Help!!!!! My Cham stop eating

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First off, all reptiles and other animals are creatures of routine, just like we are. They get used to repetitive, consistant habits and when these are changed it can cause confusion and stress for the chameleon. Such a drastic time change may take some time for him to get used to.

Continue to feed him, but if possible try and slowly ease him into this new routine. For instance, start at your normal time, and every other day or so adjust the time by approximately 1 hour. If you yourself cannot accomplish this due to a schedule, I highly suggest speaking to a friend who is capable of handling your feeder insects properly and have them come into your house when you cannot be there to feed your chameleon until the time is set to what is ideal for you. This has worked out very nicely for me in the past, I had some beardies and a similar situation where they stopped eating. I paid my neighbor to stop by at scheduled times to feed my lizards (if you have a garage, set a temporary garage code and give that to them).

If that is not an option for you, (although I very highly suggest doing the above) then continue to provide food. If your chameleon is hungry, he will eat adventully out of necessity. However, if he shows little to no interest in the food provided, then this suggests that something else may be wrong. Check the temperatures in your setup, and observe your chams color patterns. A lighter than normal color indicates that he may be overheated, and needs to be cooled immediantly. If nothing else appears to be off or wrong, then I would take him to the vet right away.
 
This is my indoor cage. Heat spot, UVB light. Real plants inside and some synthetic plants. I use a misting system to help keep up humidity(which isnt your problem), help stimulate drinking, and most importantly to flush out his eyes of any debris. I also use a dripper from a square looking bucket. Got it from petco, I've also made one myself for my outside enclosure. Both are 4 feet tall by 2 feet by 2 feet. Above my enclosure is the free range I made him. That's literally all he wnats to do is go back and forth, up and down. He would stay there all day if I let him. But I only let him on it for a few hours a day after he has got many hours of UVB either outside of from his light. I recently set up a basking spot that isn't pictured. Later this week I will be setting up a small light with small UVB bulb right next to his basking spot. At least this way I won't worry he isn't getting too cold on his free range and he will still get UVB. Only issue I have now is humidity while he is on there. I'm in Florida so pretty soon it will be very very humid here and I can just open up the window to solve that problem. While he is outside I hand mist several times and still run a dripper. As well as make sure the cage had plenty of shade so he doesn't overheat.
 
kelly_girl199 said:
This is my indoor cage. Heat spot, UVB light. Real plants inside and some synthetic plants. I use a misting system to help keep up humidity(which isnt your problem), help stimulate drinking, and most importantly to flush out his eyes of any debris. I also use a dripper from a square looking bucket. Got it from petco, I've also made one myself for my outside enclosure. Both are 4 feet tall by 2 feet by 2 feet. Above my enclosure is the free range I made him. That's literally all he wnats to do is go back and forth, up and down. He would stay there all day if I let him. But I only let him on it for a few hours a day after he has got many hours of UVB either outside of from his light. I recently set up a basking spot that isn't pictured. Later this week I will be setting up a small light with small UVB bulb right next to his basking spot. At least this way I won't worry he isn't getting too cold on his free range and he will still get UVB. Only issue I have now is humidity while he is on there. I'm in Florida so pretty soon it will be very very humid here and I can just open up the window to solve that problem. While he is outside I hand mist several times and still run a dripper. As well as make sure the cage had plenty of shade so he doesn't overheat.
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kelly_girl199 said:
View attachment 179586
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kelly_girl199 said:
View attachment 179586
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Here is his cage. But he barely use it now. When he was 4 months around, he tried so hard to get out of the cage, and rubbed the mouth to the net too much. the lip skin gone and cant be recovered even after shedding. So I never put him bck to cage after that. Feeling so hurt when I saw his lips like that. The 2nd phone is the place he is used to staying now. But I haven't set the light there yet. Will do it today.
 

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K_Wolf said:
First off, all reptiles and other animals are creatures of routine, just like we are. They get used to repetitive, consistant habits and when these are changed it can cause confusion and stress for the chameleon. Such a drastic time change may take some time for him to get used to.

Continue to feed him, but if possible try and slowly ease him into this new routine. For instance, start at your normal time, and every other day or so adjust the time by approximately 1 hour. If you yourself cannot accomplish this due to a schedule, I highly suggest speaking to a friend who is capable of handling your feeder insects properly and have them come into your house when you cannot be there to feed your chameleon until the time is set to what is ideal for you. This has worked out very nicely for me in the past, I had some beardies and a similar situation where they stopped eating. I paid my neighbor to stop by at scheduled times to feed my lizards (if you have a garage, set a temporary garage code and give that to them).

If that is not an option for you, (although I very highly suggest doing the above) then continue to provide food. If your chameleon is hungry, he will eat adventully out of necessity. However, if he shows little to no interest in the food provided, then this suggests that something else may be wrong. Check the temperatures in your setup, and observe your chams color patterns. A lighter than normal color indicates that he may be overheated, and needs to be cooled immediantly. If nothing else appears to be off or wrong, then I would take him to the vet right away.
Click to expand...
I live in a condominium, barely see my neighbors actually. And none of my friend can handle reptile as they scared of it . Thanks for ur advice. He finally ate 1 cricket this morning. Better than nothing. Will try later at afternoon again to let hime get used to the new schedule.
 
janeng said:
I live in a condominium, barely see my neighbors actually. And none of my friend can handle reptile as they scared of it . Thanks for ur advice. He finally ate 1 cricket this morning. Better than nothing. Will try later at afternoon again to let hime get used to the new schedule.
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Good to hear he's eating again! That's a good sign, and as I said before he should naturally eat out of necessity. The exception to this is if a chameleon is unaware of its food source....or if he/she is ill. It sounds like your chameleon is in good health, and one cricket is a good start. If you feel like he might not be aware of the feeder insects around him, then you could try hand feeding him by offering either a cup full of food or a hand. If he does not eat from there, then it simply may mean that he is not hungry and will eat on his own terms, but continue to watch him carefully.
 
janeng said:
Here is his cage. But he barely use it now. When he was 4 months around, he tried so hard to get out of the cage, and rubbed the mouth to the net too much. the lip skin gone and cant be recovered even after shedding. So I never put him bck to cage after that. Feeling so hurt when I saw his lips like that. The 2nd phone is the place he is used to staying now. But I haven't set the light there yet. Will do it today.
Click to expand...
That cage is way way way to small. Even for a 4 month old. Thad why he wants out so bad. If you can get a hold of a screen cage that is much much larger he will probably stay in it.
 
kelly_girl199 said:
That cage is way way way to small. Even for a 4 month old. Thad why he wants out so bad. If you can get a hold of a screen cage that is much much larger he will probably stay in it.
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Hes not staying in the cage, so I haven't gotten a new one yet. and good news is he starts eating again. I feel so much better now.
 
H
K_Wolf said:
Good to hear he's eating again! That's a good sign, and as I said before he should naturally eat out of necessity. The exception to this is if a chameleon is unaware of its food source....or if he/she is ill. It sounds like your chameleon is in good health, and one cricket is a good start. If you feel like he might not be aware of the feeder insects around him, then you could try hand feeding him by offering either a cup full of food or a hand. If he does not eat from there, then it simply may mean that he is not hungry and will eat on his own terms, but continue to watch him carefully.
Click to expand...
e starts eating again today. Just had 7 crikets. Sooo happy now.
 
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