Help: Chameleon stopped eating Hornworms!?

[Dynamaxion]

Hello, I've had my panther chameleon for 4 weeks now. He does not drink from a mister or dripper so I need to feed him hornworms for hydration.

I bought hornworms and silkworms last Saturday and he seems to like the silkworms, only for some reason he won't eat the hornworms anymore. He used to love them, he could even eat the full-size ones, but now he walks away and looks pissed whenever I offer even the smaller ones.

The last time he ate a hornworm was 6 days ago, last Saturday, when I bought my new hornworm pod.

Is it normal for them to get sick of hornworms for a time? I was feeding him one every 3-4 days for 19 days, he pobably ate about 7.

I'm glad he is at least eating silkworms although they are much harder to keep alive and disease-free. In fact this morning I discovered my entire pod had died off because one worm decided to wedge itself in between the food and cup, subsequently dying, bringing disease to the rest of them. If he does not eat silk or hornworms he will eventually die of dehydration, so I need some help on this. I give him water through an eye dropper while he is chewing on Dubias but it's not enough, his urates have an orange tint unless I give silk/horns. The hydration is a separate issue though, I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced their chameleons getting sick of hornworms/silkworms. However if anyone has advice on how to get their chameleon to drink from a normal mister/dripper (I run the mister frequently and the dripper runs most of the day) it would be MUCH appreciated.

I would also like to know how long these worm strikes typically last for.

He LOVES superworms, as in he is obsessed with them, does anybody know if I could possibly inject water into superworms and give those to him?

Lastly, it seems like he is about to start shedding, I don't think that that would cause him to specifically reject hornworms and none of his other foods but who knows.

 

[ChamDE86]

Fill out the link below to the best of your knowledge. It helps to be as descriptive as possible.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

 

[Dynamaxion]

Chameleon Dehydrated and Won't Eat Hornworms

Your Chameleon - 7 month old panther chameleon, in my care for 30 days.
Handling - Once a week to take him outside
Feeding - I feed him twice a day, a dubia or two per meal with a superworm or phoenix worms as replacement treats on occasion. Then a silk or hornworm every 4 days, which he no longer eats thus he will die soon if I cannot get him to drink.
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - I set the mister to 2 minutes every two hours, its max setting. I run a dripper all day via Big Dripper.
Fecal Description - Urates are orange obviously, poop itself looks normal
Gutloading: Arugula, oats, carrots, and apple for the dubia roaches.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - 2x2x4 screen cage
Lighting - Reptisun 5.0 UVB Tropical Bulb, 35w Halogen full flood bulb (used to use 50w but its 90 degrees on average outside right now)
Temperature - Basking spot peaks out at 93-94, night time gets down to about 70.
Humidity - Humidity is 20-30% in between mistings, about 65%-75% after mistings.
Plants - Yes, one Ficus Benjamina
Placement - In my room, take care to protect it from air drafts. He is on a two foot stand, making the top of the cage 6' tall.
Location - Southern California

 

[ChamDE86]

Chameleons will definitely grow tired of any feeder if it is offered too much. That is perfectly normal and I wouldn't worry about it. Just let him go without hornworms for a couple of weeks and then re-introduce it back into his diet. The drinking does concern me though as hydration issues can cause a chams health to quickly go down hill. Have you tried moving the dripper to a different spot? Also, if your cham isn't afraid of being directly sprayed, my guy will sit there sometimes and continually lick as the mist hits him. He'll be completely drenched with his eyes closed and tongue out. All in all though, you should continue to check his urates and other dehydration issues.

 

[nanosaurus]

I highly doubt he's going to die of dehydration just because he won't eat hornworms. Just because you haven't personally seen him drinking does not mean he never drinks. As long as you're misting enough that the ficus leaves retain water droplets every so often, there's no reason to be concerned.