Is my cham underweight?

[coffeeguy89]

Your Chameleon - 10 month old panther
Handling - 1-2 a week
Feeding - dubia roaches, superworms and waxworms
Supplements - Repcal calcium with D3 twice a week, herptivite twice a week
Watering - misting system on 3, 5 min intervals. I've also trained him to drink from his spray bottle every morning
Fecal Description - light brown with white urates
Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? No
History - No previous health problems
Cage Type - 2 x 2 x 4 screen enclosure
Lighting -18" reptisun 5.0, 18" 6500k, 60 watt blue bulb, 40 watt ceramic heat emitter on a thermostat.
Temperature - 88F for basking spot, 70-75F daytime ambient, 60-65F nighttime
Humidity - 50-70%
Plants - Umbrella tree
Placement - Cage is in low traffic area with the bottom about 3 feet off the ground and top near ceiling.
Location - Saint Charles, Ill

Current Problem- Yoshi hasn't been eating much in the last month or so. I used to feed him crickets, but he gave up on them about a month ago, so I started him on dubias. He'll eat one full grown one, or two smaller ones about every other day. I also been giving him wax worms one a week since they're very fatty. He shed about two days ago, but the problems with eating started long before that. I'm worried he's getting to thin. His ribs are visible sometimes depending on the angle he's sitting at, and he does't appear to have much, if any fat on his back legs. I know weighing him is the simple way to find out, but I can't afford one right now. I've attached some pics from today. Should I be worried?

 

[Carlton]

He looks OK to me. You should be able to see ribs occasionally as he moves around. Chams tend to carry more fat below their ribs not over them. If the tendons in his tail were clearly obvious he might be underweight, but I don't see that. The cross section of his tail should be oval from top to bottom, not completely round.

He's a young male...they grow more in length at first and then fill in over time. With temp and daylight changes he may not eat as much as he matures (growth rate drops normally as an adult) and as winter comes on. As long as he's drinking, basking, moving around normally he is probably fine. Just make sure that what he DOES eat is well gutloaded and dusted correctly.

 

[carol5208]

Your chameleon looks fine! Not underweight at all. My cham is 10 months also and looks about the size of yours. My cham also gave up on crickets. i feed him supers and silkworms. Silkworms are great feeders and very close in nutritional value to a cricket. Have you tried those? Sometimes they just get bored with their food and are known to go on hunger strikes. At 10 months you can try feeding every other day and see if that sparks his appetite. As long as his urates are white, and he is hydrated, don't worry. Try introducing some other feeders. Also, you don't need calcium with twice a week, but more like twice a month. You should be dusting your feeders with calcium w/o d3 at most feedings. Cut back on that. Also, is it necessary to have a ceramic heater. Are your temps that WITH the heater or without?. Your basking is a little high but ok.

 

[coffeeguy89]

I only recently stated using a ceramic heater along with a basking bulb due to the huge drop in temp we've experienced here in Illinois. Since it's been cooler his basking spot would sometimes not even break 80F with just the light, so I added a ceramic heat emitter with an on/off thermostat to regulate the temp.

 

[carol5208]

ok, then that is cool. I used to live in Illinois(I was born there) and I know how cold it gets. By the way you have a very handsome chameleon!!!! Looks healthy to me!!!

 

[coffeeguy89]

Thanks carol5208! I've been meaning to start using calcium without D3, but the breeder I bought him from (Screameleons) suggests using with D3 ever time for chams kept indoors, and since he hasn't had any exposure to natural sunlight I though he might need it. What's a good calcium regiment for his age?

And thanks for the tips Carlton Seeing his ribs kind of freaked me out at first

 

[carol5208]

Ya know, there are conflicting supplementation schedules given from different breeders versus the forum on Calcium w/d3. If your chameleon is getting NO natural sunlight then you could bump up the amount from the recommended 2times per month that the forum recommends. As far as the calcium w/o d3 pretty much every feeding or everyother. I am sure Screameleons knows what they are doing, obviously they are a breeder. The forum goes with d3 twice a month and the majority of us on here have happy, healthy chams. I don't want to slam Screameleons in any way. The choice is really yours and you kinda just have to gauge your d3 on how often your cham gets sunlight. I live in Florida and have mine out everyday, so I do not overload on the d3. I feed my panther everyday, and skip a day here or there but pretty much dust my feeders with calcium everytime I feed him. Just make sure you don't "Coat" the insects so they look like ghosts. Lightly dust. You don't want to over supplement either.

 

[Olimpia]

He looks good. His casque pads look nice and rounded, and that's a good sign.

 

[Sharka]

ive been wonderin the same about my jackson's cham. His name's Roshi! haha similar names. ^^ i've seen pics of Jackson's chams with quite a bit of meat on their bones. is that because theyre just older or something?

 

[coffeeguy89]

Thanks everybody! Having access to the collective knowledge of all the great keepers of this forum really puts my mind at ease.

Thanks again