help-she isn't eatting

[barebones]

I have a year and half old panther chameleon and she has stopped eatting on her own, she will eat if I hand feed her but she has stopped hunting? she looks good and everything else is the same as when I got her about 5 months ago any ideas why?

 

[Lancecham]

Is her tongue working correctly. How about her vision?
When you hand feed her, does she shoot her tongue out? Is she accurate with the tongue?

 

[pssh]

Does she have infertile eggs? Get a laying bin in there if you don't have one.

 

[barebones]

how would I know if she has unfertile eggs? and her tongue seems to be working fine she is shooting for the crickets and i even made her move and follow it today

 

[pssh]

Well, looking large in the belly (possibly like a bag of marbles,) not eating, pacing around more than normal, digging in plants, wandering around the bottom half of the enclosure. I would get a bin in there anyways, just in case.

So she is trying to eat now? Or she only wants to hand feed?

 

[barebones]

it seems she only wants to hand feed, and her belly looks normal and she doesn't want to go to the bottom of the cage at all, I even cleaned out her cage thinking their was a problem with the bottom of the cage and still nothing i even bring her worm bowl to the top of the cage for her and that is the only way she will eat them? I don't know what to do?

 

[pssh]

Try tub feeding? Maybe she's just a lazy girl. I use a milk jug cut in half and poke a few holes in the bottom for water drainage.

Someone else might have a better answer.

 

[barebones]

yah maybe she's just gotten lazy, hopefully she'll snap out of the lazy eatting tho. I was reading somewhere also that i should be feeding her once every 2 days? I feed her everyday still is that right?

 

[pssh]

I would start feeding three times a week and use the equivalent of 4-7 large well gutloaded crickets each time. She might start making huge infertile clutches if you over feed her and give her hot basking temps. That would eventually take it's toll on her body and shorten her life.

 

[barebones]

should i still get the egg laying bin? just incase? ok i will not feed her tomorrow and see how it goes on tuesday when I feed her, she used to follow me down to her worm bowl and wait for me to drop in the crickets and worms so hopefully she does that again

 

[pssh]

Yeah, just in case. She might not show obvious signs if she becomes gravid. She'll probably start becoming more eager again once she gets less food. If you decided to cup feed, putting the container by her favorite basking/hang out spot would probably be best.

 

[barebones]

how often do they lay infertile eggs? I didn't know that could happen. I will go and get one tomorrow for her, i just thought it was weird how she didn't want to go to the bottom of her tank which is why i cleaned it, which i normally do every few weeks when i notice it not absorbing water anymore, I hope this helps

 

[Berg]

And how old are chams usaully when they start producing eggs

 

[Elizadolots]

From what I've read, they can start producing eggs as early as 6 months and as often as every few months. You should read THIS part of Brad Ramsey's Raising Kitty blog. Kinyonga wrote it about minimizing the chances of your females producing eggs.

 

[kinyonga]

Thanks Eliza, but this is a panther and although I can keep the clutches small, I can't stop them in a panther.

I always keep an opaque container about 12"deep x 12" x 8" in all sexually mature egglaying chameleons' cages just in case they need to lay eggs.
I use moistened washed playsand for them to dig in.

 

[barebones]

Thanks guys i will try all these tips and hopefully she will return to normal soon enough