New baby veiled not eating

[Captain Trpiz]

Hello, all. My baby, male veiled arrived today from FLChams. He seems healthy. He was very energetic from the moment I took him out of the container he arrived in. I placed him inside his mesh enclosure and he's been climbing back and forth non stop.

After a few hours I took him out to try and feed him some small crickets. I coated them in calcium then placed them in a small dish. I held him in my hand and placed the dish in front of him. He didn't eat any. After a few moments I plced him in the dish with the small crickets. He still refused to eat any. In fact the crickets climbed and crawled all over him. He showed no interest. After several minutes, I returned him to his enclosure. I have an automatic mister that mists every four hours for 1 minute, so he has plenty of water to drink. But I'm very worried bc he won't eat. I placed a small dish with mini meal worms next to his favorite climbing spot. He hasn't touched those either.

Should I be worried or is this normal for the first few days?

 

[jajeanpierre]

I think you need to slow down a little with this new guy. He's nothing like a dog or cat. Even if bred in captivity, he is not tame. May I suggest you start thinking about everything from his perspective, which is the perspective of a very small, slow moving prey animal. He views you as a predator about to eat him.

He is pretty close to the bottom of the food chain, while you are an apex predator. Start thinking from his perpective. Move slowly. Don't look directly at him; that's something a predator does to its prey. And, don't handle him because when you do, he is thinking he is about to be eaten.

He's just arrived and needs to settle in. Your handling him will be very stressful for him. Keep in mind, any time you handle him he is afraid he is about to be eaten. I cannot over emphasize that enough--when you handle him he is probably expecting to die.

It is a rare chameleon that will eat when taken out from his home. I would not expect a newly arrived baby to eat away from where he is relaxed. You should not be trying to feed him outside his cage. He is not going to eat when you hold him or put him in a dish of crickets. Really try to think like a small animal that expects that when a predator (you) locates him he will be eaten because he is slow moving and has no defenses.

Congratulations on your new baby.

 

[Captain Trpiz]

That all makes complete sense. Thank you. I've read that it's best to go hands-off for a few weeks to allow the baby to settle in. That being said, how should I feed him? And what should I feed him?

 

[Captain Trpiz]

Bump bump

 

[Wowbango]

That all makes complete sense. Thank you. I've read that it's best to go hands-off for a few weeks to allow the baby to settle in. That being said, how should I feed him? And what should I feed him?

You can continue to feed him small crickets, dubia roaches if he takes to them, silkworms, phoenix worms etc. Just place them inside his cage so that he can hunt for them.

 

[Kayroxyoursox]

I put yodas crickets in a cup that I hang from one of the branches in his cage.

 

[jajeanpierre]

That all makes complete sense. Thank you. I've read that it's best to go hands-off for a few weeks to allow the baby to settle in. That being said, how should I feed him? And what should I feed him?

Really, the best way to feed is to let the prey food free in his cage. That doesn't work well for things like roaches, though. Cup feeding is convenient but not as enriching (fun) for your chameleon. You do have to be careful not to let too many crickets loose in his cage as they can overwhelm him and even bite him. It's also hard to keep track of what your baby is actually eating. I monitor food intake by the amount and size of the stool and weight. I tend to feed as much as they will eat. How much depends on the size of the feeder and the growth stage they are in. A growing baby eats more than a fully grown adult.