Cham not eating, only wants freedom?

[lonomac]

Ok so, I have this female Amilobe who's coming up on 6 months. Ive had her for 4. For the first 3 months she would eat like a pig. Literally running to me in the morning and eating out of my hand. About 2 weeks ago she shed and became receptive. she also found her way out of the cage when I left it open one day. Ever since then, she just will not eat any of the feeders I give her. Crickets, silks, hornworms, roaches, phoenix worms, mealworms, superworms....tried them all. She just continually keeps searching towards the bottom of the cage and the door like shes trying to go somewhere. She will even jump on my hand and look at me like "lets go". So not only is she not eating, shes not near her light very often at all. Shes never been with a male either so shes not gravid.

Her setup is fine, plenty of foliage, zoomed 5.0, 85 degree basking area. Misted 3 times a day. Her stools are very small, this morning it was just small diareah almost. I'm not sure if its the cooler air from winter or she is on some crusade for freedom now that she found it. Hoping she will snap out of it though

 

[Edward Kim]

lonomac,

Some chameleons don't adapt too well in captivity even when their captive bred and born. In my experience the ones born with a wild heart never make it and often succomb to disease, malnutrition and eventually "you guessed it" death. Try setting up an large outdoor enclosure if budget and space permit. There is an article in chameleon news that explains how to setup an inexpensive outdoor enclosure http://www.chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=77.

How big is her cage and what are you dusting with? Some chams pace the bottom when they have calcium dificiency.

Edward K

 

[lonomac]

I dust 6 days a week
mon and thu - herpavite
tue and fri - rep cal
wed and sat- d3

Cage is 24x24x48

She used to hang out in her basking spot as normal now this morning shes towards to bottom on the screen trying to get out. It wouldn't surprise me if she is calcium deficient with no eating or uvb.

I have enclosures outside I want to put her in but its just too cold yet

 

[Nicodemayo]

Ok so, I have this female Amilobe who's coming up on 6 months. Ive had her for 4. For the first 3 months she would eat like a pig. Literally running to me in the morning and eating out of my hand. About 2 weeks ago she shed and became receptive. she also found her way out of the cage when I left it open one day. Ever since then, she just will not eat any of the feeders I give her. Crickets, silks, hornworms, roaches, phoenix worms, mealworms, superworms....tried them all. She just continually keeps searching towards the bottom of the cage and the door like shes trying to go somewhere. She will even jump on my hand and look at me like "lets go". So not only is she not eating, shes not near her light very often at all. Shes never been with a male either so shes not gravid.

Her setup is fine, plenty of foliage, zoomed 5.0, 85 degree basking area. Misted 3 times a day. Her stools are very small, this morning it was just small diareah almost. I'm not sure if its the cooler air from winter or she is on some crusade for freedom now that she found it. Hoping she will snap out of it though

What your describing is exactly what is going on with my male ambilobe. Hes on a feeding strike completely and hasn't eaten in the past couple days. He paces up and down almost all day, speding minimal time on the basking spot. As soon as i open the door, he comes running to the front onto my hand exactly the same way yours does. I know yours is a female and mine is a male but i took mine to the vet the other day to get him checked out. He turned 5 months on the 15th and after holding a long conversation with the vet he said that he really felt that this stage as he starts maturing, especially this time of the year, hes spending his time looking for a mate. He said in the wild they will normally eat alot, then stop and live off their fat reserves and the time that they stop eating they spend searching the forest for a mate which is what this behavior is often associated with. NOW FOR PART 2 of the story. Restlessness and lack of appetite is often associated with protozoans and after i got a fecal check there was a SMALL trace of protozoan cysts in his stool. He told me that his behavior is more likely connected with the maturing/brumation stage because of the season than the parasites because theyre was such a small trace of them. He said that if he was displaying this behavior at any other time of the year he'd be more concerned but this is the time of year that chams will commonly go on a hunger strike. He prescribed me flagyl for a 5 day treatment and ill be bringing his stool back in at the end of the month for another check. He's been really dehydrated but ive been spraying alot and using the syringe to squirt water in his mouth the keep him hydrated. I would take her to a vet or AT LEAST get a stool sample done. If shes not rapidly loosing weight and active with a firm grip i wouldnt worry about it to much but try to get a fecal test done. I would have to disagree with edward kim. If you've had her for 4 months with no issues i wouldnt say she has a "wild heart" and will eventually die. Edwards comment was alittle harsh and the last thing you want to hear is your cham is going to die. She wont. Just get her and/or her poo checked out. Thats what i suggest. Hope this helped and good luck!

Ps: dont worry to much. I was worried as hell but after my visit to the vet i can rest much easier now even though he still isnt eating. Just get her checked out and wait it off.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Ionomac

Do you have a suitable laying container in her enclosure?
I know she hasn't been bred ... but ... Panther girls cycle eggs and lay infertile clutches too.

-Brad

 

[lonomac]

Ionomac

I know she hasn't been bred ... but ... Panther girls cycle eggs and lay infertile clutches too.

-Brad

Really....I thought that was veilds only. I don't, but ill give that a shot then

 

[lonomac]

I know yours is a female and mine is a male but i took mine to the vet the other day to get him checked out. He turned 5 months on the 15th and after holding a long conversation with the vet he said that he really felt that this stage as he starts maturing, especially this time of the year, hes spending his time looking for a mate.

I'm wondering if it did have something to do with the whole breeding thing. I don't really want to breed her yet this young even though I was planning on it.

 

[Nicodemayo]

I'm wondering if it did have something to do with the whole breeding thing. I don't really want to breed her yet this young even though I was planning on it.

but like brad mentioned female panthers develop eggs weather they've been mated or not. Get the egg laying chamber in there. And keep a close eye on her and keep her hydrated. I would lightly palpate her belly too to see if you feel anything solid.

 

[kinyonga]

If she is looking to lay eggs and you don't provide her with a place to lay them soon enough she will likely die eggbound...so I would recommend that you get a place in the cage for her ASAP.

 

[CleanLineChameleons]

Panthers can become gravid (infertile eggs) even if they have not been mated or even seen a male. This is likely due to overfeeding, it is natural for a female panther to develop eggs in response to excess food. This is also why many panthers lay multiple clutches. Once a female lays the first clutch an eager keeper (myself included) to bring the female back to her original size as quickly as possible. Even this excess food can trigger a second clutch to develop. Not to say that this is an unhealthy practice, because that is debatable.

-chris

ps. You should provide a laying area for her.

 

[chamlover]

How is your little girl doing? What is the update? I've had a very similiar experience with a couple of my chams. I wanted to be mated and the other one wanted to lay a clutch of infertile eggs. Please tell me you put an egg-laying ben in her enclosure. Someone else gave me that good advice a while back. All chams can lay infertile clutches even if they haven't been mated. Let us know how she is. By the way, the one that wanted to be mated did not give up until i finally did mate her. Right after that she went back to her old self and later laid 51 eggs.

Debby