Jacksons Chameleon Still Not Eating...

h22turbo

h22turbo

Member
Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - Jackson's Chameleon, probably 6-8 months old. He is 6 inches long, 3 inches from nose tip to vent.
  • Handling - None...
  • Feeding - I offer him gut loaded crickets, dubia roaches, and superworms.
  • Supplements - Dusted with Calcium + D3 or Multivitamins.
  • Watering - Homemade mist system. 1 Gallon water tank. I turn it on 3-4 times per day an let it run for 5 mins each time. I refill the 1 gallon tank twice per day.
  • Fecal Description - Looks normal, but he has only pooped twice in the month ive had him.
  • History - Bought him from a local pet store. He was fed crickets at the pet store.

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - ZooMed ReptiBreeze "Medium" 16x16x30 Screen Cage
  • Lighting - ZooMed ReptiSun 10.0 T5 High Output Florescent Tube above him. 50 Watt ZooMed Repti Basking Spot Lamp & ZooMed ReptiSun 10.0 MINI Compact Florescent Bulb in a dual dome fixture.
  • Temperature - Basking spot is 80-83 degrees, bottom of cage is usually around 72-75 degrees, overnight temps are low 70s high 60s, temps measured with a thermometer that has a probe. Bought from WalMart... It tells you humidity, inside (temp at main display) and outside (temp at probe) temps.
  • Humidity - Humidity usually stays in the 60s.
  • Plants - Live Grape Vine & Pothos
  • Placement - Located in the living room. Low traffic area.
  • Location - Located in the USA.... West Virginia

Current Problem - Ive had him for 1 month and he has only ate 1 dubia roach and 2-3 superworms. I honestly don't know how he is still alive! I knew he wouldnt eat for a little while when I first got him because he would be stressed out and getting use to his new home, but it has been waaay to long now.

I put insects in a cup in his cage and also let a few loose in his cage to climb on the screen. he will watch the insects with his eyes, but nothing else. As stated above, ive had him 1 month now and he has only ate 1 dubia and 2 maybe 3 superworms. He drinks water droplets from my misting system sometimes... I would say every other day ill see him drink water.

For the past 5 days, I've been "force feeding" him Flukers liquid vitamin. I pour a dropper full of water and a dropper full of liquid vitamin in a cup, mix it, then force feed him about 1/4 dropper full of the mixed solution. I hate doing that and force feeding him, but I'm scared to death he is going to die from not eating! His temps are good, humidity is good, watering/misting is good, I offer him a variety of gut loaded insects, plenty of uvb, etc etc

I can't figure out what is wrong with this little guy!

Thanks,
David
 
His vine setup inside his cage...
Spike

Spike

Spike

The setup....
Spike

Spike

Spike

In the dual dome fixture, 50 watt ZooMed Repti Basking Spot Lamp & ZooMed ReptiSun 10.0 Mini Compact Florescent. I also have a 36 inch ZooMed T5 High Output fixture with ReptiSun 10.0 florescent tube. Its raised up away from the top of his cage about 6 inches.
Spike

Spike

Spike
 
probably unrelated to his issue of not eating but I would ditch the 10.0 compact and the tube and replace it for a 5.0 tube...

I dno if it's me or the picture but his eyes look a bit sunken to me but that's not to surprising reading your description.

Jax are picky eaters but you'd expect him to take anything when hungry enough... Otherwise you could try some flies or moths, jax love flying stuff.

Good luck with him, hope he turns around soon!
 
should I get a 5.0 compact florescent with small hood that mounts the compact florescent sideways....

or a t5 high output 12" fixture with 5.0 bulb and put it directly on top of the cage?

ugh, I cant figure out why this guy isnt eating!
 
When buying the light look up the recommended space between lamp and baskingspot/animal.

I don't know what brands you have access to so I would go for a tube as I read a lot of discussion about the quality of compacts...
 
I honestly don't know why you would use two uvb lights especially when one is a 10.0 which is not recommended for chameleons in general unless they have a large enough cage, which your cage is not. Also it is not nearly planted enough to safely provide cover for him. 5.0 are recommended for chameleons because they are a tropical species, the only time a 10.0 is safe, which is a desert species uvb, is if they have a large cage with a very large amount of foliage to protect themselves from the harmful uvb rays. Think about it, out in natural sunlight, they are just inches away from the light. The 5.0 may not be as healthy and provide as much uv rays, however it is close enough to cause harm with its rays. Even with screen blocking it, it doesn't provide as much good uvb as it does harmful affects. Though I do use uvb lights, they are far more of a problem then most people realize, however not having one is a huge problem and more likely to cause death and sooner. However misuse of uvb lights is a serious problem, they are extremely harsh and can cause severe eye problems. I would never use a 10.0 with a Jackson anyway, they live in an area where sun doesn't penetrate the mist or foliage easily. Also since they like cooler temps they don't bask for extended periods. Now to address your food problem. Have you had a fecal run? I agree he looks a bit dehydrated, but doesn't honestly look thin in my opinion. Have you been keeping track of his weight? Have you tried offering him anything like hornworms or silkworms?
 
Do you use plain calcium without d3? I see in the supplements section it says you use calcium with d3 and a multivitamin. Those should only be used once a month each.
 
Have you had a fecal run? I agree he looks a bit dehydrated, but doesn't honestly look thin in my opinion. Have you been keeping track of his weight? Have you tried offering him anything like hornworms or silkworms?
Click to expand...

No fecal run. I live in southern WV in USA and the nearest reptile vet is 2 hours away. I dont have scales either, so I cant track his weight, but obviously he is losing weight since he has only ate 1 dubia and 2-3 supers in a month! I dont have access to horn or silks either unless I order them online. He's not interested in crickets, dubia, or supers tho. I've read about wild moths, but kinda sketchy about that!

Do you use plain calcium without d3?
Click to expand...

I do have plain calcium powder without D3. I have bearded dragons, so I keep calcium + D3 and thought it would be good for my cham to get a little D3 in him since he isn't eating.... All my feeders are gut loaded good, I just cant get him to eat anything.
 
h22turbo said:
No fecal run. I live in southern WV in USA and the nearest reptile vet is 2 hours away. I dont have scales either, so I cant track his weight, but obviously he is losing weight since he has only ate 1 dubia and 2-3 supers in a month! I dont have access to horn or silks either unless I order them online. He's not interested in crickets, dubia, or supers tho. I've read about wild moths, but kinda sketchy about that!



I do have plain calcium powder without D3. I have bearded dragons, so I keep calcium + D3 and thought it would be good for my cham to get a little D3 in him since he isn't eating.... All my feeders are gut loaded good, I just cant get him to eat anything.
Click to expand...
Well d3 is good but too much can be deadly
 
The only way to get a hold of silkworms or hornworms for most people is ordering online. However very few chameleons ever turn one down and it can possibly end a hunger strike if that's what this is. However it sounds more like he is physically sick. Even if it was a hunger strike I have never heard a chameleon willingly going longer than two or three weeks without food unless they were sick. He needs to you to try something, so you either need to order feeders online to try and prepare for a vet visit if it comes to that. Or just bite the bullet and go to the vet. You just gave a bunch of reasons why you can't do what I suggested, and it really gave me no reason to believe you are actually interested in trying. I don't meant to sounf rude or offensive, but what you said were pretty much excuses. Instead of saying I don't have scales, why not say I don't have them now but I will buy some? Why not say, do you have a good way to get silkworms or hornworms either through a good website or whatever? Those answers will possibly solve your problem with less hurt on your wallet than the vet. However in my personal opinion, he needs to go to a vet. He looks more dehydrated to me than underweight, however I do not know what he looked like when you first got him.
 
HOLY #!$@ my little guy ate 2 superworms for me today!

He let 3 small dubia walk right past his nose. he wouldn't touch them :(

So glad he ate something! now he has ate 1 dubia and 4-5 superworms in the past month. ugh... still not good...
 
Have you taken him to see a vet? I brought mine in for a physical and found out he had giardia AGAIN which we had successfully treated but it has returned. Whenever he has this it's like he hates food, and I'm amazed at how he has survived while eating so little. They are stubborn, hardy creatures and as long as he has energy I wouldn't worry too much. ironically the treatment also kills his appetite, so it's been a loooong few months while we deal with this. just have patience and keep offering even if you are fairly certain he won't take. one day mine just decided to eat again and that was the first time he willingly ate in 2 months (force fed him up to that point)
 
Thanks,

One more problem im have is he wont eat anything from the cup I have inside his cage.

The very few things he has ate has been me placing the feeders on the screen near him and then he will eat. He walk past the cup daily, looks in it and everything, but won't touch them unless they are roaming free in the cage climbing on the sides.

My problem is I have a bunch of fake vines/plants... and also a lot of climbing branches. so, the feeders always run straight for the fake stuff and hide in the leaves and vines... I cant really stick my hand in there and get them back out without taking some branches loose and moving a bunch of stuff around... and even if I would do that daily, id have to take the cage down, turn it around so i can see the back of the cage (where they all run to) and well anyways, it would take forever to do all this.

id have to disassemble half the branches and take the cage down from the table its sitting on etc etc...

i know its not good to leave feeders in there like that. you should take them out every day and put fresh gut loaded ones in there, but how does everyone else do it when their chams don't eat!
 
Have you tried a different type of cup. Like a totally different style. I am assuming he is a wild caught so he has never been properly cup trained. So the best way to cup train a chameleon, especially a wild caught who is older and there fore harder to cup feed and train, needs to have a shorter cup in the beginning at least and fed prey that is hard to resist from it, such as soft bodied worms.
 
Reptiles can go long periods of time without eating. My veiled does this as well, I've spent a good chunk of money and I've learned from it. First I would make sure he is hydrated, I would hand mist until I seen him drink, everyday if possible, he must stay hydrated.
I would get a fecal sample examined especially since he may be wild caught.
I would not offer him any food, take all feeders out of his cage
I would offer something like a hornworm, something that would normally entice most chameleons
Keep track of his weight
 
Alexander1 said:
Reptiles can go long periods of time without eating. My veiled does this as well, I've spent a good chunk of money and I've learned from it. First I would make sure he is hydrated, I would hand mist until I seen him drink, everyday if possible, he must stay hydrated.
I would get a fecal sample examined especially since he may be wild caught.
I would not offer him any food, take all feeders out of his cage
I would offer something like a hornworm, something that would normally entice most chameleons
Keep track of his weight
Click to expand...
Mine had the same problem,but then I put flies in his cage and he went wild. Now that is all he will eat. I catch them with a plastic bottle with slits cut in it, and put over the slits,just so they could get in. Then they can't find their way out. I know I;m taking a chance with the pesticide, but I've been feeding him primarily flies for more than a year (hard to find when it gets cold or worse,rainy. Oh yea,I forgot the worst part. You have to put fish, meat that will go bad or , their favorite,dog poo. I know it's risky and these guys know way more than me,but mine would not eat anything for about three weeks, so I was deperate.. Good luck!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Briee
NEED help chameleons not eating !
2
Replies
38
Views
1K
nightanole
nightanole
A
HELP PLZ both eyes closed and cant feed him
Replies
13
Views
550
Beman
Beman
Lt.WorfReportingForDuty
Help me determine if these are swollen ankles? Gout symptoms or normal behavior?
Replies
7
Views
504
elizaann2
elizaann2
Chameleon-lover
Chameleon's leg
Replies
6
Views
268
Beman
Beman
M
Jackson with infections and not eating.
2
Replies
28
Views
1K
MzLaurie
M
Back
Top Bottom