Chameleon not eating very much

[ncf]

Hey everyone!

This saturday I became the happiest man on earth because I picked up Apollo, he's a 2-3 months old veiled chameleon.

He's been very bright and light green walking around the viv and he seems quite happy.

Well, on monday he ate one cricket that I cup fed to him, and during the afternoon he ate 5 more from the cup while I was at work. I thought I was off to a nice start with him being a good eater!

Yesterday he did only eat one cricket when I showed him the cup and didn't end up eating anything else. Today he only ate a mealworm.

I've noticed that since yesterday he's been under his UV lamp most of the day (it's a Repti-Sun 5.0 13w bulb) and sometimes even hanging upside down under it, but I do believe he does it to move from plant to plant.

I've seen somewhere that it might be because a shed is approaching, but since he's my first reptile, I can't tell when he's shedding or not...

Should I be worried or is it still normal since he's still getting used to the viv?

Cheers!

 

[Wowbango]

It can take your chameleon about a week or so to get familiar with his new environment. He may just be a little stressed still, I wouldn't worry. They do stop eating once they're about to shed as they're uncomfortable and lose their appetite. Keep trying to feed him and maybe try free-range feeding (letting the crickets/worms loose in his cage) and see if that makes a difference. I'd say give him about a week before I would be concerned.