Not eating

[joneill]

Is it normal for a 9 month old veiled to stop eating for a day or two? Can they become fussy and choose to eat only certain foods while refusing all the rest? My cham has been eating so well, 2 medium silkworms, 10-15 crickets and 5-10 medium mealworms every day but now he refuses to eat anything. I am unable to get silkworms at the moment cos they are still too small and these were his favourite as he ate them off my hand. The pet store where I bought him said that I should offer him a pinky cos he was eating those in the store. Any suggestions on getting him to eat? Will they refuse food if they are entering into mating season?

 

[DavidBuchan]

If you can't see anything else wrong then 2 or even three days of not eating properly is not a problem for a healthy 9 month old. Depends how long you've had him, if there is any stress issue, if he's about to shed, etc or if he's just being picky.........

 

[carol5208]

Yes, it can happen, and I would cut back on the food some! You do not want to overfeed!!!! that is alot of food for a chameleon that age! I would not get him started on eating pinkies either.

 

[jannb]

Your cham is acting fairly normal for a veiled that age. Unless he's really small for his age (you could post a picture) I'd cut back his feeding to every two to three days. If offered food all the time they become bored with it. I feed my adult chams on Tues. Thurs and Sunday's.

 

[joneill]

He eats crickets when he is in his flexarium outside but will not eat in his inside enclosure. Unfortunately I can only put him outisde on weekends cos I work and am away from the house from 06:30 until 17:30 so this means he does not eat from Mon-Fri. I asked the pet shop where I bought him and they said that I need to increase the temp inside his enclosure. He has a basking spot where it sits around 36deg C and the ambient temp is around 22deg C which I am told is too low so I have bought a 75W infra-red bulb which I am going to place inside. I have also stuck a large heating mat on the outside of the glass to help.

 

[Alexl]

My cham has been eating so well, 2 medium silkworms, 10-15 crickets and 5-10 medium mealworms every day

Every day about 20 to 30 crickets/worms/whatever? In a 9 month old chameleon?

I assure you he's just overfed... Temperature's allright. He should have the possibility to choose his favorite place to warm up himself and 22°C is not too little at lower areas inside his cage (as long as you have a heating place at the top). I even wouldn't use a heating mat (=heating sideways). The lighting setup should suffice for a natural temperature drop from top cover to bottom.