My Chameleon is vegetarian.....

[ChamelaChameleon]

Carmelo is at it again. HUNGER STRIKE!. I really don't know the last time he ate his feeders. He loves grasshoppers but I can't find any. I cant even get him to eat a hornworm. He hasn't eaten in over 20 days. He has not lost weight but is clingy, wants to stay out of his enclosure (he started this a month ago) after outside time, he basks with his back to the screen door, grumpiness has increased 1000 fold, his grip is super strong - when I take him out of the enclosure he grips my hand with all of his might. I have offered him every feeder I can find but he just turns his back. Now the pothos and money tree are taking a beating. I believe that's how he is able to sustain himself. Eating the leaves.
Poops are far and few inbetween. The last one was white. Suggestions would be helpful.

Any suggestions

 

[MzLaurie]

so sorry to hear this. You might have a parasite problem. Get some collard greens from the store and wash the whole stalk good and keep it in a vase with water in the frig. Then make him a salad with it. It has vitamins that he needs. I would also buy carnivore diet. Let me take a pic of mine for you. You need to get a fresh fecal and have a vet test it. They can test with a smear stain if they are equipped.

 

[MzLaurie]

Oh he is holding on with all his might cause he is weak and at risk of falling. You might want to make adjustments to his cage in case he falls. I had put bubble wrap on the bottom of mine once to break the fall.

 

[Beman]

Carmelo is at it again. HUNGER STRIKE!. I really don't know the last time he ate his feeders. He loves grasshoppers but I can't find any. I cant even get him to eat a hornworm. He hasn't eaten in over 20 days. He has not lost weight but is clingy, wants to stay out of his enclosure (he started this a month ago) after outside time, he basks with his back to the screen door, grumpiness has increased 1000 fold, his grip is super strong - when I take him out of the enclosure he grips my hand with all of his might. I have offered him every feeder I can find but he just turns his back. Now the pothos and money tree are taking a beating. I believe that's how he is able to sustain himself. Eating the leaves.
Poops are far and few inbetween. The last one was white. Suggestions would be helpful.

Any suggestions

When last did you do a full husbandry review? Are you counting feeders to ensure he is not eating anything? When was his last fecal and what where the results of it? Can he see the new baby you got?

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

Last fecal was January 2023. All clear. Late November 2022 he had Giardia. He was treated and returned 2 clean fecals. No parasites. He can't see baby Bolt. I am counting his feeders- he looks at them and turns his back. I leave the feeders in the feeder run for a few days then I dump them and give him fresh ones. I take him outside for natural sun everyday. He climbs up the tree swing multiple times. He does not appear weak, his grip is good. He climbs up the tree swing fast because I only let him get so high, I then remove him and let him start over at the bottom. He repeats this between 5 -8 times. Last January, Carmelo went on a 19 day hunger strike. However he at least ate a hornworm a few times a week. This time he is not eating anything. Superworms- no
Hornworms -no
Crickets - no
Silks - no
Other feeders - no. And to top things off, he just started a shed.
Current photos below. He is inside of the feeder. Doing everything but eating those crickets at the top.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

so sorry to hear this. You might have a parasite problem. Get some collard greens from the store and wash the whole stalk good and keep it in a vase with water in the frig. Then make him a salad with it. It has vitamins that he needs. I would also buy carnivore diet. Let me take a pic of mine for you. You need to get a fresh fecal and have a vet test it. They can test with a smear stain if they are equipped.

I will try the collard greens.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

I'm pretty sure the last time he ate was around August 15th. So we are on an extremely long hunger strike. I guess he's just eating Pothos and Money Tree leaves.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

This clingy thing started before baby Bolt arrived.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

@Beman @MzLaurie new issue. I put the Cricket bin on top of the enclosure. Carmelo made his way over and looked as if he wanted some. I put 4 crickets in (free range). He went over to the spot where three crickets were, climbed the screen and was within an inch of all 3 crickets and could not shoot his tongue. He didn't know how to get them in his mouth.. The other day he was drinking from the dripper but he was letting the water drip down over his mouth. He did not use his tongue and cracked his mouth to allow the water to drizzle into his mouth. I immediately took him out and offered crickets. He acted as if he could not open his mouth. I then opened his mouth and gave him a cricket which he slowly ate. I put a second one in his mouth which he just held in his mouth about 5 minutes as if he did not know how to chew. I put him back in the cage. He slowly chewed the Cricket and I could see his tongue after he ate the Cricket. He was kinda smacking his tongue. It looked fine but someghing must be wrong with his tongue. Im taking him to the vet ASAP.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

I'll do a husbandry review on the weekend.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

Carmelo last ate late August. Somewhere around the 26th. I checked my grasdhopper order.

 

[Beman]

@Beman @MzLaurie new issue. I put the Cricket bin on top of the enclosure. Carmelo made his way over and looked as if he wanted some. I put 4 crickets in (free range). He went over to the spot where three crickets were climbed the screen was within an inch of all 3 crickets and could not shoot his tongue. He didn't know how to get them in his mouth.. The other day he was drinking from the dripper but he was letting the water drip down over his mouth. He did not use his tongue and cracked his mouth to allow the water to drizzle into his mouth. I immediately took him out and offered crickets. He acted as if he could not open his mouth. I then opened his mouth and gave him a cricket which he slowly ate. I put a second one in his mouth which he just held in his mouth about 5 minutes as if he did not know how to chew. I put him back in the cage. He slowly chewed the Cricket and I could see his tongue after he ate the Cricket. He was kinda smacking his tongue. It looked fine but someghing must be wrong with his tongue. Im taking him to the vet ASAP.

Check for mouth rot issues.... This is a common thing when they go off food as well. If it is a tongue injury they will need to see if he can shoot it at all.

Let me know which multivitamin you have been using.

He is by no means thin so I would not force feed yet. You may need to hold the feeder up to his mouth so he can grab it from you.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

Check for mouth rot issues.... This is a common thing when they go off food as well. If it is a tongue injury they will need to see if he can shoot it at all.

Let me know which multivitamin you have been using.

He is by no means thin so I would not force feed yet. You may need to hold the feeder up to his mouth so he can grab it from you.

I did not see anything that looks like mouth rot. I tried holding the feeder to his mouth but he would not open. I did force feed it too him because he tried so hard to get it in his mouth.

 

[Beman]

I did not see anything that looks like mouth rot. I tried holding the feeder to his mouth but he would not open. I did force feed it too him because he tried so hard to get it in his mouth.

Force feeding an insect is one thing... Carnivore care is a last ditch item to force feed IMO.

What multivitamin have you been using?

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

I use reptivite w D3 twice a month. Calcium without D3 every feeding. I did notice more saliva than usual in his mouth but his mouth was nice and pink.

 

[Beman]

I use reptivite w D3 twice a month. Calcium without D3 every feeding. I did notice more saliva than usual in his mouth but his mouth was nice and pink.

ok good. And when you put the insect in his mouth did the tongue function normally or was he having issues keeping it in the mouth?

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

He did fine with the Cricket in his mouth. The 1st one he chewed it slowly right away. 2nd one he held in his mouth about 5 minutes and then began to chew.

 

[Beman]

He did fine with the Cricket in his mouth. The 1st one he chewed it slowly right away. 2nd one he held in his mouth about 5 minutes and then began to chew.

Ok and when you saw him trying to eat the others on his own. Was he grabbing at them or just looking or trying to shoot?

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

I replaced his uvb bulb April 2023

 

[MzLaurie11]

His weight does look good. But if there is trauma in the mouth somewhere that can change quickly. My Hunter is on the Carnivore diet right now and he seems to like it. The vet gave me rubber tubing to put on the syringe so he can bite down on it on open up without getting hurt. Works great. He smells like a vitamin though! Let me take a pic of them. Two full syringes a day for his size.