Common Chameleon

[mrdoctorwho]

Hello,
first of all sorry if im posting this thread in the wrong place. (im kinda new)
İhave a problem with my common chameleon.
he has a big enclosure.
less than a year old.
he looks happy but he never hunts his food i always have to force feed him. i give him mealworms. he drinks his water normally.
so thats my problem i dont want to force feed him anymore. he doesnt like it either.
Please help my cham buddy Pascal.

 

[TheAmbulatingFerret]

Filling this out will help.

Have you tried switching feeders? When I first tried to feed my chameleon meal worms he looked at me like I was an idiot. So I went with crickets and dubia for a while, then around six months later tried meal worms again and he gobbled them up happy as could be.

 

[mrdoctorwho]

Filling this out will help.

Have you tried switching feeders? When I first tried to feed my chameleon meal worms he looked at me like I was an idiot. So I went with crickets and dubia for a while, then around six months later tried meal worms again and he gobbled them up happy as could be.

i will try that thank you very much by the way Pascal does look at me like im an idiot when i try to feed hime mealworms he even spits them out

 

[Restricted E]

Meal worms are high in fat. He's probably just tired of them. They should only really be used as treats.

 

[mrdoctorwho]

Meal worms are high in fat. He's probably just tired of them. They should only really be used as treats.

well he never actually ate them on his own i had to force feed him thank you for your reply

 

[Trace]

In most instances the Common Chameleon (Chamaeleo chamaeleon) are wild caught specimens. These animals are not kept in good conditions anywhere during the collection and exportation process and can be very ill by the time they end up in a keepers hands.

I’ve written a blog on helping a wild caught chameleon get established in captivity. Maybe some of these tips will help Pascal get better and start eating: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/trace/776-dealing-wild-caught-chameleon.html

 

[FrankTheTank]

Definitely switch feeders. Mealworms are too high in fat for a regular diet. Look at the recommended feeders page in the feeders section of the forum. Crickets are a great insect to start with. Chams are stimulated by all of the movement.

 

[GrimsbyPatchwork]

well he never actually ate them on his own i had to force feed him thank you for your reply

Are you keeping him indoors or outdoors? I would give him sometime and as previously suggested, change his feeders. It's good that he is drinking, not eating for a few days is fine..it might actually spark his interest in food again. Force feeding him is going to stress him out. I keep one common chameleon..they are hardy but, none the less, get stressed out as much as any other chameleon. Send me a private message should you need any more help.

 

[mrdoctorwho]

Thank you all for helping me out

 

[okiroo]

Just to cover a few more bases are you sure of your husbandry? A few pictures of your chameleon would also help just to make sure there's no obvious problems causing the lack of interest in eating.

 

[carol5208]

please post pics of both your chameleon and your set up.

 

[italian chameleon]

Hello,
first of all sorry if im posting this thread in the wrong place. (im kinda new)
İhave a problem with my common chameleon.
he has a big enclosure.
less than a year old.
he looks happy but he never hunts his food i always have to force feed him. i give him mealworms. he drinks his water normally.
so thats my problem i dont want to force feed him anymore. he doesnt like it either.
Please help my cham buddy Pascal.

Hi and welcome to the forums!
are you sure it is a common chameleon (chamaeleo chamaeleon) and not a senegal (chamaeleo senegalensis) or a graceful (chamaeleo gracilis)?

it's illegal to keep common chameleons at the moment, so I'm quite curious about when and where you bought one.

anyway, don't feed mealworms if your cham doesn't recognize them as food, use crickets! if crickets don't do the trick use flying insects , try green banana roaches or black soldiler flies (from calciworms) or even house flies (only if you breed them and gut load them yourself!wild ones are nasty !!)

P.s as said in the above post, pictures of cham and set-up will greatly help!

P.p.s: where are you from?

 

[FrankTheTank]

Hi and welcome to the forums!
are you sure it is a common chameleon (chamaeleo chamaeleon) and not a senegal (chamaeleo senegalensis) or a graceful (chamaeleo gracilis)?

it's illegal to keep common chameleons at the moment, so I'm quite curious about when and where you bought one.

anyway, don't feed mealworms if your cham doesn't recognize them as food, use crickets! if crickets don't do the trick use flying insects , try green banana roaches or black soldiler flies (from calciworms) or even house flies (only if you breed them and gut load them yourself!wild ones are nasty !!)

P.s as said in the above post, pictures of cham and set-up will greatly help!

P.p.s: where are you from?

Depends on what country he lives in I believe

 

[symphonica]

How old is he & how long have you had him?
How are your temps and humidity?
Are you using a UVB light and supplementing with calcium?
I only ask because we need to make certain that he's otherwise in good health, and that his lack of appetite is not due to poor health/illness.

Are the mealies moving around a lot when you feed them to him? Mealies aren't very active, and chameleons don't recognize non-moving things as food very well. Crickets would be better, not only because they're "healthier," but because they're more lively and their movement may awaken his appetite and attract him more.