an speedy il boost his temps up a bit I just didn't want to bake him.
With regards to feeding I have always let his food loose in there the cup is a new thing to put mainly crickets in to try and monitor his eating the locust are still free range, but he maybe ate a couple and the rest are still in there when I come home from work.
With regards to the worms to I know wax worms should be a treat and I don't offer them that often but he even turns his nose up at them now to :(
My veiled definitely seems a bit smaller than yours at 5 months and his spine is less spikey if that makes sense so maybe he was three monthes when I bought him.

Many thanks, to everyone helping so far :)
 
If replaced the ceramic bulb with a basking light bulb for more visual light and boosted the temperature but he's still not interested in eating.

Can any one else shed some light on it? Getting desperate now :(
 
Thanks video master for the link I gave a good read and saved it for future reference. I follow most of it from what I already have read just tweaked my temperatures a tad.
I let so locusts free roam today and he didn't seem to want to eat any. I got him to eat one butterworm with feeding tongs that I picked up today. (Got them mainly as he seems to recognise my fingers as a living moveing tree so when I attemp to hand feed he just runs over and crawls up my arm and rests on my head ha) many thanks to everyone so far for the help :) really appreciate it and hope mr Yemeni cricket get his appetits back.


* what I have noticed is he sometimes seems to scratch the sole of his feet on the vine as if there is an itch. Is this normal for shedding as he had a full body shed a week ago.
 
I use Nutrabol but only once a week. The rest of the week I use plain calcium. However my boy is not eating very well just now so instead of my usual supplements I'm using Repeshay calcium plus. That way if he does decide to eat he is getting a bit of everything. When his eating gets back on track I will go back to original supplements. I cup feed crickets and free range locusts. Have you tried silkworms ?:)
 
Thanks kate Il have a look into getting some is it a multi vitamin with a bit of everything in ?
I haven't iv tried him on Calci worms and Butterworm
Which he did not pay much interest to. Although I managed to get him to eat 3 butter worms today out of feeding tongs. But it was a long task.
He still has not touched his cup crickets or free range locust.
Hopefully he will pick up.

"Touch wood"
 
Repeshay cal plus is designed to be used solely although myself and some others are a bit uneasy about using it this way. Many use it and like it. Are you watching him waiting for him to eat? Perhaps he is a "closet eater" he perhaps doesn't like being watched?
 
I have never had problems in the past with him eating in front of me I have seen him do it quite a lot in the past, and since I'm back at work he has all day to 'closet eat' so to speak and still doesn't :(
Starting to loose my hair :(
 
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