Help! Jackson Chameleon Okay??

[JunioR]

Problem:I have a male Jackson Chameleon that is not eating!



Summary: I got him as a pair a male and female 2 weeks ago. When he was with the female he was eating fine and doing well. But the female was stressed out because of the male. She was not eating so I had to find her a new home So I sold her 2 days ago. But now the male is not eating. He drink water, and is very active and green but I havent seen him eat in 2 days. I put 5 crickets for him in his enclosure and the 5 crickets are still there. I see him looking at them but he doesnt try and eat the crickets. I tried hand feeding as well but he just doesnt seem interested. But in his cage his very active moves around a lot. He drinks water. He is not dehydrated. His eyes are not swollen or sunked in. The weird thing is when he was with the female he was more calm friendly and ate of my hand. But since the female is not there his aggresive I think. He puffs up his chin at me and once he opened his mouth at me. But the only thing is he hasent eating in 2 days and thats what worries me. But he doesnt seem sick or anything. Right now he is basking on his branch. Is this normal or should I be worried?? Thank YOU my friends.

Specs: His enclosure is 18x18x36. Full of fake vines, fake plants and live plants as well as sandblasted branches. His enclosure is in a high safe place away from noise distractions or anything. I feed him gut loaded crickets and dust them with D3 dust. I have the exo terra monsoon so every 4-5 hours it mists for 12 seconds. I always mist when needed. His humidity stays around 65 to 70. Temperature stays at 70F to 80F and basking spot is at 85F. I have a Zoo Med 50 watt basking bulb with UVA as well as an UVB Repti Glow 5.0 His a young adult. Here are some picture Thanks my freinds. Any similar experiences? Advice?

 

[lindawaz]

Chams have been known to go on hunger strikes. Try other feeders, he might be sick of crickets and it just happened when the female left.

They need variety. Try some of the other staple feeders. If he is drinking he is well. A healthy Cham will not starve themselves when food is available.

I have seen in other threads Chams going longer than a week. BUT they need to be drinking.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Your cage is too sparse and I would add more foliage. My jackson needs to feel like he's hidden and does much better when his cage has more plants in it. Since he's so active in his cage I worry that he feels too exposed and is looking for someplace to feel safe. A few days, even a week without eating is fine as long as they still seem to feel fine and are drinking as linda said. I would try adding more foliage to his cage first.

 

[JunioR]

What other feeders should I try? Roaches? I gave him wax worms and he doesnt even bother. & ill go buy more live plants

 

[jdog1027]

Like Ferret said, it's normal for them to sometimes skip a day or even a few days as adults. My Veileds would eat everyday if I fed them, but I've noticed that adult Jacksons can be reluctant to feed every single day. I wouldn't sweat it. Also, I would bump up the misting from 12 seconds to more like several minutes. You need to not use the D3 with Jacksons except for every 4-6 weeks. I personally go 6 weeks between D3 dustings. Montane chameleon can be very sensitive to over supplementation. Dust his feeders with calcium without the D3 every other feeding or so.

 

[lindawaz]

Hopefully the extra coverage will help make them feel more comfortable and eat for you.

You do want to offer a variety of feeders regardless whether they eat regularly or not.
Here is a link to Sandrachameleon's blog. It contains many ideas to feed your Cham

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html

 

[ataraxia]

poor guy is depressed...you took his baby mamma away!

not eating for a day or two is par for the course for some chams. dust as jdog has suggested, add more foliage as ferret suggested and follow lindawaz link for feeders ideas.

On a side note: are these jacksons wild caught?

 

[xanthoman]

not eating isnt all that uncommon, but it can also often be related to metabolic issues usually related to (mostly over) supplementation, it can also be brought on by excessive temps or imbalanced lighting, so it might be good to fill out the helpform in its entirety and repost.

whether its a food boredom issue, a supp issue, or a general environmental issue, imo, i would withold food (and supps) for several days, (also meaning not leaving any in his cage). order blue bottle fly spikes from mantisplace.com, spend the next several days, improving his habitat and reviewing/refining your supp regimen and lighting plan, then re-introduce him to food using his favorite feeder in his improved cage and i would say it is more likely than not that he will start eating again. if he doesnt youve got problems, beyond food boredom.

just for the record going without food occasionally is a good thing, it allows their system to cleanse and get caught up on unresolved metabolic issues (like excessive eating or minor oversupp issues) and helps build an appreciation for when food is available. jmo.

ps when the spikes come repost or pm and i will give you some tips on dealing with them.