Chameleon's eating habit changed!

[BuddyBowser]

Hey guys! I have a male veiled chameleon, roughly 6 months old, give or take. From when I got him, he was always really easy to hand feed. I would just dangle crickets in front of him and he'd go for it, sometimes from the back of the cage he'd see them and come all the way to the front. It was really easy feeding him. However, about a month or so ago, he just up and changed this behavior. He rarely, if ever, eats when I hand feed him (the only thing he'll really eat that i dangle in front of him are waxworms and hornworms). I used to be able to hand feed crickets, but since he won't take them handfed, i've been letting them free-roam, however, I see some crickets the next day still roaming around. Every now and then I'll catch him eat one, but for the most part he'll just sit and watch them walk around all around him, even on him. I was ignorant the first month I had him and totally forgot the UVB light for his cage. But I got one not too long ago. I also got him a zoomed reptarium new cage for him about a week and a half ago, I have a live pothos, some sticks I found outback and baked in the oven and cleaned, some fake vines and fake pothos leaves. I have a make-shift dripping system to drip on the leaves, and I mist the reptarium 2-3 times daily. I also gut load my crickets, dust them with calcium about once a week. I'm just worried he's given up on crickets for good and will only eat the real fatty treats like waxworms and hornworms(which I actually heard aren't bad for reptiles, but I don't want them to be his only diet). Any help would be great.

 

[Chase]

Hey guys! I have a male veiled chameleon, roughly 6 months old, give or take. From when I got him, he was always really easy to hand feed. I would just dangle crickets in front of him and he'd go for it, sometimes from the back of the cage he'd see them and come all the way to the front. It was really easy feeding him. However, about a month or so ago, he just up and changed this behavior. He rarely, if ever, eats when I hand feed him (the only thing he'll really eat that i dangle in front of him are waxworms and hornworms). I used to be able to hand feed crickets, but since he won't take them handfed, i've been letting them free-roam, however, I see some crickets the next day still roaming around. Every now and then I'll catch him eat one, but for the most part he'll just sit and watch them walk around all around him, even on him. I was ignorant the first month I had him and totally forgot the UVB light for his cage. But I got one not too long ago. I also got him a zoomed reptarium new cage for him about a week and a half ago, I have a live pothos, some sticks I found outback and baked in the oven and cleaned, some fake vines and fake pothos leaves. I have a make-shift dripping system to drip on the leaves, and I mist the reptarium 2-3 times daily. I also gut load my crickets, dust them with calcium about once a week. I'm just worried he's given up on crickets for good and will only eat the real fatty treats like waxworms and hornworms(which I actually heard aren't bad for reptiles, but I don't want them to be his only diet). Any help would be great.

Sometimes, chams will go through a stage of not eating the staple they originally were eating. That being said, you need to get a new thing for him to eat. Superworms, silkworms, and roaches would be good. When feeding, you should offer different staples to ensure they won't become rebellious and get tired of the staple. For example, if you feed him every other day, you could switch (Monday- Crickets, Wednesday- Superworms, Friday- Roaches, Sunday- Whatever you have the most of[Roaches would be your best bet probably]).

 

[BuddyBowser]

I thought about doing that, but I thought crickets were supposed to be their main diet? and worms every now and then. I'm just scared the superworms they sell at the petstore are too big for him, and I don't know where to buy roaches.

 

[carol5208]

Yes, I have read often on here about chameleons who quit eating crickets and I am one of them! Ever since I started him on worms, he just refuses and I have tried reintroducing them over the past 4 months and he will hve nothing to do with them. there have been people who have not fed their chameleons in order to force them into eating the crickets, with the idea "they will eat when they get hungry" type of thing, but that doesn't always work either. I never went that route, but that is just me. Like the other member said,try offering some other feeders and that's really all you can do or offer him nothing but crickets and see if the other theory works. I know it is frustrating!

 

[carol5208]

I thought about doing that, but I thought crickets were supposed to be their main diet? and worms every now and then. I'm just scared the superworms they sell at the petstore are too big for him, and I don't know where to buy roaches.

Here is a place to buy online. You can start your own colony. I have not tried this myself as these things creep me completely out!
http://buydubia.com/

 

[BuddyBowser]

Thanks for the all the suggestions! I'll try them all out. I also just made a feeder cup to put some crix/worms in to see if he might get used to that. I tied the cup around his basking branch for easy viewing/access. Hope it works, I'm worried about him.

 

[RobandJess]

You said you dust the crickets only once week...you should do this every feeding, you can also dust the worms a bit, but I would suggest giving him more calcium, does he get vitamin d3 every two weeks? how about multi vitamin?!

 

[BuddyBowser]

I heard dusting every day is too much for them, plus I gut load my crickets so he gets a lot of vitamins and stuff from that. I also bring him outside into the sun when weather permits for a bit. I don't want to give him too much vitamins/calcium and stuff like that.

 

[kinyonga]

Can you post a picture of him please?

 

[Cainschams]

I heard dusting every day is too much for them, plus I gut load my crickets so he gets a lot of vitamins and stuff from that. I also bring him outside into the sun when weather permits for a bit. I don't want to give him too much vitamins/calcium and stuff like that.

You want to dust his food. Just dont over do it. A very light dusting is sufficient every day. Use calcium without d3 every feeding, calcium with d3 once or twice a month and a multi vitamin once or twice a month. This seems to be the standard schedule for veiled chameleons.

You will want a basking lamp also. Use a house hold bulb. They are cheaper and do the same as the basking bulbs at pet stores. Depending on how warm the room it is in and how high the lamp is will decide what wattage bulb you need. Just play with it until you have the desired basking spot temp. The basking bulbs provide UVA rays which stimulates natural behaviours in reptiles such as appetite.

A picture would be good also.

 

[BuddyBowser]

Here is a picture of him.

and here is his setup.

There's an exo-terra 5.0 UVB lamp in the back, and in the front is a basking lamp that keeps the temperature in the basking area about 85. I have also attached a feeder cup to his basking branch since yesterday in hopes he might start eating from that. I have a makeshift dripping cup as well that I fill twice a day to drip in about 20 minute intervals, while also misting 2-3 times daily.

 

[kinyonga]

It looks like he has MBD...his front left arm shows some curving at the elbow.
I don't know if it would have been due to you not having a UVB light in the beginning and is maybe corrected now or if it still needs to be addressed...but a vet could do a test and tell you.

What is the brand of UVB light you are using? Supplements? What do you feed the insects?

When a chameleon has calcium issues its important to bring it back in line ASAP because it affects not only bones, but muscles and other functions in the chameleon's system. A vet can give it calcium injections until the blood calcium levels are high enough to give it an injection of calcitonin to draw the calcium back into the bones. This is the quickest way to bring things back to normal. Once they are normal then you need to have proper husbandry to keep them there.

Exposure to proper UVB, appropriate temperatures, supplements, a supply of well-fed/gutloaded insects, water and an appropriate cage set-up are all important for the well-being of your chameleon.

Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.

Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light.

Since many of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects before you feed them to the chameleon with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it.

If you dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. (Some UVB lights have been known to cause health issues, so the most often recommended one is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light.) D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it.

Dusting twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while.

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs....so its important too.

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.

Here are some good sites for you to read...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200604210...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

Hope this helps!

 

[carol5208]

Could you post a few other pics of his limbs?

 

[BuddyBowser]

Here's some info on him.
I use a repti-glo 5.0 UVB light, with a basking bulb as well that keeps his basking area roughly 85 degrees or so. I gut load the crickets with cricket-quencher/that fluker's orange cubes stuff, as well as kale, carrots, apples, mustard greens. I guess it's the dusting thing that could be the problems, as I never dusted more than once a week, and only with calcium w/d3 powder. I'm actually running out to petsmart ASAP to buy calcium w/o d3 and some herptivite reptile vitamin powders as well for him, and will begin dusting w/o d3 every feeding. I would love to go to the vet for the injections, but funds are low and a vet bill will kill me. Hopefully the new intake of vitamins will bring him back to normal, his mbd seems very early enough to fix, so wish me luck! Any other advice would be great as well!

 

[Dave Weldon]

...I use a repti-glo 5.0 UVB light...

Howdy,

Like Kinyonga mentioned, a Zoo Med Reptisun 5.0 linear tube (not CFL) would be a good choice to add to or replace your aging Repti-Glo unit. If the Repti-Glo was a CFL then you'll need to buy a fixture to hold the 18" fluorescent tube. Be sure that there is no glass or plastic between the tube's surface and your chameleon. Position it ~8"-10" away from him at his basking spot.

Great deal on the 18" tube: http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/-/zoo-med-18-repti-sun-50-uvb-bulb/

If you are located in an area where it is still appropriate to put him outside for unfiltered sunight exposure, that would be the best thing to do in addition to adding a new UVB light source for indoor lighting.

 

[BuddyBowser]

So when you guys say do not position it between glass or plastic, does that include aluminum screen cage as well? Do i need the actual light INSIDE the cage itself? Wouldn't that be dangerous? Also, I really don't understand the difference between an exo-terra bulb and a zoomed bulb other than a markup in price due to the brand name. Both the same wattage and everything, one's just more expensive. I'd really rather not go out and spend another 50 dollars on a new bulb AND light fixture. And how do I keep two lights in the same spot? my cage is 18 x 18 x 36. The UVB is in the back and the basking is the front, both of them take up the entire roof of the cage so how exactly do i position them in the basking spot?

 

[carol5208]

no, no not inside you can just lay it on top of the screen, if the top is screen. the uvb can be in one spot and the basking should be in another. the uvb does not have be in the basking spot.

 

[BuddyBowser]

Okay that's what I thought. that's what I'm doing now. I now have him eating crickets dusted with herptivite reptile vitamins (has calcium w/0 d3 in it), while the crickets are being gut loaded with orange cubes, mustard greens, kale, carrots, and apples. I have repti-glo 5.0 compact flourescent bulb on the top of the screen, and a basking lamp. I am dusting his food with calcium w/d3 every other week (twice a month). I hope this reverses his problems.

 

[albert the veiled]

Repti-Aid

I agree get him some calcium..and try to get him into the sunlight as much as possible, try to get him in some kind of cycle on his lighting. I have a timer on my UVB light when I go to work and try some repti-aid by Flukers it will help with his eating habits. My male veiled is about the same age and has some eating issues as well he is stubborn to say the least,LOL!

 

[BuddyBowser]

I have herptivite vitamin supplements that contain calcium w/o d3, but i couldn't find a supplement of JUST calcium w/o d3, and I don't want to dust with full on vitamin supplement every day. I'd rather dust with only calcium every day. What products of just calcium w/o d3 are there on the market?