A few months ago we bought an adult male panther chameleon. We are unsure about his age, but think he is around 2 years old according to the pet store we found him at. He is very friendly, and likes to walk all over people whenever they visit the house. Although, lately (the past 3 weeks or so) he has been at the bottom/back of his cage and he wont eat! We even switched from crickets to superworms (his favorite food) a week ago and this problem is still stagnant. For the first day, he ate the superworms, but once again he just doesn't want anything. Before this began, I bought some feeding tongs for him, which seemed to occasionally stick to his tongue when feeding... But I didn't think it was too big of a problem. I recently (maybe 2 days ago) put the superworm on a flat surface to let him eat without the tongs, and he ate 3 of them. He hasn't eaten since.. He used to eat at least 10 crickets a day, or even more sometimes.
I'm not sure if it's the tongs that he has grown "sick" of, or maybe the lack of humidity. It's difficult to keep the cage humid when it's a 64 gallon completely mesh cage with real plants in it.. We have a humidifier next to it, but I will admit there are some mornings that we forget to fill it.
Also, my cat often finds herself sitting next to the cage, or laying on the bed watching the cage.. I have occasionally seen her bat at the cage...I am doing all my efforts to keep the door closed and the cat out of that room, but I'm worried the large predator may be frightening our chameleon to the point of starvation...
There are a few possibilities as to why he might not be eating, but I just don't know enough about chameleons to know which factor it could be. Please, lend any suggestions or advice you may have, because we do not want to lose our dear friend!! We thank you all kindly for any help you can supply!
~Lauren & John
I'm not sure if it's the tongs that he has grown "sick" of, or maybe the lack of humidity. It's difficult to keep the cage humid when it's a 64 gallon completely mesh cage with real plants in it.. We have a humidifier next to it, but I will admit there are some mornings that we forget to fill it.
Also, my cat often finds herself sitting next to the cage, or laying on the bed watching the cage.. I have occasionally seen her bat at the cage...I am doing all my efforts to keep the door closed and the cat out of that room, but I'm worried the large predator may be frightening our chameleon to the point of starvation...
There are a few possibilities as to why he might not be eating, but I just don't know enough about chameleons to know which factor it could be. Please, lend any suggestions or advice you may have, because we do not want to lose our dear friend!! We thank you all kindly for any help you can supply!
~Lauren & John
