New baby Cham won’t eat.

C

chelswilkison

New Member
I got a baby veiled chameleon 4 days ago. She is not eating a lot if anything. The cage is about 70-80 degrees and the basking spot is about 90-95. The store I got her from gave her crickets and she was eating them the first day but doesn’t want to eat anything now. Is there anything I can do to help make her eat. I’ve tried hand feeding, cup feeding, and free roaming and nothing is working.
 
chelswilkison said:
I got a baby veiled chameleon 4 days ago. She is not eating a lot if anything. The cage is about 70-80 degrees and the basking spot is about 90-95. The store I got her from gave her crickets and she was eating them the first day but doesn’t want to eat anything now. Is there anything I can do to help make her eat. I’ve tried hand feeding, cup feeding, and free roaming and nothing is working.
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Hi there and welcome. The basking spot is wayyyyyy too hot. Needs to be between 80-85max. This will impact it wanting to eat. Also what sized feeders are you using. Depending on the age of the baby you may be giving feeders that are too large for it. If it is about 3 months old it should be on 1/4 inch crickets. 12-15 a day.

Can you take pics of the entire cage lighting down?

This is a great feeder run to attach to the screen https://tkchameleons.com/collections/accessories/products/shooting-gallery
 
Beman said:
Hi there and welcome. The basking spot is wayyyyyy too hot. Needs to be between 80-85max. This will impact it wanting to eat. Also what sized feeders are you using. Depending on the age of the baby you may be giving feeders that are too large for it. If it is about 3 months old it should be on 1/4 inch crickets. 12-15 a day.

Can you take pics of the entire cage lighting down?

This is a great feeder run to attach to the screen https://tkchameleons.com/collections/accessories/products/shooting-gallery
Click to expand...
Beman said:
Hi there and welcome. The basking spot is wayyyyyy too hot. Needs to be between 80-85max. This will impact it wanting to eat. Also what sized feeders are you using. Depending on the age of the baby you may be giving feeders that are too large for it. If it is about 3 months old it should be on 1/4 inch crickets. 12-15 a day.

Can you take pics of the entire cage lighting down?

This is a great feeder run to attach to the screen https://tkchameleons.com/collections/accessories/products/shooting-gallery
Click to expand...
 

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Yeah, hard to tell without context but they look at least 1/2” -1” based on the OPs fingers in the picture. @chelswilkison Are you getting them from PetSmart? Their “small” crickets are too big for a cham that young IMO. As @kinyonga pointed out, you want 1/4” so get the smallest crickets you can find.
 
It's not uncommon for chams to not eat for the first few days as they get adjusted to their new home. I do see some changes that need to be made to your enclosure ASAP. Most importantly the UVB you're using. It would be great if you could fill out this questions in as much detail so that we can give you correct recommendations: https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/

In the meantime here is a Top 5 videos for new keepers playlist that would be worth watching:

 
Gingero said:
It's not uncommon for chams to not eat for the first few days as they get adjusted to their new home. I do see some changes that need to be made to your enclosure ASAP. Most importantly the UVB you're using. It would be great if you could fill out this questions in as much detail so that we can give you correct recommendations: https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/

In the meantime here is a Top 5 videos for new keepers playlist that would be worth watching:

Click to expand...

  • Your Chameleon - Veiled female chameleon. I have had her for just about 4 days. She is very young I don’t have a specific age.
  • Handling - I have not handled her except for putting her in the cage.
  • Feeding - I’ve been trying to feed her small crickets and some have been sprinkled with calcium without d3. Ive tried meal worms too.
  • Supplements - I’m using just basic calcium without d3
  • Watering - I have a mister and it’s set to mist for 1minute ever three hours.
  • Fecal Description - White and brown. Has not been tested.
  • History -


Cage Info:

  • Cage Type - Screen cage
  • Lighting - I’m using a basking bulb. I have a new uvb light on the way. And a ceramic emitter at night.
  • Temperature - cage is about 70-80 degrees. I have the basking spot now at about 80-85.
  • Humidity - my humidity is at about 76 percent I’m using a digital hygrometer. And I’m misting the cage.
  • Plants - I’m using fake plants
  • Placement - my cage is in my room up on a table.
  • Location - Where are you geographically located? Michigan


Current Problem - My baby chameleon won’t eat.



  • --------------
 
Prince of Duval said:
Yeah, hard to tell without context but they look at least 1/2” -1” based on the OPs fingers in the picture. @chelswilkison Are you getting them from PetSmart? Their “small” crickets are too big for a cham that young IMO. As @kinyonga pointed out, you want 1/4” so get the smallest crickets you can find.
Click to expand...
Do you know of a better place to get my crickets. I’ve tried pet smart and pet supplies plus.
 
chelswilkison said:
Do you know of a better place to get my crickets. I’ve tried pet smart and pet supplies plus.
Click to expand...
Check out the forum sponsors. I order from Ghann’s...a little pricey but quality crickets. Mealworms are not good feeders for chameleons. Attaching the infographics on feeders & gutloading.
Your humidity is too high for a veiled. It shouldn’t get any higher than 50% during the day. You can cut back on some misting to 3 misting a of 2 minutes each.
You’ll be needing additional supplements of calcium with D3 and a multivitamin. One feeding every other week give the D3 and same with the multivitamin, alternating them.
Is your uvb the coil type bulb or the long T5? The coil bulb isn’t able to adequately provide enough uvb unless your cham is just a few inches away.
Veileds eat their plants, so you’ll want to get rid of the fake ones which she could eat and get impacted from. Safe plants include Pothos, schefflera, dracaena, wandering Jew. This may help you with that.https://chameleonacademy.com/plants/ How big is your enclosure? Adults need a minimum of 2x2x4’. You need to add more branches and/or vines for her to travel on. I use oak branches from outside...wash with dish soap and rinsed very well.
It will take her a little time to adjust to her new surroundings. That plus correct sized feeders and she should be eating. Bsfl (calci worms, Phoenix worms) are great for little ones...just the right size, and can be gotten at any pet store.
A56ECC6B-2853-4E4D-ABCD-4BEF6E23DDB1.jpeg
F70F253D-82B6-4F4D-A148-BC02CA4DCE5A.jpeg
 
MissSkittles said:
Check out the forum sponsors. I order from Ghann’s...a little pricey but quality crickets. Mealworms are not good feeders for chameleons. Attaching the infographics on feeders & gutloading.
Your humidity is too high for a veiled. It shouldn’t get any higher than 50% during the day. You can cut back on some misting to 3 misting a of 2 minutes each.
You’ll be needing additional supplements of calcium with D3 and a multivitamin. One feeding every other week give the D3 and same with the multivitamin, alternating them.
Is your uvb the coil type bulb or the long T5? The coil bulb isn’t able to adequately provide enough uvb unless your cham is just a few inches away.
Veileds eat their plants, so you’ll want to get rid of the fake ones which she could eat and get impacted from. Safe plants include Pothos, schefflera, dracaena, wandering Jew. This may help you with that.https://chameleonacademy.com/plants/ How big is your enclosure? Adults need a minimum of 2x2x4’. You need to add more branches and/or vines for her to travel on. I use oak branches from outside...wash with dish soap and rinsed very well.
It will take her a little time to adjust to her new surroundings. That plus correct sized feeders and she should be eating. Bsfl (calci worms, Phoenix worms) are great for little ones...just the right size, and can be gotten at any pet store.
View attachment 268640View attachment 268641
Click to expand...
Thank you so much! I’m having trouble finding a t5 uvb online right now do you have a link that I can use to find one?
 
I almost forgot...as she matures (around 5-6 months old) she will be needing a lay bin. She’ll lay infertile eggs. You’ll want to reduce her feedings and temperatures around when she matures to reduce the amount of eggs she lays and risk of getting eggbound.
 
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