My young Panther hasn't eaten for awhile.

[kungfugi]

Cham -Male Sambava, approx 3 months old
Handling -once since I brought him home 7 days ago
Feeding - small crickets, waxworms
Supplements - Calcium
Watering - Misting every 2 hours for 3 minutes (it's a little dry so I have to keep humidity up)
Fecal - Black with a whitish/yellowish tip

Cage - mesh cage, 24x24x48
Lighting - Reptisun 5.0, 50W Exo Terra Heat Glo Infrared, 6500K grow light.
Tempurature - Basking is 88, middle of cage is 78 and it all drops to 76 at night.
Humidity - It sometimes drops to around 30% but is almost always at least 40% up to mid 50's.
Plants - I have a Pothos and a small umbrella plant
Placement - it's on small storage shelves/table 2 feet off the ground.
Location - Toronto Ontario. It's winter here

Problem - My cham isn't eating. I got him on friday and he didn't eat for a few days which I read that it's pretty normal since he just moved. On monday morning I tried hand feeding him and he ate 4 medium sized crickets from me. It's now friday again and that is all that I know he's eaten. He also runs away if I get with in a foot of him so no more hand feeding. I let the crickets run around, and he may have eaten a few. I also put wax worms in a dish, but he hasn't touched those. I'm getting worried.

1st pic - The day after I got him
2nd/3rd pic - Just a few minutes ago

 

[carol5208]

When you say medium sized crickets, what do you mean?. He is three months old and should be eating small crickets. Maybe they are too big for him. Is he drinking? Try feeding smaller ones and see if he does not go for them. I would count the crickets you put in there and try and keep track or cup feed them.

 

[kungfugi]

The crickets he ate were no bigger then 1/2", he wouldn't go after the really small ones. And he won't cup feed.
I counted the crickets but a few of them hide and I don't find them till later so I'm a few off. He may have eaten max 6 crickets. I wouldn't be off my cricket count more then that.

 

[dlegare]

I would try 1/4 inch crickets. Put about 10 in his cage in the morning about 20 min after lights on.

 

[dlegare]

Personally I believe his cage is too big for him at this age. If possible I would try putting him into a cage about 1/2 to 1/3 the size of the current cage. If that isn't possible you may want to try cup feeding. Also if whitish part of his poop is yellowish or has some yellow in it he may not be hydrating properly.

You may also want to put in some more fake plants or another Pothos. Chams like to be hidden or at least they like to think they are hidden.

And some chams don't like an audience when they are eating. I use a web-cam to spy on my chams...

 

[Snootchie0210]

Hey. I just got a panther a week ago as we'll. I feed him 1/4 size crickets. The first 2 days I had him I had no problem cup feeding him. But the 3rd day I had to take him out of the enclosure so I can install a mister. After that he became a little skittish around me. So I just put small crickets on his cup (deli cup) put it by his face (very slowly) so he knows there's food in there. And I just leave the cup in his enclosure. Did that for a couple of days before I went to work and when I get home the cup will be empty and there'll be poop on the plants. So I know he ate. And he's getting used to me again now. I can cup feed him a few more crickets by hand when I get home from work.
Hope this helps.

 

[kungfugi]

watching with a web-cam, that's creepy. But really smart haha

I do see him drinking, and I mist a lot so I don't know why he wouldn't be hydrated. As for hiding places, I don't know where he is in the cage most of the time. I'll try getting a plant or fake plant/vine thing to put in this cage though.

I don't really have funds for another cage. Maybe a 12"x12"x18" glass with mesh top. would that work?

I'll see if I can get out to the reptile store today and get a bunch of small crickets.