Not Eating

[PicoTheCham]

So, About 5 months ago, Pico stopped eating his crickets so I had to switch to superworms to feed him. I also fed him black soldier flies on the weekends for a month cause i got my hands on some in november. a few days ago, he stopped eating his superworms. I got him some crickets, but he isnt eating them either. I’m going to try giving him a hornworm tonight. Any ideas on what’s going on? or anything else i can feed him? I dont really want to do roaches, and my mom would never let me. I think silkworms would be the best but I can’t find any locally, and they’d be about $30 for a month’s worth which is a lot more than the superworms and crickets... .

Please help me out! Form about him is below
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Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? : Veiled, Male, about 2
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? : very rarely, he hates it
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? : superworms, 2 every day except saturday and tuesday. i put them in his cage at around 7am
• 
  
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?: i use repashy Calcium+ which was recommended in a youtube video. It has the ratios of all vitamin, calcium, D3, etc... inside the powder so that you don’t have to worry about the schedule. I also checked ingredient lists and made sure it included everything.
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?: At first i used a dripper, but he would always drink out of the bowl i had to catch the water, so I left it at that. He drinks pretty regularly and I see him drink every now and then (I’m not home from 7am-around 5pm. I mist lots in the morning, when his lights turn off , and when I get home. (so about thirty seconds three times a day. His humidity is usually around 40-50 during day and 50-60 at night). I clean the bowl every night
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?: Recently his urates have been looking a bit yellow. I am unsure why as I havent changed anything with his water. Normal poop looks notmal. Has not been tested for parasites.
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.: About 5 months ago, he stopped eating crickets for who knows why. He didn’t really love the black soilder flies. He has always LOVED superworms.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?: I think 18x18x36. Its all screen.
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?: 7am-7pm. I use 75 watt heating light and a 10 watt UVB light in a dual dome. Temp in his cage is usually around 85-90 and 70 at night
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?- top is about 85-90. bottom is 70-75.
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?: i have a plant and i mist lots. It’s usually around 40-50. Sometimes it gets in the thirties (about once a month for winter months) on particularly cold days. the heater really takes away the humidity in my room and there’s almost nothing i can do about it.
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?: Yes. Not sure of the type but it was labeled as a “tropical plant” I leave it right outside his cage just in case its toxic. Fake plants and leaves are all throughout his cage
• 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?: its about 3 feet up from the floor, one of the higher spots in my room. Not near any vents but i have a fan thats in the middle of my ceiling, hes in the corner though so I think its fine. Almost no traffic by my house.
• Location - Where are you geographically located?: Georgia USA

 

[Thehippie]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? : Veiled, Male, about 2
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? : very rarely, he hates it
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? : superworms, 2 every day except saturday and tuesday. i put them in his cage at around 7am you should be feeding every other day. superworms are considered a treat and not very nutritional, very fatty too. try hornworm, silk worms or the actual black soldier fly larvae.
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?: i use repashy Calcium+ which was recommended in a youtube video. It has the ratios of all vitamin, calcium, D3, etc... inside the powder so that you don’t have to worry about the schedule. I also checked ingredient lists and made sure it included everything. how often do you use it
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?: At first i used a dripper, but he would always drink out of the bowl i had to catch the water, so I left it at that. He drinks pretty regularly and I see him drink every now and then (I’m not home from 7am-around 5pm. I mist lots in the morning, when his lights turn off , and when I get home. (so about thirty seconds three times a day. His humidity is usually around 40-50 during day and 50-60 at night). I clean the bowl every night take the bowl out, bacteria can often grow in standing water that is bad for chameleons, instead you should be misting for 2-4 mins twice a day,
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?: Recently his urates have been looking a bit yellow. I am unsure why as I havent changed anything with his water. Normal poop looks notmal. Has not been tested for parasites.
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.: About 5 months ago, he stopped eating crickets for who knows why. He didn’t really love the black soilder flies. He has always LOVED superworms.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?: I think 18x18x36. Its all screen. should be a 2x2x4
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?: 7am-7pm. I use 75 watt heating light and a 10 watt UVB light in a dual dome. Temp in his cage is usually around 85-90 and 70 at night you need a linear uvb asap and this may be why he is going on a hunger strike. the compact doesnt do a chameleon any good.
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?- top is about 85-90. bottom is 70-75.
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?: i have a plant and i mist lots. It’s usually around 40-50. Sometimes it gets in the thirties (about once a month for winter months) on particularly cold days. the heater really takes away the humidity in my room and there’s almost nothing i can do about it. should be 30%-40% day time and 80%-100% night time.
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?: Yes. Not sure of the type but it was labeled as a “tropical plant” I leave it right outside his cage just in case its toxic. Fake plants and leaves are all throughout his cage you should find out what plant that is, there are a lot of chams that like to eat plants and some are extremely toxic. you also shouldnt have too many fake leaves, he could ingest that and try to pass it like a normal plant
• 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?: its about 3 feet up from the floor, one of the higher spots in my room. Not near any vents but i have a fan thats in the middle of my ceiling, hes in the corner though so I think its fine. Almost no traffic by my house.
• Location - Where are you geographically located?: Georgia USA

please see my annotations in RED

my best bet is changing the lighting and finding out what plant that is and if he ate it.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

superworms, 2 every day except saturday and tuesday. i put them in his cage at around 7am

Superworms are cham candy, very little nutrishinal value. Where is your gutload?

but he would always drink out of the bowl i had to catch the water, so I left it at that. He drinks pretty regularly and I see him drink every now and then (I’m not home from 7am-around 5pm. I mist lots in the morning, when his lights turn off , and when I get home. (so about thirty seconds three times a day. His humidity is usually around 40-50 during day and 50-60 at night). I clean the bowl every night

I know your not asking about watering but the bowlis always a bad idea, it always comes back to bite you in the end.

Recently his urates have been looking a bit yellow. I am unsure why as I havent changed anything with his water. Normal poop looks notmal. Has not been tested for parasites.

Could be he's getting sick form drinking stagnate water

He has always LOVED superworms.

They are cham candy, not food.

I think 18x18x36. Its all screen.

Wayyyyy to small for an adult, especially a male.

watt UVB light in a dual dome.

You need T5 UVB, CFLs are a slow stroll into the land of MBD.

top is about 85-90. bottom is 70-75.

Basking is a bit low

Yes. Not sure of the type but it was labeled as a “tropical plant” I leave it right outside his cage just in case its toxic. Fake plants and leaves are all throughout his cage

No, your not using live plants.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

I see no direct cause jumping out at me, could be just a hunger strike, or could be that all the little factors listed above are starting to take their toll. You should correct all of them so they can be eliminated as possibilities.

 

[RyanBRZ]

Can you post some pictures of your setup? Are you sure your ambient & basking temps are good?

 

[PicoTheCham]

Can you post some pictures of your setup? Are you sure your ambient & basking temps are good?

Yes, I have a digital thermometer that I can move the sensor around the cage to get accurate temps. Here is a picture:

 

[RyanBRZ]

I recommend you consider an overhaul on your setup. As mentioned already, you need a linear UVB bulb. The cage looks a little tight for him with not many options to move around, I would try to get a larger cage and have a series of vines in the cage at different levels so he can adjust his temperature. Here's a picture of mine for example:

 

[PicoTheCham]

I recommend you consider an overhaul on your setup. As mentioned already, you need a linear UVB bulb. The cage looks a little tight for him with not many options to move around, I would try to get a larger cage and have a series of vines in the cage at different levels so he can adjust his temperature. Here's a picture of mine for example:

View attachment 257076

Me and my dad are planning to build him a new cage tomorrow. Dimensions are going to be somewhere around 18x36x60
(5 feet tall, 1.5 feet deep, 3 feet long).
What size would you recommend? We’re going to build it ourselves so we can do any size.

 

[RyanBRZ]

That is plenty big, even 24x24x48 would be fine. I personally think more width is better than height, for me I would like a 36" wide, 36" high, 18" deep cage for my male panther.

If you need something to hang branches from, you can get what I have on the sides of my cage, its cheap on amazon. It allows you to easily put branches & vines where ever needed, and allows him to climb on the sides if he wants:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GGWSKXA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1