New baby yemen not eating

[Kara]

Dear all,
I am in need of advice. Kara is my first Chameleon, so I please ask for patience with all my blabber and maybe lack of understanding.

Chameleon Info:
You are Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Kara is a female Yemen cham she is 4 months old and she has been with me for 3 days.
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? I have handled her on arrival and then tried to let her climb me once a day. In addition, must say I am impressed. When I put my hand next to her, she climbs it straight away so I do not have to grab her or anything like that, but since yesterday, she has been very grumpy...
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? I have medium locus and medium crickets and waxworms. Crickets and locust are feed on carrots and lettuce, and tomato. The crickets are kept in a plastic container with no lid in the bottom of the cage, as I was told they can hurt the chameleons when they are sleeping. The locust runs free.
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I am not sure about the brand but she has a calcium powder with d3 vit and a multivit that the pet shop said to be the best. I try to sprinkle them all with calcium and every other one with vits.
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I mist her 4 times a day, as I got a bit worried with everyone telling me how important it is to keep the humidity. I have not seen her drink, except when she licks a droplet from her nose once.
Fecal Description - Briefly note colours and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? I think it looks normal... dark and wet and do not smell and noshe has not been tested.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Kara's lives in a mesh cage. 2foot by 2foot by 3foot
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? She has a day light 75W and a uvb lamp 8%. She wakes up with us around 7am and goes to sleep around 10pm. I switch off all the lights.
Temperature - What temporary range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temperature? How do you measure these temperatures? I have a thermometer and a humidity thing. The temperature is around 26-28 C during the day and at night with all the lamps off it is about 22-24 C
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? The humidity is at 45-60% I mist the cage 4 times a day, I have live plants to keep the humidity from the dirt and I have a bowl with water filled with pebbles so she has no possibility of drowning in it.
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? Live and plastic. Live one is and umbrella tree and the other is a Dracaena tree.
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? The cage sits on the floor (second floor in the house) in the spare bedroom, its winter at the mo so we keep the windows in Kara’s room closed. However, the door is always opened so there is a decent airflow through the room.
Location - Where are you geographically located? UK
Current Problem - the problem is that she is not eating much...People keep saying their chams at the age of 4months eat 15-20 crickets a day... In the past 3 days, Kara only had a waxworm, 3 locus and 2 cricket (not sure if she actually has eaten the crickets or have they gone rouge). The other thing is that she has locust with her in the cage and she seems to be scared of them. As soon as they come near her she decides to change place. If I take away the locust what will she eat???
When we went to pick her up from the pet shop they showed me her brother and he is twice the size of Kara. She is tinny. 2.5" plus the tail. She is lovely and green and does not look very stressed or in any discomfort. However, maybe she is sad after she was moved to the new cage... I really do not know what to do more and I am getting more and more worried that she is just not eating at all...
Thanks for your help!!
Kara’s Mum

 

[DavidBuchan]

Hello, welcome to the forum It is important to check the brand on your vitamins, because they have different concentrations of d3. Most on the forum will only give d3 twice a month, but there are some all-in-one products available. I'm pretty sure that you don't need to give so much multivit though, really only once or twice a month is enough for that.
There is a white part to her droppings as well as the brown part. If the white part (urate) looks yellowy or orange it means she is getting dehydrated.
A 12 hour day and a wider range of temps would be better as well (your basking temp is good, but she should be able to go down and cool off a bit more too)
Chams often will take a little while to settle in to a new home, so the fact she has eaten anything is a good start. It is usually best not to handle her for a week or so until she has really settled in.
Her food sizes shouldn't be bigger than the distance between her eyes, so maybe the locusts are a bit big for her?
Here is a great basic caresheet with all the info you need to keep her happy and healthy - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/chameleonsinmyhouse/395-veiled-chameleon-care-sheet.html part 2 has some gutloading and laying info too.

 

[Kara]

thanks!

Hi David,

Thank you so much for the advice. I am going to reduce the amount of the vits they are called repton insect dust supplement. Should i still powder all her food with calcium (ZooMed Repti Reptile Calcium Supplement with D3)?
Ok i will let her be and not disturb her too much. Indeed there is white in her poo. I have seen her eat the locust no problem, so maybe she is being shy. I will try to choose the smaller ones for now.
I am just about to read the blog.
Thank you soooo much!!!!

 

[DavidBuchan]

I don't know very much about the different brands but I think with the ZooMed you will want a plain calcium for everyday dusting (phosphorous-free, no d3). They can be hard to find in shops so you might have to look online.
I would stop dusting until you can get it so you don't overdose on d3.

 

[camimom]

Welcome!
what kind is your uvb light? brand etc.
also it can take chams a few days to adjust, so dont worry if she isnt eating as much as you think she should.
for supplements- you need a calcium without d3 for every feeding, a calcium with d3 twice a month, and a multivitamin twice a month.
or you can order from Repashy (a site sponsor) the repashy all in one calcium plus, which has everything you need.
i can link you if you want.

Do you know females can lay eggs (even when not mated) as early as 6 months old, sometiems even sooner (though rare)?

If not, you need to do reserach on laying bins.

 

[Kara]

hi camimom,

Yes i have read about them laying eggs. Did not realise it can be as soon as 6months (WOW). I was told to give her peace and extra calcium and well feed food, then remove the eggs and make sure she has not got a swollen belly afterwards as it may mean she has eggs that got stuck(so take her to a vet) or that she might lay more of them. Am i correct in thinking she should get bluish spots when she is ready to have babies and will become restless, spending more time near the bottom of her cage and can lay between 80-100 eggs?
I am just looking into ordering some calcium without the D3 i would appreciate the link
Thanks!