Hello, my 8 months old male veiled was eating like crazy before (when je was 5,6 months old). Suddenly he stopped eating, now he eats 2 or 3 superworms or crickets a day. BUT as he stopped eating he became the friendliest cham ever. Whenever I come near terarium he gots excited and tries to reach me and when i open it he instantly grabs my hand and starts walk all over me. Also he likes to be handled by anyone and he looks amazing when he is out. Also he drinks a lot, seems active and looks great. Should I prevent the handeling or what but when I do je desperatly tries to come out then I cant resist to take him. All conditions in terrarium are the same as they were when he ate a lot...
Poorly eating for months
- Thread starter yolobrat
- Start date
Brodybreaux25
Chameleon Enthusiast
Agree with food comments above and it would benefit you greatly to provide @ERKleRose with your completed help form.
I’m about to ruffle some feathers here... 95% of the time we tell all keepers to handle their chams as little as possible, but as with every thing else there is always the exception to the rule. 95% of chams want nothing to do with handeling, the 5% that do allow it are not “enjoying” it, they are tolerating it as a means to an end. They are using you.
Frequency and duration of handeling is dictated by the Cham, not the owner. It’s easy to understand the 95% of chams that don’t allow handeling, no means no. It’s the other 5% that are misunderstood. He is not reaching out to you to play with him, he is reaching out to any one with thumbs because they are literally the gatekeeper. The reason your cham has slowed down on eating and is always wanting out is because he is now sexually mature and his hormones are now driving him to explore his world, defend his territory, and find a girlfriend. This behavior is far more common in males than females. Mine acts the very same way.
It’s important to understand that your Cham has no emotional attachment to you, they are primitive creatures.
So how does all this tie back into handeling? As I said earlier we tell all keepers not to handle their chams as a default position to protect the Cham from stress and give him time to settle in and begin to dictate his own pace for handeling.
It is critical to accept the boundaries the Cham sets, there is no one rule to govern all handeling of all chams. Each is unique. If your Cham is reaching out to you every time you walk past the cage I see no reason not to handle him because he is requesting to be handled.
I want you to do an experiment with us since you are a new keeper. The next time you take your Cham out and it’s just you and him, no other distractions, I want you to take him out a make him stay on your hand. You can do this by raising your hand slightly above your head as soon as he climbs on. Then go stand next to his favorite climbing spot outside of his viv, like a shelf or indoor tree. Whatever you choose must be above your head, and give him the opportunity to climb even higher. hold him there for at least 30 seconds to give him time to choose weather to stay with you or climb higher. Hold completely still, try not to influence his decision by moving your hand.
What did he choose to do?
I’m about to ruffle some feathers here... 95% of the time we tell all keepers to handle their chams as little as possible, but as with every thing else there is always the exception to the rule. 95% of chams want nothing to do with handeling, the 5% that do allow it are not “enjoying” it, they are tolerating it as a means to an end. They are using you.
Frequency and duration of handeling is dictated by the Cham, not the owner. It’s easy to understand the 95% of chams that don’t allow handeling, no means no. It’s the other 5% that are misunderstood. He is not reaching out to you to play with him, he is reaching out to any one with thumbs because they are literally the gatekeeper. The reason your cham has slowed down on eating and is always wanting out is because he is now sexually mature and his hormones are now driving him to explore his world, defend his territory, and find a girlfriend. This behavior is far more common in males than females. Mine acts the very same way.
It’s important to understand that your Cham has no emotional attachment to you, they are primitive creatures.
So how does all this tie back into handeling? As I said earlier we tell all keepers not to handle their chams as a default position to protect the Cham from stress and give him time to settle in and begin to dictate his own pace for handeling.
It is critical to accept the boundaries the Cham sets, there is no one rule to govern all handeling of all chams. Each is unique. If your Cham is reaching out to you every time you walk past the cage I see no reason not to handle him because he is requesting to be handled.
I want you to do an experiment with us since you are a new keeper. The next time you take your Cham out and it’s just you and him, no other distractions, I want you to take him out a make him stay on your hand. You can do this by raising your hand slightly above your head as soon as he climbs on. Then go stand next to his favorite climbing spot outside of his viv, like a shelf or indoor tree. Whatever you choose must be above your head, and give him the opportunity to climb even higher. hold him there for at least 30 seconds to give him time to choose weather to stay with you or climb higher. Hold completely still, try not to influence his decision by moving your hand.
What did he choose to do?
Hahahahaahha Jesus...what do you think that I dont know anything about them... I have read everything about them. I know they cant bond with the owner reptiles in general dont have that center in the brain. I know that i have to feed him with various feeders but unfortunately Im in a country where I dont have acces to hornworms, grasshoppers, silkworms and stuff like that. And I wasnt the one who forced him to my hand and im trying not to handle him and I know i shouldnt but it started to be chronical how much he wants to go out. Not to play with me not like he loves me but he wants to be out of the cage thats what I meant and every time when I open the terrarium he tries to go out or in my hand, so he doesnt eat. Also he doesnt want to eat from the cup I had to feed him by hand all the time. But like I said he was eating before like craaazy he was a beast but suddenly going out is he only thing he wants to do. So please im so sick of it when i ask in the forum anything people act like im stupid and that I dont know tje basic stuff I know everything read thousands of caresheets even before i got the chameleon but I know there is always someone who knows even more so my question was why does he wants to go out so badly suddenly bc all conditions in the cage are the same and he ate so much now he doesnt. Should i prevent him going out or it will just stop that was my question. I know handling stress them out and everything please stop acting like everyone here who asks something are stupid
ERKleRose
Chameleon Enthusiast
Could you post a picture of your enclosure? He probably isn't comfortable in his cage. No one was implying you're stupid, we just don't have the info you have on your husbandry
Brodybreaux25
Chameleon Enthusiast
You did not read my post at all.
1- never mentioned any thing about food
2- never mentioned anything about forcing him onto someone
3- I explained why he is eating less in my post
4- I explained why he wants out all the time in my post
5- he’s not trying to get out of his cage because of what’s inside of it, he’s trying to get out of his cage because of what’s going on inside his BODY! Also covered in my original post.
6- if you would have read the whole post you’d know I support you taking him out as often as he wants.
1- never mentioned any thing about food
2- never mentioned anything about forcing him onto someone
3- I explained why he is eating less in my post
4- I explained why he wants out all the time in my post
5- he’s not trying to get out of his cage because of what’s inside of it, he’s trying to get out of his cage because of what’s going on inside his BODY! Also covered in my original post.
6- if you would have read the whole post you’d know I support you taking him out as often as he wants.
Haahahahaha sorry dude i replied to wrong person i wanted to reply on a first answer in a post. Sorry about that and you did told me everything i wanted to know but i snaped on "dont handle him much". Because its so frustrating to keep him in a cage. Now im looking for a screen cage. I have a 60×60×120 cm glass cage and i know glass is not good for them but it worked perfectly before so im gonna fix that. But really i want to feed him and he just jumps on my hand and stuff so really that dont handle him much really got on my nerves and its not your answer but i accidentaly replied to yours bc i read it the last...sorry again and thank you
Brodybreaux25
Chameleon Enthusiast
No offense taken. BTW, nothing wrong with glass vivs as long as they have the proper ventilation.
A good listen!
https://www.chameleonbreeder.com/po...n-in-glass-terrariums-with-dr-chris-anderson/
One thing to check is the ambient and basking temperatures in his cage. If his temps are low it will affect his metabolism. He is not growing like he was so his appetite will drop off some naturally as mentioned. Temps are just something to check if you still have concerns.
Yeaah the vent is good, whole top of the cage is screen and 50×60 cm screen on the front but as he wants to go out so much he tries to go through the glass and i think that stresses him out..
Also checked... but I did changed the bulb type from daylight to hotspot meybe there is some difference?
Brodybreaux25
Chameleon Enthusiast
Read her next post.
Jesspete
Avid Member
Yeah, that's what happens when you're on the forums at work. You start typing a reply, and by the time you send it, there are new posts.
Brodybreaux25
Chameleon Enthusiast
I do the same thing all the time, don’t feel bad!
Jesspete
Avid Member
Mawtyplant
Chameleon Enthusiast
Gosh.. this post look like a post i dont want too read so soory if i am repeating something 
Did you nitice the small black spot over the crest? might be a small burn, carefull about this (look minor but better feel safe than sorry right! ), maybe one lamp is too close or too strong.
If you agree to post a picture of the enclosure maybe something bugging him? my cham only want to come out when they are anoying by something inside of the cage!, maybe he is just looking for a mate, maybe no! can also chec the UVB? how old they are? sometime chameleon stop eating for uvb matter. Temperatures? maybe your temperatures getting colder as the winter comming?
Did you nitice the small black spot over the crest? might be a small burn, carefull about this (look minor but better feel safe than sorry right!
), maybe one lamp is too close or too strong. If you agree to post a picture of the enclosure maybe something bugging him? my cham only want to come out when they are anoying by something inside of the cage!, maybe he is just looking for a mate, maybe no! can also chec the UVB? how old they are? sometime chameleon stop eating for uvb matter. Temperatures? maybe your temperatures getting colder as the winter comming?
