How do I get my Cham to eat again?

[alvindogg]

So, I have a year and a half male Panther chameleon.
He just over a R.I.
He was on a 2 week supply of Baytril which cleared everything up.
He stopped eating a few days before I took him to the vet( he was a picky eater beforehand)

Now it's been a week since his post vet check up and he still hasn't eaten yet.
I've been syringe feeding him bird formula (yes bird formula) for the last month.
He's all healthy according to the vet.
He weighs 188 grams now ( gained , color is vibrant, grip is strong, sweet as ever.

I've spoken to a few breeders personally but I thought I would try here as well.
Some say to starve him until he eats solid food again.
Some say mix in probiotics in his food. ( I just started )

I show him Green banana roaches, hornworms, superworms, dubias, crickets.
Nothing.

Went from syringe feeding twice a day, to once a day, to every other day now.

Anyone experience this before and solve the problem?

 

[alvindogg]

That's him outside yesterday.

 

[Tonystandman]

That's got to be so frustrating ,

 

[Sanababit]

Wow, very nice looking fella you have there, Have you tried other insects, like mantids, stick insects, bean beattles, i saw a post fron nick barta selling other feeders, maybe one of them will get your chameleon going

Sana

 

[alvindogg]

Thanks. Yeah , I'm waiting for my local nursery to get back their praying manthis, will give that a try. I have bean beetles but those are too small, I only use those for my babies.

 

[alvindogg]

I have had walking sticks before but those are so small. + illegal in CA so hard to get.

 

[Kath44]

Flies usually stop a hunger strike, blue bottles or green bottles. Mine goes crazy for them.
Kath.

 

[shaneofall]

Let us know how this works out, I have a similar issue with a Melleri. Make sure you are getting probiotics and easy to digest mix when force feeding, in case it is intestinal issues. Also consider infection, like fungal internally, so be careful about too much acid and sugars.

Right now I am using Gut Rehab by MRM as my mix, Gut-Rehab™-Complete-Digestive-Recovery. I also added a very good human grade probiotic once and use a reptile one every feeding. Seems to be working well so far, but not feeling good about the stress of it.

 

[alvindogg]

I've been mixing in a probiotic in his syringe formula.

I believe it is a nutra zone brand, has pre-biotics and different pro-biotics in it.
It was made specifically for bearded dragons but I spoke to the lady at the reptile shop and she said this should work.

I have this feeling that this may be the way it goes with this guy from now on, perhaps he enjoys his "protein shakes".

His demeanor is great, paces his cage, harasses the other male and females, grip is strong, colors are vibrant.

Just won't eat.
I hate starving him too, I can only go 2 days and than I feel bad for him.
He is so much more friendly than my other chameleons so I don't believe he is in pain or discomfort so I will keep observing him and try to tempt him with different feeders.

 

[alvindogg]

Thought I would post an update snice it's slow at work.
He still has not eaten, I was able to slip in a superworm in his mouth when I caught him yawning and he chewed it up but he is still the same afterwards.

Demeanor is still great, active. 180 grams.

Still syringe feeding him.

 

[LilBlue]

Hello, I see that your last post was almost 2 weeks ago. My comments are just my opinion for this case, as I have not had to deal with these kind of issues(with a chameleon anyway) yet.

So, IMO, you have been syringe feeding for a while, I think you should stop now, or at least taper back to once a week(I'm unsure if just stopping the pre/pro biotics will cause digestive stress??), if you feel he has good weight on him and looks healthy, and has been on the up and up for a couple weeks without any other signs of bad health. Adults don't eat very much, my guys sometimes will only eat 4 superworms that I put in their dish for the whole week, and even though I offer food, they don't want it. Then some weeks they will eat every other day, depending on what I feed them. So I think he might just be full from syringe feeding. I know you feel bad if he doesn't eat for 2 days, but I think you need to wait it out and give him a couple more days after that. For me, silkworms and hornworms have been a sure fire hit for picky eaters. They move slow, non threatening colours, they stick to branches.

One thing I know for sure is, that when any reptile I've had has been off food or had a sensitive stomach after a regurg, small meals, and easily digestible soft bugs are the best way to go to get the stomach used to solids again.

Your cham is so handsome by the way!

Edit: Just thought of something...How are you syringe feeding? Taking him out and "force" feeding and holding him, or are you able to just poke at his mouth with the syringe while he is in his cage to feed? Maybe it's causing him a bit of stress now that he is feeling better, and he just needs to get back to the normal routine before he was sick.

 

[alvindogg]

Thank you, yes he is very handsome.

Yes I think you are right. That's all there is to do basically, is to starve him for a few days until he has to eat again.

I've shown him all the shiny small stuff: wax worms, superworms, hornworms, and silkworms.

I'm breeding green banana roaches and those used to be his favorite so hopefully those or hornworms will do the trick eventually.

I take him out to free-range every day, that's when I feed him.
He lives in my bathroom (per the vet to simulate the greenhouse he was raised in) and he loves to come out, he's very friendly.

He's not a fan of being syringe fed, I flip him over and press the sides of his mouth (vet showed me how).
He will struggle slightly sometimes, I don't rush him, but he is not so stressed out to where he turns dark colors or tries to bite me or hiss at me.

So I'll stop syringe feeding him for now but if he doesn't eat by Tuesday I'll probably give in.