Any Ideas Why such a weak appetite?

[golf33]

My male Ambilobe panther chameleon is about 9.5 months old and his appetite is now very weak. He only eats 1-3 crickets a day, 5-6 days a week. What could be some possible causes for this?
-his ambient and basking temps are good
-his supplementation is right
-he has 2 reptisun 18" bulbs is a 48"x24"x24" cage
-humidity is good
-he is definitely well hydrated
-I weighed him in this morning at 84 g and he was 89g a couple weeks ago
-He appears healthy and active otherwise. Climbs and basks regularily
-he has 3 live non-toxic plants with lots of climbing and hiding room
-I've tried other feeders too (roaches and superworms) but same response
-He'll eat wax worms like crazy but I know they aren't a good staple food
-He had a parasite, I took him to the vet, it is now cleared up. I thought it could be the medication but he's been off of it for more than a month now.
- I realize appetite slows a bit with age but this seems too much
- He also eats soil from the plants sometimes. I know this is a behavior associated with undernourishment. But the food is available to him!
-I've tried cup feeding, hand feeding, and releasing them for him to hunt. None of these make a difference. He used to eat voraciously in all of those situations.
-It is very frustrating to work so hard to make everything perfect and not be able to fix the problem. PLEASE HELP!!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/46377277@N05/4260352418/

 

[skully23]

Possible lacking something if eating soil but dont feed him for a day or two then offer food. If he doesn't take it..there might be something wrong.

I think they just dont eat as much when older
He may be stressed. Your cage looks like no plants are in it

 

[draetish]

I have a male panther that is 11 mos old and his appetite is way down. He will only eat super worms (I know I'm going to get crap for this) and only 2 maybe 3 a day. I do gutload my supers with dandelions, carrots and oranges. They can go a week or so without eating and won't starve, they have fat pads. Maybe try not offering or keeping a feeder bowl full for a few days and see if he'll get excitied the next time you offer him something to eat. Also, adults slow way down in the winter and eating soil is not necessarily a bad thing as long as the soil is organic or plain dirt with no fertilizer or pebbles that he can get impacted on. How often does he poop and what does it look like?

 

[Chameleonator]

Please describe how his fecal matter looks like in detail?
How old is the UVB's?
What is the basking temp?
What was the parasite and medication?

 

[Jakedn]

I have only observed my chameleon eating soil when he gets sick. He also stopped after he got treatment. I don't know why it happened like that, what they get from the soil, or if it was just coincidence but it has happened twice.

The first time he started eating soil was when he had a URI, after that was cleared up the behavior went away. The second and last time, which happened recently, he started eating soil when I started to notice he was seeming ill and he turned out to have parasites, after treatment, he has now stopped eating soil.

It could just be coincidence, but this is what I have observed in my chameleon.

The cut in food intake could just be him getting older, but it could also be caused by an underlying issue.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

It sounds to me like he is getting PLENTY of food.
2 to 3 a day x 5 days is 10 to 15 a week? Is this right?
That is more than enough for an adult male.
Take into account that it is winter and there is always a decrease in appetite during this time of year, especially with males.
Even if his appetite increases in the spring, I wouldn't feed him much more than he is eating now.

-Brad

 

[Carlton]

The first time he started eating soil was when he had a URI, after that was cleared up the behavior went away.

It could just be coincidence, but this is what I have observed in my chameleon.

The cut in food intake could just be him getting older, but it could also be caused by an underlying issue.

IMHO eating soil due to a URI is very unlikely. Chams with URI tend to eat little or nothing. I can't see how the two would be related. Most likely coincidence.

Remember, it is the dead of winter when many chams slow down naturally.

 

[Elizadolots]

Is the fact that he's lost weight a concern? Or is winter weight loss a normal occurrence?

 

[Carlton]

Not sure about the weight loss. He may be on a food strike (tired of crix and not quite willing to try the roaches or superworms). Chams often get excited by flying insects (cultured house or blue bottle flies) or green insects (cultured tomato hornworms).

When you say he's active, is he possibly OVERLY active and showing bright colors most of the time? That could be a sign he's more interested in finding a female or is feeling a bit stressed and preoccupied by being in plain view all the time. Can he see any other pets or a lot of activity?

Also, at this age you can feed him every other day...a little hunger does wonders.

 

[golf33]

Chameleonator and draetish-
Since the parasite cleared up his feces have solidified significantly. While sick they were runny. Now he poops about every 3-5 days, there is a slightly orange/yellowish tinged part, white part, brown part (kinda like a bar of chocolate that has just started to melt on the outside). Then at the very end he has a thick stringy/gooeyish (almost like snot) white part that he wipes. The UVB's are new, one is a week old and the other is 5 months old ( a reptisun 5.o and a 10.0). His basking temps are currently 82 - 85F. I had a hotter bulb before that stayed around 88-90 but heard that lower might be better and he was already displaying this behavior with that light as well. The vet said the parasite was flaggelated, he didn't specify a name or a species. The medication was given orally is called Metronizadole Benzoate.
Skully-
The cage does have plenty of plants and places to hide. Just the top foot or so of the cage is open vines without cover
Carlton-
No he doesn't show bright colors too often, He doesn't see other pets, and he is in our living room but he's home alone most of the day and I cover his cage with a towel from the front at night so he can sleep.
Brad-
So 9.5 months old is considered an adult? He does appear otherwise healthy so maybe it is enough food for him.

 

[sandrachameleon]

I dont think the quantity of intake is a concern. But keep watching his weight. If he continues to loose weight (he should still be growing a little) there is reason for vet visit.

 

[jojackson]

I would suspect the parasite treatment has not been as effective as desired. This would be worth reinvestigation.
Food as described is sufficient for a maturing animal.

 

[golf33]

Do you say that because of the feces description? Does anyone have a link to one of those threads that shows healthy feces?

 

[jojackson]

Yes exactly. A new smear should be relatively cheap and well worthwhile, just be sure its clear. An apparent diminishing appetite from the usual, might indicate the parasites were not completely eradicated and that numbers might be building up, aka a reccurance.
You dont say how long the treatment was given or dosage/weight, or if a follow up smear was done.
Its a possibility to elimate before you go looking for anything else, always eliminate the obvious choices first.

 

[golf33]

A follow up was not done and he actually did have a recurrence.It was very obvious because his feces started solidifying with treatment and about a week after the treatment it started getting runny again. After his second treatment(finished about 3 weeks ago) his feces have remained more firm this entire time. Any links to "normal feces" pictures?

 

[jojackson]

Sorry mate, I dont really do 'poo portraits'
Ill have a search for you though.

 

[jojackson]

Ok this is relatively normal poo.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/normal-warning-poop-34373/

 

[PardalisGirl]

Get another fecal.....

A couple of comments...I agree about the possibility that he is not completely free from the parasites. Did you totally take apart his caging and disinfect everything in it after each round of treatment? If not, he may be reinfecting him self every time he drinks. That medication is for some things that can have very long ocyst (egg) life. Trichomonas ocysts can live on a dry surface for a year. Did the vet tell you what the parasite was? If not, I would call his/her office and find out what it was. It can tell us a lot.

Also, I looked at the picture you posted in the first post you made on this thread. He is a GORGEOUS boy I did notice that his tail looked either emaciated or dehydrated. I'm going to guess dehydrated. You haven't really mentioned his drinking situation. He needed extra hydration during his treatment to flush possible toxins released from dying parasites and from the medication itself. Dehydrated chams lose their appetite. That appearance in his photo makes me recommend that you do some extra hydration with misting or showering. And to make sure you actually see him drink and drink a lot.

I'd also like to see a photo of his whole cage setup to get an idea of spacing for lighting, basking, etc. Many chams are going through a winter slow down in eating. The appearance of your cham's tail tells me that something else is going on.

 

[PardalisGirl]

Eeekkkkkk!

The huge picture showed up before I could read the warning

Good picture though....Nice urates

 

[golf33]

He actually stays well hydrated because he drinks from the water bottle dripper from my hand pretty much daily and he lets me know when hes done because he stops drinking and walks away. I will try to get pictures of his enclosure up soon. Thanks!