New chameleon not eating

[kayladye59]

Hey guys I pretty much rescued a malnourished and dehydrated little veiled fellow. He is just absolutely terrified of human reaction. Even walking in the room makes him crawl to the bottom of the enclosure and hide. I really want to see his urate to make sure he is in good shade but I can't get him to even eat. I got him on Sunday and he has yet to eat one bug. I had offered crickets and dubia roaches with some black soldier fly large and hornworms on the way but they don't get here until next week..
I bet the people feeding him before was mealworms which are supposed to be given as a treat. Do you guys have any recommendations? I have tried hand feeding, free roam bug feeding, a crickets runner, even trying to put one in his mouth head first and nothing is working. Please help me

 

[MissSkittles]

Hey guys I pretty much rescued a malnourished and dehydrated little veiled fellow. He is just absolutely terrified of human reaction. Even walking in the room makes him crawl to the bottom of the enclosure and hide. I really want to see his urate to make sure he is in good shade but I can't get him to even eat. I got him on Sunday and he has yet to eat one bug. I had offered crickets and dubia roaches with some black soldier fly large and hornworms on the way but they don't get here until next week..
I bet the people feeding him before was mealworms which are supposed to be given as a treat. Do you guys have any recommendations? I have tried hand feeding, free roam bug feeding, a crickets runner, even trying to put one in his mouth head first and nothing is working. Please help me

I think you know what I’m going to say. Get a fecal to rule out parasites.
Is he showing any interest in drinking that you can determine? Maybe try covering at least 2 sides of his enclosure so he feels more secure. Does he have enough plant cover to hide in? If he’s used to eating mealworms, try giving him some. Put the food in a feeding station up high and where he can easily see and get to and then leave the room for a while. Try the more active feeders to attract his attention.

 

[kayladye59]

I think you know what I’m going to say. Get a fecal to rule out parasites.
Is he showing any interest in drinking that you can determine? Maybe try covering at least 2 sides of his enclosure so he feels more secure. Does he have enough plant cover to hide in? If he’s used to eating mealworms, try giving him some. Put the food in a feeding station up high and where he can easily see and get to and then leave the room for a while. Try the more active feeders to attract his attention.

Thank you. I will try this. I’m trying to get him to eat so I can get a fecal exam. He hasn’t eaten anything so he has not pooped since I got him :/

 

[ehdee6]

It's bug shmorgishborg time; anything goes, even treats!!

I hate to ask, but did you get him from a pet shop? There's a certain line where they have to take responsibility, if it was. This is a serious case of neglect caused by the past owners.

I hope you can get him better!

 

[kayladye59]

It's bug shmorgishborg time; anything goes, even treats!!

I hate to ask, but did you get him from a pet shop? There's a certain line where they have to take responsibility, if it was. This is a serious case of neglect caused by the past owners.

I hope you can get him better!

Thank you! I actually got him at a jockey lot.. I literally saw him no uvb lamp and super stressed i couldn't not help him