Neko won't eat - help?

[hinoco1225]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male veiled, about 3 months old, body is slightly over 2 inches long (not including tail). I have had him for 5 days.
Handling - Once last Thursday, once today to take a picture
Feeding - Only small crickets so far, gutloaded with Fluker's and fresh fruits & veggies
Supplements - Rep-Cal w/o D3 every day, Rep-Cal w/ D3 every other week, Reptivite once a month
Watering - I mist 3-4 times a day. I have not seen him drink yet.
Fecal Description - dark with white urates, never tested for parasites as far as I know
History - I ordered him from Tiki Tiki Reptiles. Chad told me he is a 3 month old Orange Crush baby.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - 16 x 16 x 20 Reptibreeze
Lighting - Reptisun 5.0 and regular 34 Watt bulb, on 9AM-9PM
Temperature - Basking spot is 82, cage floor is 79. I know this is not a good range, but my roommates refuse to allow the AC to be below 80. I turn on a fan to help circulate the air a couple of times a day (pointed away from the chams obviously), and that helps for a while.
Humidity - stays between 50 and 85
Plants - live pothos and ficus
Placement - The cage is inside my large walk-in closet so my other pets don't disturb the chams (I have a towel separating their cages so they don't disturb each other either). The top of the cage is about 4.5 feet from the floor.
Location - Kennesaw, GA

Current Problem - Neko is not eating much. I personally have seen him eat one cricket twice, and I know he sometimes eats without me seeing, but it still doesn't seem like enough. He has eaten maybe 18-20 crickets since I got him 5 days ago. I put 5 small crickets in his cage yesterday at 9 AM, and this morning there was still (at least) one in there from yesterday. My little girl ate like a pig when she was his age. And I have read many times on here that a cham his age should be fed at least 15 crickets a day. Any ideas why he won't eat much? Will he be ok eating only 2-4 crickets a day like he has been?

 

[hinoco1225]

FYI: The 79-82 temp range is not constant. I included that because 79 is the highest the cage floor sometimes gets. Right now the range is 75-82 after having some air circulation for a while. Also, he never seems hot at all. He is almost always very high in the cage, and he actually worries me sometimes that he will get burned because he likes to hang upside down from the top of the cage right below the basking light.

 

[Rune]

The problem is chams do not eat much for the first few weeks you have them. Try to get smaller crickets or just wait.
(sometimes chams will eat the smaller crickets better for me)

 

[hinoco1225]

I will try smaller crickets. I feel like the ones I've been giving him are the right size, but maybe not. This is just weird for me because my other veiled has been eating like crazy since the day I got her. Obviously I know that all chams are different, but I guess I just wasn't expecting to be worried about him not eating enough.

 

[junglejoe]

not eating

what ive found to help my younger panthers,,, is blu bottle flies,, when their eating slows down i mix it up,, it usually keeps them eating alot.. try it..

 

[carol5208]

The problem is chams do not eat much for the first few weeks you have them. Try to get smaller crickets or just wait.
(sometimes chams will eat the smaller crickets better for me)

not a true statement. Some will right off the bat and some won't til they get acclimated to their new surroundings. My chameleon ate like a pig from the moment I set him into his new cage.

 

[junglejoe]

i have to agree with carol..most of my babies as soon as they grt their legs going and start climbing around the tubs start eating right away.. and usually with a nice mixture of food them seem to grow fast and healthy

 

[seanUTD]

Judging from your husbandry (if it's all valid ), and judging from the pic you posted, I say IMHO he looks okay for now... Try to mix up the feeders as was suggested, fruit flies, very FEW small mealworms.. This may just be it... But keep an eye on him for any marked changes such as sleeping during the day, dehydration, increased basking, not moving much etc etc as those can be signs of anything from parasites to impaction... Hope the little guy improves

 

[hinoco1225]

Judging from your husbandry (if it's all valid ), and judging from the pic you posted, I say IMHO he looks okay for now... Try to mix up the feeders as was suggested, fruit flies, very FEW small mealworms.. This may just be it...

My husbandry is entirely valid! Just ask my girlfriend, lol. She's constantly getting mad at me because I spend more time with my chameleons than her. As a matter of fact, just last night she was whining that she "comes fourth on my priority list, after Kasaya, Neko, and all the crickets"... lol. Of course I said, "Babe, you know you're my world."

... shhhh don't tell her, but she's right about the chams at least =P

Anyway, I have tried fruit flies as well, and he shows even less interest in them. I think they're too small. I put four crickets in this morning and I have only seen him eat one. Last I checked, one died but there were still two roaming around the cage from 11 hours ago. Quite frankly, I can't believe those two are still alive with all the calcium dust on them for so long.

Geez. I wish my boy would eat. =/

 

[gerhartrx]

Have you tried cup feeding? Maybe this will help you to keep track of eating. My veiled was not much of a hunter in the begining (he will now).

 

[hinoco1225]

Have you tried cup feeding? Maybe this will help you to keep track of eating. My veiled was not much of a hunter in the begining (he will now).

I tried it both yesterday and today. I left the cup in there for several hours and I could see him watching the crickets, but he never made any moves to get them. Eventually I ended up releasing the crickets in the cage, and the one he did eat today was shortly after it was released and climbed to the top of the cage.

 

[chameleoman]

try switching his diet mulberryfarms.com has a special of BABY silkworms and hornworms in my opinion they all were hatchling just hatched and i raised them they should be spinning any day now but try those he might like them and start eating again don't forget they go on hunger strikes until they get something new i'm going to be selling silk eggs and silk babies