My jacksons Cham quit eating. Help!

[JacksonsChams]

So I've had my chameleon for a couple months and he stared eating real quick after I got him. he's a male jacksons. I'm not real sure about his age.i feed him crickets. I tied to feed him mealworms but he wouldn't eat them either. His temperature in his cage goes from 77-82 during the day. It's kinda hard to keep it up in the winter. He barely gets darker when I'm putting mealworms in or filling his water bowl or some thing. His eyes look the same so I don't think he's dehydrated. Recently I put more vines in (he was still in there because he won't let me take him out yet) and since then he quit eating. I fed him out of a cup sometimes and he ate them but he also ate ones in his cage too, before he quit eating. I don't know what to do. He hasn't been eating for about a week.

 

[Andee]

So it's been a week since you changed his cage? He's probably just upset and adjusting with the cage change. I really wouldn't worry until around 2 weeks or you notice weight loss.

 

[kinyonga]

What are the vines?

 

[JacksonsChams]

But he ate only about 2 days after I got him so it makes me worried.

 

[kinyonga]

Are you saying he hasn't eaten in almost 2 months...nothing at all??
If you're letting the temperatures go too cool during the day it will slow the metabolism and he won't eat.
Please answer the questions in the how to ask for help thread at the top of the health forum and post some recent photos of him please.

 

[JacksonsChams]

No I meant it only took him 2 days to start eating when I got him. He hasn't been eating for about a week

 

[JacksonsChams]

CHAMELEON- I got him a couple months ago. He hasn't let me handle him yet. Not sure how old. Maybe 6 months?

FEEDING- I give him crickets. I just dump them in his cage and he'll eat them, but sometimes I put them in a cup and he'll those too. I tried to give him meal worms after he quit eating, but he Didn't want them. He ate just fine before I put more vines in his cage.

SUPPLEMENTS- I feed The crickets vitamin food and I dust them with calcium powder without vitamin D3

WATER- he's got A bowl with a tube in it that makes bubbles so he can see the water, and my automatic mister goes off every four hours. I've never seen him drink before.

FECES- it looks normal to me. Not runny or anything.

Cage info
All screen reptibreeze chameleon kit. A daylight blue heat lamp, a 5.0 uvb, and an extra heat lamp. The cage is 1 1/2ft x 1 1/2ft x 2 1/2 feet
The plants are artificial. The cage is about 2 1/2 feet off the ground. I live in the Midwest.

CURRENT PROBLEM - he quit eating and I'm getting worried.

 

[Andee]

I would go with he is likely dehydrated, under supplemented from the sounds of it, and likely far too warm.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/jacksons/

 

[kinyonga]

You need to improve your insects diet...I feed/gutload crickets, superworms, etc with w aside assortment of greens and veggies such as dandelion greens, kale, endive, collards, carrots, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, squash, etc and a little fruit such as berries, melon, apple, pear.

I use a Repti-sun 5.0 long linear UVB tube light and a regular and household bulb of a wattage that produces the appropriate temperature in the basking area...no colored lights are advised and no lights at night.

Inuse a phosphorous-free calcium powder at most feedings and for a Jacksons dust with a phosphorous-free calcium/D3 powder once a month and a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A.

The cage isn't near a window is it?

 

[JacksonsChams]

I use the heat lamps because the temp is kinda hard to keep up in the winter. With the lamps the Temperature is like 77-82. No he isn't that close to a window.

 

[Remkon]

Don't give water from a bowl... If you mist him often enough he will get enough opportunity to drink. Odds are he won't use the bowl and even if he does it's a breeding ground for bacteria.

I'm not sure what your worry is with temperatures. During the day it's easy enough to warm the cage and room temp (21C) is an ok ambient temperature, during the night temperatures can drop by a lot, they can take cold nights as long as they can warm up during the day.

 

[JacksonsChams]

Ok thanks so much for the tips but why isn't he eating and how can I get him to start eating again?

 

[leedragon]

please Watch this
he is most likely tired of the same food and is dehydrated. when they are dehydrated they eat much less, what I have observe.
you need to gutload aswell, what are the temperatures? how long have you had it? how old is it? what kinda of lights do you have? how does it´s pop look like, what colors? it´s good if you can put Pictures of it and it´s Cage.

 

[JacksonsChams]

Thanks for suggesting that video I think I'll change some stuff around a little. How do you upload a picture? And I answered the questions from the health subforum in one of my previous comments.