Chameleon stopped eating

[NinaV]

Hi all,

I'm new here and hope to get help and advise. Thank you in advance.
My veiled chameleon stopped eating... seems like he did't eat anything for 2-3 days, and considerably reduced his appetite for about 2 week. We moved at the beginning of april to another apartment and the same time my cham moved to bigger cage from screen cage 16x16x30 to 24x24x48)

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled, male, about 16 months old, bought a year ago at petshop.
Handling - Never, from his childhood he was very nervous about handling and I didn't pushed him
Feeding - Crickets - 6-7 a day (carrot, potato, calcium dusting), silkworms/galiath worms once every 5-8 days - 4-5, superworms just started a month ago - 1-2 a day.
Supplements - Exo terra calcium - everyday, exo terra multivitamins - every 2 weeks and when sheding.
How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? - never saw him drinking - mist 2 times a day+ dripper non-stop for 1-2 hours a day+ ultrasonic portative humidifier air-o-swiss all day

Fecal Description - not see much over the last week

Cage Info:
Cage Type - screen cage 24x24x48
Lighting - zoomed tropical UVB+heat lighting kit (raptisun 5.0+ heat 60w) + clamp lamp 75w
Temperature - 30 at basking spot. Lowest overnight temp- 24.
Humidity - 50-60%, measured by hydrometer in the room.
Plants - Live plants - pothos, dracena,schefflera
Placement - Where is your cage located? - near window. At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? - 1.9m
Location - Where are you geographically located? - Canada

Current Problem - He stopped eating, even his favorite mealworms. Crickets sit 2-3 cm from him, same with silkworms and butter worms. His color is bright - green with spots, at night mote light. Not active today. His belly looks bloated, like he just eat a lot.

 

[OldChamKeeper]

Everything looks good, except he looks bloated.

Have you given him a shower? Use room temp water and it may help him poop if he is compacted. You might need a trip to the vet if he has a blockage.

You mentioned you moved to a new home. Is there any chance his cage is being hit by too much sunlight (extra heat) during a period of the day that would be different from where you used to live and were raising him without any issues? It's a common mistake when people move that they inadvertently screw up their animal's environment.

 

[NinaV]

Shower I think good idea - he likes water.

No issues was over the year , while he is with me, but moving to another apartment changed his environment for sure - humidity level 50-60% (previous has very dry air, rare up to 35% during the winter time), it`s warmer in general as spring just came to Canada and night temperature in cage went up from 19-20C to 24-25C. He looks better in general if compare with winter, I mean color - no black turn or pale green, active.

I also think about superworms, as it`s new for him (just 1 month into his diet) - can it affect?

Another point is coconut soil bedding that I used to increase humidity in cage during winter. I never saw him going down and eating any stuff different from crickets and worms.

Thanks

 

[NinaV]

https://www.chameleonforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=108110&stc=1&d=1430313148

This picture is taken an hour ago, after misting the cage.

 

[Blink]

To be honest, "he" looks like a very gravid female, to me, but I'm no expert. Does he have a spur on the back of his back feet?

 

[NinaV]

Kind of surprise for me))
I was thinking about Male or Female, as it's my first experience with Cham. Size (16 months old) looks not like male normal size and casque also... but in reality it doesn`t really matter for me, I just want him (her) be healthy and happy.

 

[NinaV]

I`m in panic now as just realized that if my boy is girl and she is going to lay eggs and there is nothing suitable at the bottom of cage as bin and I have no idea what to do... Please any advises!!!

 

[Blink]

I do not have a female, so I cannot give any personal advice, but I would definitely suggest that you provide a suitable laying bin asap. Here is blog post that you should find helpful:

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html

Hopefully she is not egg-bound yet and getting a laying bin for her will remedy the situation. Hopefully someone else will help out and provide some advice.

 

[NinaV]

I provide her with bin a week ago - no interest, may be it's too early for her. On Sunday she started eating, drinking from sprayer, not really active, sitting on branch, doesn't go down the cage for exploration. How long it usually takes between first gravid colors show and laying eggs? 2-3 weeks?

 

[NinaV]

she is today. Any idea about when to expect her laying the eggs and when to start worrying?

 

[kinyonga]

I think a vet visit wouldn't hurt.