cham not eating? newbie owner

[hammons]

Hey everyone,
I just bought a 6 month old male ambilobe panther chameleon from someone off craigslist. He does not seem to be eating his crickets, but they hide really good in his cage, so I'm not sure. My husband said he saw him eat one, but that is all we've actually seen him eat. Is he maybe not eating because he's somewhere new? Or maybe he is just not hungry? I just want to make sure, as this is my first chameleon and although it has only been a couple days, I want to make sure if this is normal.
Thanks,
Heidi

 

[FlChamMom]

It is pretty common for chams to stop eating for a few days when something changes dramatically. Mine have done this- as long as you keep him hydrated he should be fine. You may want to try and offer him a tasty treat like a mealworm or superworm as an appetizer! Good luck with your new friend!

 

[vlissa96]

Hey everyone,
I just bought a 6 month old male ambilobe panther chameleon from someone off craigslist. He does not seem to be eating his crickets, but they hide really good in his cage, so I'm not sure. My husband said he saw him eat one, but that is all we've actually seen him eat. Is he maybe not eating because he's somewhere new? Or maybe he is just not hungry? I just want to make sure, as this is my first chameleon and although it has only been a couple days, I want to make sure if this is normal.
Thanks,
Heidi

yes definitly.... i just got mines too and lately he hasnt been eating... they best way is to feed soething they realy like to break tht ice! feed him 2 worms maximum! welll follow the rule of thumb, dont worry were all learning

 

[CLP]

Hey everyone,
I just bought a 6 month old male ambilobe panther chameleon from someone off craigslist. He does not seem to be eating his crickets, but they hide really good in his cage, so I'm not sure. My husband said he saw him eat one, but that is all we've actually seen him eat. Is he maybe not eating because he's somewhere new? Or maybe he is just not hungry? I just want to make sure, as this is my first chameleon and although it has only been a couple days, I want to make sure if this is normal.
Thanks,
Heidi

Yes, it is common for them to not eat when they get to a new place. As mentioned, make sure you are keeping him well hydrated. Also, if you cup feed, you'll have an easier time knowing what he's eaten and prevent crickets from staying in the cage overnight. They will come out at night and can bite your cham - not good!

Good luck with him. Do LOTS of reading on this site and ask as many questions as you need/have. You'd be surprised how different chams can be from other reptiles.

 

[hammons]

Thanks!

Thank you for the advice, we are going to try cup feeding and getting him some superworms.

 

[hammons]

Update--Skittles likes his superworms!

I finally saw him eat, turns out he loves the superworms. I just gave him one, but I really think he is eating the crickets I put in his cage, because when I cleaned it out today, I only found one dead one. I got him to let me hold him, finally. He wasn't handled much before I got him, so it was a big step for me. My first time holding him

 

[hammons]

Update-cham still not eating well...

Hi I posted on here before when I first got my cham Skittles. He is still not eating well. I know this because I have been finding his crickets dead on the bottom of his cage, and because he has not touched the crickets I put in his cup to start cup feeding him. I even put a superworm in there because I know he liked it before, but it's still in there. The last poop I saw was after he ate that first superworm, and it was half brown and half orange. I don't know if that is good or bad. Should we take him to the vet? Are there any signs that this may be a parasite? I just know if he doesn't eat, he's not going to be healthy.

 

[sandrachameleon]

I encourage you to provide answers to all the questions in the how to ask for help sticky: https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

A dehydrated chameleon will loose appetite. There are many other possible reasons.

 

[hammons]

More information

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - 6 month male ambilobe panther chameleon. Have had for a couple weeks now.
Handling - I try to only handle him once per week as he was not regularly handled by previous owner.
Feeding - Feeding him about 5 crickets every morning. Superworm once per week. Feeding crickets Flukers and cricket crack.
Supplements - Dust crickets with calcium before feeding to cham. Also a multivitamin. d3 once a week.
Watering - Have a dripper at top of cage that drips throughout day. Humidifier right next to cage. Mist cage couple times a day with spray bottle. Have only seen cham lick the vines in his cage a couple times.
Fecal Description - Pretty solid droppings. Rarely goes. Half brown, half orange. Has not been tested for parasites, but want to know if I need to.
History - Recently adopted from craigslist. Came with cage, lighting, supplements, fake plants/vines, etc. Everything but the crickets.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen cage, I am guessing 3 feet high, 1.5 feet wide? Lighting - Using an exoterra 75 watt basking bulb in dome light on top of cage. A regular flourescent? bulb that goes across top of cage. Not sure of wattage/type. Lights are on from 8am-8pm
Temperature - Temp is high 80s near basking spot. Room is pretty warm and humid, day and night. Use a cheap temp gauge near basking spot.
Humidity - I'd guess humidity is at 60%? Plus we have a humidifier.
Plants -No live plants yet.
Placement - Bottom of cage is about 2 feet off the floor. Located in guest bedroom, away from vents and window.
Location - South Carolina.

Current Problem - He won't eat his crickets and I'm worried he might be dehydrated or something. But eyes do not look sunk in.
Please help!!

 

[Video Master]

You need to get a UVB bulb ASAP!

Here is also the care sheet for a panther cham. They should be eating 10-15 crickets a day right now. Only give the D3 2 times a month same with multi-vitamin, only 2 times per month. Regular calcium is given every day.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/panther/

The urate of the poop should be white and not orange. This means your cham is dehydrated.

When you mist, how long do you mist for? You need to mist more than 2 times per day as well.

Please post pictures of the cham.

 

[trammel]

Cham looking very sick

My son bought a chamelion 2 months ago. 30 gal glass tank with humidifier, food, water, etc... All according to pet shop and chamelions for dummies book. It's a "juvenile" and we aren't certain of sex. It ate and drank fine until 2 days ago. Last night it lost it's color. It was very gray and gray only. It's legs seemed to give out. It was not moving but just laying on the substrate with it's legs kind of giving out. Eyes closed and barely moving. It seemed very thirsty because we gave it water from a dropper and it took it. It hasn't eaten in three days. This morning some color is back and it's legs seem a little better. Still not moving and eyes still look "sunken" and not moving. The only change to it's envirnment is that we changed out the substrate a week ago and put clay balls at the bottom of the tank to help absorb the humidity, Any help is appreciated.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Hammons, how fast does the dripper drip? set it to drip several times per second (fast) and do some heavy misting (for a least 5 mintues).

You need a UVB light tube, not a regular florescent. A 5.0 Reptisun is best, but a 5.0 ReptiGlo would be fine too.

You gutloading and supplementing needs improvement.

I would encourage you to get a digital guage that will show you the real exact temp and humidity - you can get one for under $20 from places like home depot.

but for now, the water is the key.

 

[sandrachameleon]

My son bought a chamelion 2 months ago. 30 gal glass tank with humidifier, food, water, etc... All according to pet shop and chamelions for dummies book. It's a "juvenile" and we aren't certain of sex. It ate and drank fine until 2 days ago. Last night it lost it's color. It was very gray and gray only. It's legs seemed to give out. It was not moving but just laying on the substrate with it's legs kind of giving out. Eyes closed and barely moving. It seemed very thirsty because we gave it water from a dropper and it took it. It hasn't eaten in three days. This morning some color is back and it's legs seem a little better. Still not moving and eyes still look "sunken" and not moving. The only change to it's envirnment is that we changed out the substrate a week ago and put clay balls at the bottom of the tank to help absorb the humidity, Any help is appreciated.

You should start your own thread. your chameleon is clearly unwell and you should start your own thread providing all the answers to the how to ask for help sticky and take the cham to an experienced vet.