Force Feeding My Deremensis

[AxelsMum]

Hii,

My deremensis has been on a hunger strike since Feb. 5th, I took him to the vet last week where they force fed him in hopes of jump starting his appetite. He has always been a great eater/drinker until recently. Nothing has changed in his habitat and I have tried spicing up his diet but it doesn't seem to be working. Earlier in the week I was able to get two small crickets in him (barley). He seemed to be interested in eating but scared to use his tongue, so I ended up putting them about 1 cm away from his mouth and slipped them onto his tongue when he opened slightly. The vet check out his mouth and found no issues. Tomorrow I am going in to learn how to force feed him but I am very nervous. My cham is a total mama's boy and I have only been nothing but gentle to him. I am afraid of constantly stressing him out daily with food (but I know he needs the nutrition). I was wondering if anyone on here has had success in force feeding leading into the cham being able to eat on his own again. He hasn't lost any weight since the food strike but I haven't found a single dropping in his habitat/ I have always hand fed him. I tried leaving food in his habitat but that didn't seem to work either.

What do you use to force feed? How can I provide him the best/the most nutritious? The vet had mentioned baby food or glucosamine?

 

[Carlton]

How old is he? If he's approaching adulthood his growth rate may be slowing down and he's simply not needing as much food. Its also winter which can trigger less activity and hunting. If he's hormonally mature he might be distracted and more interested in finding a female. Are his lips brighter red? That's a breeding condition coloration (so I've read). I've kept 2 deremensis and found that they didn't eat nearly as much as my other species once mature. Whether its because they have a slower metabolism or because they favor cooler lower light situations (which can translate into less activity and less calorie burn) I couldn't say as my experience is limited, but IMHO I would not be panicking and forcefeeding at this point. Stress and risk of injuries are worth considering. You say there haven't been any setup changes and he's not losing weight. If he's behaving normally otherwise and drinking that's what I would focus on for now. Also, deremensis don't seem to hunt as actively...instead they tend to sit still and let prey come up to them. Loose feeders in his cage may not make much if any difference to him if they don't walk right up to his snout. A cham can very easily go a week or so without eating much. Keep him hydrated, give him some privacy, watch for obvious signs of illness, offer food every other day or so, and let him decide when he's hungry.

 

[AxelsMum]

How old is he? If he's approaching adulthood his growth rate may be slowing down and he's simply not needing as much food. Its also winter which can trigger less activity and hunting. If he's hormonally mature he might be distracted and more interested in finding a female. Are his lips brighter red? That's a breeding condition coloration (so I've read). I've kept 2 deremensis and found that they didn't eat nearly as much as my other species once mature. Whether its because they have a slower metabolism or because they favor cooler lower light situations (which can translate into less activity and less calorie burn) I couldn't say as my experience is limited, but IMHO I would not be panicking and forcefeeding at this point. Stress and risk of injuries are worth considering. You say there haven't been any setup changes and he's not losing weight. If he's behaving normally otherwise and drinking that's what I would focus on for now. Also, deremensis don't seem to hunt as actively...instead they tend to sit still and let prey come up to them. Loose feeders in his cage may not make much if any difference to him if they don't walk right up to his snout. A cham can very easily go a week or so without eating much. Keep him hydrated, give him some privacy, watch for obvious signs of illness, offer food every other day or so, and let him decide when he's hungry.

I think he is about two years old but I am not sure. When I got him about 9 months ago they were unable to tell me his age. His lips have not turned redish at all, I have been wondering if that always happens to them or just sometimes? I can post the most recent picture of him right now, he has been maintaining his weight and drinking lots of water. If he doesn't take up eating soon I am willing to force feed. How long do you think I should wait before it's necessary to force feed? Of course I'd rather him take to it keeping him from getting stressed.
His activity has definitely decreased, but I understand that can be based up on the season. He's never been much of a hunter and I hate leaving food in his cage so I have always hand fed him. He's gone on strike before for about a week but this time it was two weeks that why I took him into eat at the vet.

 

[AxelsMum]

Here are some photos from lastnight and today

 

[Carlton]

He looks great to me! Body condition is fine. Again, I wouldn't worry overly. Don't offer food every day...try once every 2-3 days to see if he gets a bit more interested. Maybe weigh him next week if he doesn't eat, and if there's an obvious drop try coaxing him (as you described before), possibly slipping something between his lips while he's drinking. Then let him swallow on his own. If he refuses or fires up leave him alone. I doubt he's "afraid" to shoot his tongue. More likely that he's just not hungry enough to commit to a shot (in other words, he can't make up his mind that he really wants it). My approach is...watch, keep him hydrated and in the correct conditions, and avoid forcing anything until its absolutely necessary. I know he's been a great eater for you, but mine were always very shy about eating in front of me. They would sit and look between me and the feeder until I got fed up and left the room. I even tried spying on them from a closet. No dice...they just stared at the closet door Much as I liked deremensis I found they tried my patience more than some others!

Oh, a thought just struck me...you said he's drinking lots of water...is it more than usual? Is it harder to maintain his cage humidity right now due to cold weather/more home heating right now? That could drop the humidity level pretty fast and we all know dehydrated chams don't eat much or at all. Just an idea to check on.

Interesting about the lip color. I wonder when males show it or if its a trait not all populations show? Mine were wc as adults so possibly they had already been in the presence of competing males or females before, and the red "lipstick" reflected that. Both my males had very RED lips. The female did not.

 

[Bush baby]

Maybe the lack of appetite/refusal to use his tongue is a supplementation issue;

What does your dusting schedule look like?

The lack of calcium or the inability to absorb it (exposure to sun light or correct lighting) can cause tongue disfunction, loss of appetetite along with other issues.

 

[alphakenc]

Sometimes an older adults wont eat for few days cause their metabolism are slowing down,please make sure he still drinking n stay hydrated so he will start eating again soon,if he still refuse to eat,please take the freshest poop to the well established chameleon specialist vet n let them do some test on him,best luck to u

 

[Carlton]

Maybe the lack of appetite/refusal to use his tongue is a supplementation issue;

What does your dusting schedule look like?

The lack of calcium or the inability to absorb it (exposure to sun light or correct lighting) can cause tongue disfunction, loss of appetetite along with other issues.

I would normally agree with this, but in my limited experience deremensis are extremely "montane". They are not active baskers so I doubt a lack of light is the problem. Mine hardly ever went up to the light. If you are dusting each meal with plain calcium (I know, he's not eating), gutloading the feeders correctly, and not overdoing the multivitamins those are probably not the issues either.

 

[TheCoop]

The shape of the horns alone tells me otherwise, signs calcium deficiency. Hope he rebounds for you.

 

[tinypaws]

FWIW: I have noticed my guy eats more the warmer he is. When I was working through cage issues it was just too cold form him and he didn't eat much. Once i got it resolved he eats regularly. Could it be cool? For my case having the upper 1/2 in the hi 70's low 80's, and basking lamp made a huge difference.

 

[AxelsMum]

I would normally agree with this, but in my limited experience deremensis are extremely "montane". They are not active baskers so I doubt a lack of light is the problem. Mine hardly ever went up to the light. If you are dusting each meal with plain calcium (I know, he's not eating), gutloading the feeders correctly, and not overdoing the multivitamins those are probably not the issues either.

I only dust every other weekish when he actually eats. He doesn't seem to bask very much but lately he has been laying down all day. His eyes are open but his head down on a branch? He doesn't seem to be very interested in activity unless I let him play in the grass/sun.