Is my chameleon too skinny?

MaggiesMum

Member
Hey everyone, I’ve had Maggie since 23rd December. She has been very tricky to get to eat... cup feeding and hand feeding is not acceptable to her.
I am a first time chameleon owner, and unfortunately do not know anyone with one. She is *about* 3 months old, and was no skinnier than this at the pet shop... but because I’m a worrier, I constantly panic she’s not eating enough.
her temps and humidity are bang on... she has UV and a heat lamp (although she’s rarely under it) and although the pics show artificial vines, she has 5 real plants. I feed her hatchling locusts and 3rd moult crickets.. she doesn’t touch wax worms. I’m using earth pro vitamin and calcium.
 

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Hey there!
don't worry too much about wax worms- they should only be a treat and not a diet staple anyways.

How often do you feed her, and how many feeders do you offer each time? What method are you using to feed her?

Also, to make sure her feeders are appropriately sized (it sounds like they probably are) make sure her feeders are no bigger than the space between her eyes
 
Hi, thanks for your reply... I feed her about 10-12 bugs a day over 2 feeds. The only way I can get her to eat is if they are released in the cage and she goes hunting. If she hasn’t eaten her bugs, I hold back on a feed. If there’s a build up of bugs I catch them and take them out the cage. The problem is keeping track as there’s a lot of places for them to hide in the enclosure. This is why I planned on hand/cup feeding so I could keep a log... but that didn’t work out.
i think I got supplied with bugs that were too big, so I have restocked with smaller ones and they are definitely not too big. She regularly just watches the crickets/ locusts walk past her
 
Hi, thanks for your reply... I feed her about 10-12 bugs a day over 2 feeds. The only way I can get her to eat is if they are released in the cage and she goes hunting. If she hasn’t eaten her bugs, I hold back on a feed. If there’s a build up of bugs I catch them and take them out the cage. The problem is keeping track as there’s a lot of places for them to hide in the enclosure. This is why I planned on hand/cup feeding so I could keep a log... but that didn’t work out.
i think I got supplied with bugs that were too big, so I have restocked with smaller ones and they are definitely not too big. She regularly just watches the crickets/ locusts walk past her

Quick side note: Any feeders that she doesn't eat should be removed at the end of each day, since they can bite or annoy your cham. Being that you're free range feeding, I understand finding them all can be a bit of a challenge.

How many of the feeders do you think she eats? Again, I know it's much more difficult to keep track when the feeders are fed free range, but an estimate is fine.

Cup feeding and hand feeding can take some time for your cham to build up trust with you, so I'm not necessarily surprised at this being that you only got her a couple of weeks ago. Try making or buying a feeder run instead: https://chameleonacademy.com/basics-feeding-chameleons/
 
I do try to remove them, but realistically it’s just not possible to get them all. I leave out some carrot/ sweet potato so that they hopefully feed on it rather than her... I check her over for any signs of irritation daily and can’t see any.
I reckon it’s probably 6-8. I’ve only ever seen her eat 3 in a go once. She doesn’t seem to be at all motivated by food. I release them in her eyeline and she doesn’t react, other than to run away!
 
I do try to remove them, but realistically it’s just not possible to get them all. I leave out some carrot/ sweet potato so that they hopefully feed on it rather than her... I check her over for any signs of irritation daily and can’t see any.
I reckon it’s probably 6-8. I’ve only ever seen her eat 3 in a go once. She doesn’t seem to be at all motivated by food. I release them in her eyeline and she doesn’t react, other than to run away!
Yeah in this case I would try making or buying a feeder run, this might help (although could be a bit tricky with crickets still). You could also offer other feeders to see if she prefers certain bugs.
 
I can’t see a reference to a feeder run on the link you sent... unless you mean the cricket feeder (which I have, but she doesn’t use)
Do you recommend any other feeders that you can get in the appropriate size for her?
 
I've attached the feeding & gutload guides for your reference. A lot of people like to use dubia roaches as a staple feeder as well, and are way less stinky than crickets :)
 

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Thanks so much for taking the time to speak with me on this... I’m just pulling my hair out as she is soooo tricky to get to eat. I have a cricket thing and a bowl, but I have left food in both for about 5 days and none has gone... she only seems to take when they are free in the cage.
Ive handled her once since I got her as I know they aren’t a hands on pet... but as soon as I go near the cage she dives into the foliage so I don’t even know how to get her familiar with cup feeding. She was just fed “free range” at the reptile place.
 

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Hi and welcome! :) You say your temps and humidity are “bang on”, but....
Very often people have found misinformation either on line or from other sources and it’s difficult to figure out what exactly is correct. Then there is that as we learn more about our beautiful chams, the husbandry evolves. This is a link to perhaps the most up to date and correct husbandry for chameleons. https://chameleonacademy.com/veiled-chameleon-care/
Cup feeding takes a lot of time and even more patience, but it is well worth it. Avoid moving too quickly or invading into her space. Hold the cup with buggies where she can see it. Make sure you’re comfortable and having something to support your arm helps. Often looking away also helps. If she hasn’t gone for the buggies by the time your arm feels like lead, give her the bugs anyhow and try again next feeding. You could also open her enclosure door and just sit quietly in front of it for 5-10 minutes, not staring at her or making any fast movements. She will eventually learn that you aren’t going to eat her and she’ll give you some trust. :)
 
Thanks so much for taking the time to speak with me on this... I’m just pulling my hair out as she is soooo tricky to get to eat. I have a cricket thing and a bowl, but I have left food in both for about 5 days and none has gone... she only seems to take when they are free in the cage.
Ive handled her once since I got her as I know they aren’t a hands on pet... but as soon as I go near the cage she dives into the foliage so I don’t even know how to get her familiar with cup feeding. She was just fed “free range” at the reptile place.
Ah I see it now. Sometimes the cups work, but for some chams it could be hard to notice the feeders in there since they can't move around too much. The feeder run helps with this by providing that little screen for the bugs to crawl up.

In terms of cham friendliness... it's a very patient process & takes time. Even then she might not be the friendliest pet you've ever had, although you might get lucky :)
 
Hi and welcome! :) You say your temps and humidity are “bang on”, but....
Very often people have found misinformation either on line or from other sources and it’s difficult to figure out what exactly is correct. Then there is that as we learn more about our beautiful chams, the husbandry evolves. This is a link to perhaps the most up to date and correct husbandry for chameleons. https://chameleonacademy.com/veiled-chameleon-care/
Cup feeding takes a lot of time and even more patience, but it is well worth it. Avoid moving too quickly or invading into her space. Hold the cup with buggies where she can see it. Make sure you’re comfortable and having something to support your arm helps. Often looking away also helps. If she hasn’t gone for the buggies by the time your arm feels like lead, give her the bugs anyhow and try again next feeding. You could also open her enclosure door and just sit quietly in front of it for 5-10 minutes, not staring at her or making any fast movements. She will eventually learn that you aren’t going to eat her and she’ll give you some trust. :)
Thanks for your reply. The base of of the enclosure is 21/22 C, ambient round the top is 25/26C and then 30-33under the heat lamp. Humidity obviously spikes but sits around 50-55%. If that’s not the levels that it should be I am more than happy to be corrected!
I will definitely take your advice on getting her to hopefully be less scared of me! It’s true my arms kill after a while trying to offer her food!
 
I am using an Arcadia pro T5 24w,12% UVB
Ok so this bulb strength is too strong... You need a 6%... OR you can raise the uvb fixture 3 inches off the top of the enclosure. But the closest basking level branch needs to be dropped to 9 inches below the screen. If you were to get the 6% you could leave the fixture on the cage top and UVB 9 inches down would be perfect.

See image. You want UVB across the middle. 9 inch drop to the closest branches this includes below the heat.
26-27C at the branch below the heat no hotter. You will place the temp probe at the branch below the fixture. With cham cages your working with 3rds of the cage. The bottom they rarely go into. The middle they tend to sleep in and the top third is where you need your branches.

Move the feeder run from the back to the left side when you have adjusted your branches. Load it with small feeders make sure their are branches there. You can use zip ties to hook in branches to the verticals you have.

There are issues though... All fake plants are no good for a Veiled since they eat plants. Then the reptibark in the bottom is an impaction risk.
Here is a link to a husbandry program read through everything. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/

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So it sounds like she is eating some. Try a larger bowl on the ground first, this will help you track the bugs. If it s larger she is less likely to be uncomfortable with it. I have 2 little ones that can be more picky about eating, but as long as they are it is fine. Mine have chosen to skip days on feeding. I think it is normal. Your girl is probably stressed a bit still as well.
As long as she is eating she is ok. She looks to be a good healthy weight.

Fill out the how to ask for help https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/ it is worth the time. There are some great people here that will help make sure every thing is prefect.
Although, you do seem to have a good handle on it so far.
 
So it sounds like she is eating some. Try a larger bowl on the ground first, this will help you track the bugs. If it s larger she is less likely to be uncomfortable with it. I have 2 little ones that can be more picky about eating, but as long as they are it is fine. Mine have chosen to skip days on feeding. I think it is normal. Your girl is probably stressed a bit still as well.
As long as she is eating she is ok. She looks to be a good healthy weight.

Fill out the how to ask for help https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/ it is worth the time. There are some great people here that will help make sure every thing is prefect.
Although, you do seem to have a good handle on it so far.
Thank you, that means a lot that I’m not getting it totally wrong - I am honestly just wanting to have the happiest, healthiest Cham I can
 
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