need to fatten my little guy up

[DJTorres]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - bb ambilobe, male (i was told), 4 months (1/15/14). had him for about a month now
Handling - not to often hes kinda skiddish ( maybe twice a week or if he wants )
Feeding - mostly crickets , tried mealworms but they freaked him out gonna try again this week , from what ive noticed he eats 2/3 crickets a day (only seen him eat once) ,i put them in a feeder i made so they dont get lost on him , im giving the crickets mostly potatoes (looking for something to help him fatten up)
Supplements - rep-cal multi (twice this month) exo terra calcium with d3 (once this month) exo terra calcium (every feeding)
Watering - combo drip (custom) mist by hand (he freaks out when the mister goes off) Hand mist once in the morning (about 8 ish) again at about 4ish and again at about 7, i have seen him drinking but more than once i kinda had to help him over to the dripper
Fecal Description - poop light brown urate white (maybe have seen a dot of yellow once or twice) . Has never been tested for parasites
History - only seen him eat once , lately his been sleeping later (b4 he was up at about 730 now hes been getting up at about 10 11

Cage Info:
Cage Type - exo terra glass (with free range combo) exo terra is 18x18x24 total space 20x60x36 with tree
Lighting - zoo med hood with zoo med 5.0 uvb bulb (also gets nat sun light near the window) have lights on from 8am till 5/6 pm
Temperature - basking sot about 87/90 (depending on the exact location)lower end about 82 ish (out side of tank 83-86) at night temps about 75, i use exo terra dial and all things living probes just to be sure
Humidity -humidity levels about 55 - 70 (over when i spray) , misting and live plants do it for me along with moss like carpet on the floor . same as temps
Plants - live plants are umbrella , pothos also use fake
Placement - loc in the corner of the room near window , no fans vents or high traffic near his area (but do plan on opening his window when it gets a little nicer out) 6foot 4 inches from floor to top of his space
Location - bronx ny

Current Problem - his legs are looking a little skinny to me just wanna get out in front of any problems that might come up

 

[Psychobunny]

A 4 month old cham needs to eat more then 2 or 3 cricks a day, more like a dozen!!

You dont need to fatten him up, just feed him normaly

 

[Lpsouth1978]

Mix it up for him. The more types of feeders the better. Most you will probably have to order online. Also, you need to gutload your crickets with much more than just potatos. The potato will keep your crickets alive, but provides VERY little to your chameleon. You should be feeding the crickets a quality dry gutload and quality fresh greens and veggies. You can find lots of info about good gutload recipes on here or you can order them online.

 

[Cait0420]

You need to feed way more than 3 crickets a day. Young chams are growing so they need ALOT MORE than 3 crickets a day. Try some pheonix worms or wax worms or silk worms or Isopods, etc. etc. also you NEED to gutload your feeders with leafy greens, carrots, sweet red pepper, etc. there's a whole gutload blog by sandrachameleon you can look up on here, it's like the gutload bible. You can also buy gutload like cricket crack or bug burger

 

[jamjam]

are you only offering 2/3? or thats all you see him eat? maybe a diy feeder cup is in store to help monitor.

anyone else think temps might be a bit warm? 4 months old pushing 90, with an ambient of 82.

the moss like carpet can breed bacteria too cant it?

lights could also be on a few hours longer.

btw uv cannot penetrate to glass window so cant be added as a uv source.

 

[DJTorres]

im offering like 7-8 crickets but he wont eat them , ill only see 2 or 3 gone when i get home ,as far as the light goes theres nothing but plants blocking at some points, ill look into the gut loading chart and the other feeders thanx , anything i can do to try and trigger him to eat more ? im gonna take a week off to see if i can monitor him a little better

 

[raven1139]

I have a 4 month old Panther and he eats around 20 per day. You need to free range the crickets and not cup feed him. I tried cup feeding in the past, and it doesn't offer them enough stimulation. They love to hunt!

 

[DJTorres]

thanx raven trying it out now i put in about 15 to see what happens , dont wanna go crazy with them and i put some meal worms in the cup dish

 

[Psychobunny]

im offering like 7-8 crickets but he wont eat them , ill only see 2 or 3 gone when i get home ,as far as the light goes theres nothing but plants blocking at some points, ill look into the gut loading chart and the other feeders thanx , anything i can do to try and trigger him to eat more ? im gonna take a week off to see if i can monitor him a little better

Well, you have do a little better than potatoes for gutloading

Can you post a pic of your cage setup and cham?
There may be a reason why he doesn't want to eat, yours temps may be wrong, cage setup, stress, any number of things can make a cham not want to eat, esp if he knows you are watching him.

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

It may also be the size of the feeder. If the crickets you are offering are too big, he may only eat a couple to test and then leave the rest alone.

 

[jamjam]

I have a 4 month old Panther and he eats around 20 per day. You need to free range the crickets and not cup feed him. I tried cup feeding in the past, and it doesn't offer them enough stimulation. They love to hunt!

I can agree with this, have a 3 month old. he will soemtimes eat from the cup but only as they attempt to climb the sides. much better success free ranging them. few times ive come home and only few crickets are gone i dump them in his cage and goes chasing after them

 

[DJTorres]

thanx so much guys , i changed what i gut loaded with (carrots , apples ,oranges,romaine lettuce) , free ranged his feeding (so he could hunt) , changed his enclosure a bit (took stuff out to monitor him better ) and i already see a change in his behavior .... way more active and of the 15 crickets i fed him only see 2 left ... put out a few mealworms but no go on those yet ... im going to continue to monitor him ... ill post a few picks in a bit

 

[DJTorres]

Pictures of his setup

 

[DJTorres]

pics of my little guy

 

[Cait0420]

He's a cutie

 

[spottea]

Mealworms aren't very wiggly, or particularly nutritious. Dubia roaches, silkworms, would be better if you can get some. Some of the sponsors on here sell them, as you will have to mail order most likely.

 

[Psychobunny]

Cage looks nice, but I would add more horizontal branches, like 8 to 10'' directly below the basking lamp, and more about 6'' below the UVB (unless it's more than 5%).

I would also add more foliage, like those fake bendy vines with leaves on them, just to fill in the empty spaces.
Chams like lots of places to hide. It makes them feel more secure and less stressed

 

[DJTorres]

Cage looks nice, but I would add more horizontal branches, like 8 to 10'' directly below the basking lamp, and more about 6'' below the UVB (unless it's more than 5%).

I would also add more foliage, like those fake bendy vines with leaves on them, just to fill in the empty spaces.
Chams like lots of places to hide. It makes them feel more secure and less stressed

ok ill add a few horizontal , i actually took a lot of stuff out to try and keep an eye on his feeding ... maybe ill add a bit back

 

[deathdealer91]

Try wax worms. My cham goes nuts for them. you might have to put it on a branch in front of him but he should eat them. they are kinda small.