Feeding problems

[perry6948]

my veiled chameleon eggs have started to hatch some are a week old now, I'm feeding them on pin-head crickets and fruit flies but they aren't at all interested, I'm starting to worry now as they haven't had anything to eat in over a week in some cases, what can I do any suggestions are appreciated
Many Thanks
Perry6948

 

[sandrachameleon]

Its not unusual for them to take a couple days to start eating in some cases, while they live off the remains of the yolk. A week seems long though, mine have always eaten within a couple days.

What temp are they at?

Try providing only a few (1 or 2) insects at a time - sometimes they are overwhelmed by too many at once.

 

[perry6948]

yeah i have only introduced them afew at a time and the temp they are ate is 75 to 78

 

[sandrachameleon]

I've got nothing to tell you then, as it sounds like you're doing essentially same as I do. Hopefully they will eat soon.

edit: thats 75 (23)at night, 78F (26C) during the day, right?

 

[dragongoddess]

I don't how many you have right now but I sometimes have better luck getting them to eat if they are split up into small groups of 3-4. And some had a preference early, a couple of them would only eat fruit flies at first while others would only eat pin head crix (but only true pin head)

 

[Julirs]

Bring those little ones up to 80-82 degrees and see what happens. Veiled babies are usually monstrous eaters after a few days. What are you measuring your temps with and what are you keeping the babies in?

 

[perry6948]

Bring those little ones up to 80-82 degrees and see what happens. Veiled babies are usually monstrous eaters after a few days. What are you measuring your temps with and what are you keeping the babies in?

There's 5 little critters at the moment, the tank is 12'' x 20'' x 10.5''. i have a thermometer/humidity gage, and a thermometer from my marine tank

 

[Julirs]

A digital thermometer? Analog thermometers are garbage. They should be eating. I would up the temps a bit.

 

[PardalisGirl]

Pictures?

I agree with Juli about raising temperature. They should be eating within two days and you should already be seeing brown/black poop showing that they are eating. I'd like to know exactly how your "tank" is set up. Pictures would be good too. They should have some sort of foliage to climb and separate themselves with. Fake or real. I use fake vines and flexible branches that I bought at Petco. You mist this stuff for them to drink from too. They need a UVB light and heat bulb over them. This is my Veiled baby set up:

Opaque/clear plastic tub from Target (20 " long x 15" deep x 12" tall). I keep up to 20 hatchlings in this size until they get bigger and then start splitting them up. If the clutch is bigger than 20, I split them up right away. I put a screen top over the tubs since I have cats. If you don't have pets then you can skip the screen. I put the fake vines and bendable branches all over bottom. I make it so they aren't high enough to climb up on the screen. I place a hood fixture holding a 24" Reptisun 5.0 linear tube light over the screen top. The fixture is longer than the tub but I want the tub covered. An 18" tube would not go end to end. I also place a 40 watt heat bulb that turns off at night in a dome fixture on top of the screen. If you don't use a screen you can clip the dome fixture on something stable to hold it the proper distance from the tub. If you keep your house cold you want a ceramic heater that stays on at night. These babies really need more warmth to promote feeding and activity.

I also put a bit of cricket gutload in a shallow bottle cap for the crickets to continue to gutload if not eaten. Crickets quickly lose nutrition if not eaten right away. I actually also put fruit fly medium in the tub too for the fruit flies to continue eating. It also seems to keep them in the tub instead of climbing up the sides to escape. Most people probably don't want to go that far though. By one week my Veiled babies are on 2 week old crickets. Within 10 days they are off the fruit flies. I never buy pinheads anymore. I don't have luck keeping them alive. I just buy the 2 week old crickets and pick the smaller ones out with a tweezer for the newest hatchlings. Within a week they are handling all two week old crickets anyway.

Hope this helps....

 

[sandrachameleon]

If you're going to allow temps over 80, be sure to water frequently. Babies dehydrate quickly.

 

[veiledfan]

feeding

I had a similar issue with my babies. They did eat. Try removing objects in the cage so that they can see the food better. This might encourage their interest in them. I gave them time with them. They were scared at first but then one ate and the rest followed. I only use flies because they are better because they will not bite the babies. Crickets have been know to bite animals when left in the container. I also have them in a smaller contain which the seem to like. This is just what works for me. I have about 4 per container to keep the stress levels low also.