cham wont eat or grow help!!

[brianrapisarda]

recently beccame owner of a baby nosy be male had him for about a month and he has not grown at all he only eats the smallest of crickets but wont touch anything bigger ive seen his brother and he seems to be almost twice his size
18x18x24 cage msit for 15 seconds every 3 hours 100 watt heat lamp and uv light on about 12 hours aday need advice quick please help

 

[carol5208]

first of all don't compare your chameleon with others or you will drive yourself crazy. Not all grow and color at the same pace. If he is eating, he will grow unless there is really something biologically wrong with him and I doubt that is the case. You say he is eating small crickets. What is wrong with that? Has he shed since you have had him? What temps are you getting with a 100 watt light?

 

[DavidBuchan]

Hello, welcome to the forum - this caresheet will probably help - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html

How many does he eat? How are you gutloading/ dusting his insects? Have you tried other feeders?

 

[brianrapisarda]

it averages about 75 to 80 degrees in his habitat and he shed at the very beggining of my aquiring him but not since then

 

[brianrapisarda]

i gutload and calcium dust but not seeming to make a difference he doesnt have any problem catching them when he does decide to

 

[brianrapisarda]

thanks for the care sheet tip ive been curious he is starting to show blue on his head im just concerned if his nutrition is proper

 

[DavidBuchan]

Like Carol said, if he is eating there is probably nothing wrong with him. They do grow at different paces. Here are some great links for gutloads and feeder insects - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html


https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html

 

[BocaJan]

What kind of a habitat do you have him in? Does he have a basking area? I have found that a cham needs to bask in order to process the food that he is eating. Just eating it doesn't help him use the calories and nutrients to their potential.

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[brianrapisarda]

yes he has a basking area and just a small terrarium

 

[carol5208]

what is his basking temp?

 

[brianrapisarda]

its about 85 should it be higher

 

[brianrapisarda]

his average basking temps around 85 should it be higher

 

[DavidBuchan]

85 is good for a basking temp for him, he should have a good gradient (down to about 70) so he can choose.

 

[brianrapisarda]

thanks for the help im hoping he will start to grow and move up in size of food anything bigger then the smallest of crickets scares him

 

[BoopDoop]

Don't worry about his size if he's eating he will eventually grow, I always compared my veiled to others and was so worried, a female that was 6 months old was bigger than my oneyear old male, but all of a sudden he grew at least four inches.