My chameleon won’t eat

Mountain Dragon

Chameleon Enthusiast
Hello I just got a chameleon yesterday morning his name is yoshi and he is a male. I’m guessing he is bout two months they didn’t tell me how old he was. I did a ton of research before hand and have all the right stuff. No light at night, supplements, linear UVB, mister, dripper, etc. but he is not eating I have wax worms to feed him until my order of black fly larvae come. I tryed bowl feeding, tong feeding, hand feeding and he is not eating I also tryed apples and walnut nothing I need help p.s wayyyyyyy more plants are coming in the mail
 

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This little one would only be used to eating crickets. You need to go buy small crickets no larger then 1/4 of an inch. He should be taking down at least 20 a day at this age. You will not feed him ANYTHING other then insects they are insectivores and can not digest fruits, veg, and nuts. You also want to add many live plants to fill out that cage. not small plants you want ones with height so hopefully that is what you ordered. Remove all fake ones and put them on the outside of the cage to provide cover but so he can not eat them. Cover the soil with 1 inch rock so he can not eat the soil or the rocks. UVB needs to be positioned directly over the branch. What UVB type did you buy? Also he should not be able to get closer then 8-10 inches to the heat bulb. What wattage and type of heat bulb did you buy.


Here is a link to proper plants. Buy the Veiled tested ones. https://chameleonacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Chameleon-Plants-061321.pdf

Link to husbandry program https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/
 
This little one would only be used to eating crickets. You need to go buy small crickets no larger then 1/4 of an inch. He should be taking down at least 20 a day at this age. You will not feed him ANYTHING other then insects they are insectivores and can not digest fruits, veg, and nuts. You also want to add many live plants to fill out that cage. not small plants you want ones with height so hopefully that is what you ordered. Remove all fake ones and put them on the outside of the cage to provide cover but so he can not eat them. Cover the soil with 1 inch rock so he can not eat the soil or the rocks. UVB needs to be positioned directly over the branch. What UVB type did you buy? Also he should not be able to get closer then 8-10 inches to the heat bulb. What wattage and type of heat bulb did you buy.


Here is a link to proper plants. Buy the Veiled tested ones. https://chameleonacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Chameleon-Plants-061321.pdf

Link to husbandry program https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/
My dad won’t let me but crickets is there anything else. Ok I won’t feed him fruit I just saw u could feed them fruit as a treat. And yea I ordered tall plants. I’m pretty sure I got a linear 5.0 uvb and a 60w bulb.
 
My dad won’t let me but crickets is there anything else. Ok I won’t feed him fruit I just saw u could feed them fruit as a treat. And yea I ordered tall plants. I’m pretty sure I got a linear 5.0 uvb and a 60w bulb.
  • Your Chameleon - Vieled, male, and guessing two months. Two days
  • Handling - Once a day
  • Feeding - Wax worms until I get my order of black fly larvae Four worms twice a day Gutloading with apples
  • Supplements - repasy superfoods calcium plus no d3
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? I use dripper and mister I mist three min before lights turn on and three min after lights are off Do you see your chameleon drinking yes I do
  • Fecal Description - Haven’t seen poop
  • History - got him from petco but the lady wasn’t a normal petco person she actually knew what she was doing and felt good to get him out of this horrible petco she said and that I did a lot of research that she felt good letting me buy him

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - all screen and 30 by 30 by 18
  • Lighting - Uvb linear 5.0 and heat lamp 60w twelve hours on and off twelve
  • Temperature - Baskjng spot is 78 and floor is 70 Lowest night temp is 65
  • Humidity - 67 humidity By misting What do you use to measure humidity a humidity and temp duo
  • Plants - Yes a money tree and hanging fake plants that he can’t chew through
  • Placement - Where is your cage located in my room Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? No not near anything but my bed At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? It’s about three feet off the ground
  • Location - Where are you geographically located? In Springfield Missiouri
 
Did you tell your dad that crickets are an important bug for them to eat? There are other bugs you can get though like the Dubia roaches, tiny ones, black soldier fly larvae and locusts but they would all have to be small ones.
 
There is a good chance that the baby will not eat any other feeder. It takes time to move them over to new feeders which we do not do unless we mix them in with the feeders they are used to. It is pretty simple without the food he is used to this baby may not eat at all. This leads to decline and death. While your dad may not like crickets this is an extremely important feeder for young chameleons. I hate to say this but if your dad will not allow crickets or dubia roaches then you should consider taking this baby back to the store. They can not only have bsfl, superworms, and waxworms. These are not adequate alone for nutrition. These feeders are only one aspect of providing a diverse diet. The Dubia and the Crickets are what we gutload to provide the rest. Also your looking at having to get TINY ones or this baby will not be able to eat them.

Did you get a T8 fixture or a T5HO. There is a big difference and if it is not the correct distance to basking the chameleon will not get the UVB it needs and develop MBD.

If you fill out the form above with detail we can provide more help.
 
There is a good chance that the baby will not eat any other feeder. It takes time to move them over to new feeders which we do not do unless we mix them in with the feeders they are used to. It is pretty simple without the food he is used to this baby may not eat at all. This leads to decline and death. While your dad may not like crickets this is an extremely important feeder for young chameleons. I hate to say this but if your dad will not allow crickets or dubia roaches then you should consider taking this baby back to the store. They can not only have bsfl, superworms, and waxworms. These are not adequate alone for nutrition. These feeders are only one aspect of providing a diverse diet. The Dubia and the Crickets are what we gutload to provide the rest. Also your looking at having to get TINY ones or this baby will not be able to eat them.

Did you get a T8 fixture or a T5HO. There is a big difference and if it is not the correct distance to basking the chameleon will not get the UVB it needs and develop MBD.

If you fill out the form above with detail we can provide more help.
I’m going to get crickets my dad cares about the chameleon to so if it’s life or death he may let me is there a way to transition him from crickets to bfl
 
There is a good chance that the baby will not eat any other feeder. It takes time to move them over to new feeders which we do not do unless we mix them in with the feeders they are used to. It is pretty simple without the food he is used to this baby may not eat at all. This leads to decline and death. While your dad may not like crickets this is an extremely important feeder for young chameleons. I hate to say this but if your dad will not allow crickets or dubia roaches then you should consider taking this baby back to the store. They can not only have bsfl, superworms, and waxworms. These are not adequate alone for nutrition. These feeders are only one aspect of providing a diverse diet. The Dubia and the Crickets are what we gutload to provide the rest. Also your looking at having to get TINY ones or this baby will not be able to eat them.

Did you get a T8 fixture or a T5HO. There is a big difference and if it is not the correct distance to basking the chameleon will not get the UVB it needs and develop MBD.

If you fill out the form above with detail we can provide more help.
How far away should his basking spot be from the bulb
 
I’m going to get crickets my dad cares about the chameleon to so if it’s life or death he may let me is there a way to transition him from crickets to bfl
But you can not only feed BSFL... This is what I am trying to tell you hun. This is not a diverse enough diet for the chameleon. It is like you eating lettuce everyday and only lettuce. See the image below. These are the feeders... BUT it is not just one feeder you feed... It is a variety of feeders which would be like you eating a piece of chicken, potatoes, and a veg. Each feeder has something more to it. And we gutload specifically crickets and roaches. Silkworms, and hornworms have their own specific food and they grow much more quickly which tends to be bad for young chameleons. So you could feed ongoing a mixture of bsfl, superworms, crickets or dubia.

chameleon-food(1).jpg


chameleon-gutload.jpg
 
How far away should his basking spot be from the bulb
Depends on the temperature at the branch. It should not be any hotter then 80-82 at the branch. You need a wired temp gauge with a probe. The probe would be hooked to the branch below the heat fixure with a zip tie. https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Digi...ords=zoo+med+temp+gauge&qid=1624816859&sr=8-6

But the UVB is very very important. Take a picture of the box the linear fixture came in so we can see if it is a T8 or T5HO.
 
But you can not only feed BSFL... This is what I am trying to tell you hun. This is not a diverse enough diet for the chameleon. It is like you eating lettuce everyday and only lettuce. See the image below. These are the feeders... BUT it is not just one feeder you feed... It is a variety of feeders which would be like you eating a piece of chicken, potatoes, and a veg. Each feeder has something more to it. And we gutload specifically crickets and roaches. Silkworms, and hornworms have their own specific food and they grow much more quickly which tends to be bad for young chameleons. So you could feed ongoing a mixture of bsfl, superworms, crickets or dubia.

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Okay I know that I’m not dumb but I’m rotating his food what I meant is his first week is blfl and every week we are switching it or I haven’t deciding yet I’m going to do two insects with each other every week then switch the two insects but thanks for ye help anyways
 
But you can not only feed BSFL... This is what I am trying to tell you hun. This is not a diverse enough diet for the chameleon. It is like you eating lettuce everyday and only lettuce. See the image below. These are the feeders... BUT it is not just one feeder you feed... It is a variety of feeders which would be like you eating a piece of chicken, potatoes, and a veg. Each feeder has something more to it. And we gutload specifically crickets and roaches. Silkworms, and hornworms have their own specific food and they grow much more quickly which tends to be bad for young chameleons. So you could feed ongoing a mixture of bsfl, superworms, crickets or dubia.

View attachment 304426

View attachment 304425
And btw I got a
How far away should his basking spot be from the bulb
Btw it’s a t5ho
 
But you can not only feed BSFL... This is what I am trying to tell you hun. This is not a diverse enough diet for the chameleon. It is like you eating lettuce everyday and only lettuce. See the image below. These are the feeders... BUT it is not just one feeder you feed... It is a variety of feeders which would be like you eating a piece of chicken, potatoes, and a veg. Each feeder has something more to it. And we gutload specifically crickets and roaches. Silkworms, and hornworms have their own specific food and they grow much more quickly which tends to be bad for young chameleons. So you could feed ongoing a mixture of bsfl, superworms, crickets or dubia.

View attachment 304426

View attachment 304425
Btw this is what I’m going to do we just got a lot more plants so he feels safer if he doesn’t eat by tomorrow we are getting crickets and slowly going to transition him to blfl (I’m not always going to feed him blfl) it’s just what I order for the first week then I will continue to switch the bugs out occasionally with a cricket after he has gotten used to other insects
 
Btw this is what I’m going to do we just got a lot more plants so he feels safer if he doesn’t eat by tomorrow we are getting crickets and slowly going to transition him to blfl (I’m not always going to feed him blfl) it’s just what I order for the first week then I will continue to switch the bugs out occasionally with a cricket after he has gotten used to other insects
And I got the insects from grub terra but they only have some stuff what’s another good website for super worms bsfl and etc
 
Btw this is what I’m going to do we just got a lot more plants so he feels safer if he doesn’t eat by tomorrow we are getting crickets and slowly going to transition him to blfl (I’m not always going to feed him blfl) it’s just what I order for the first week then I will continue to switch the bugs out occasionally with a cricket after he has gotten used to other insects
Ok you are not understanding... It is not rotating their food It is providing a variety of multiple types of feeders at the same time. NOT 1. This does not give them what they need when you are doing feeders like BSFL, superworms, and waxworms. The only time you can do this is with a feeder like crickets or dubia because you gutload them. Maybe someone else can step in and help you.

Here is an accurate husbandry program that will teach you quite a bit. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/
 
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