Remy won't eat and is being mean HELP!!

[Lpsouth1978]

My 1 year old male BB Ambilobe panther chameleon, won't eat.

My guy, Remy, just turned 1 last week and now he won't eat and has suddenly become a real jerk. He has always been a good eater and never shy to eat with me watching. I have cup fed him since he was only 3 months old and he usually rushes to his cup to eat as soon as I put it in his cage. Now nothing.

A couple of weeks ago I ordered some blue bottle flies, just to try something new, and he went crazy for them! He has refused to eat almost completely since then. He has completely ignored his favorite (until the flies) Dubia, hornworms, superworms, nothing. I have some crickets being delivered today and I am hoping he will eat those. If not I don't know what to do. He has not eaten in more than a week now and has lost 2g. I know that is not a lot of weight, but I am concerned none the less.

He has also always been a total sweetheart, and never puffs or fires up. However, the last week or so, he has made a complete 180. He now puffs at the sight of me. If I get within 5 feet of his cage he will begin puffing up at me. He even head slapped me the other day while I was cleaning his cage. He has NEVER acted like this.

He just had an annual exam and xrays performed by ferretinmyshoes, and he passed with flying colors. Nothing has changed in his environment or the room he is in, though the first time he puffed at me was right after replacing a basking bulb that had burnt out.

Any help or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I don't know what has triggered this change in his behavior, but I want my gentle guy back.

 

[brownie64]

Almost sounds like he got addicted to the flies, and is being stubborn. I hope he comes around for you.

 

[Lpsouth1978]

Almost sounds like he got addicted to the flies, and is being stubborn. I hope he comes around for you.

That's what I was thinking, but I hoped he would start eating other things before now. Hopefully the activity of the crickets will do the trick.

Any thoughts on why he has become such a jerk suddenly? If it was just the eating I would feel more comfortable saying it was a food strike, but when the attitude changes at the same time he stops eating, it gets me concerned.

 

[brownie64]

Can't say for sure because I've never owned a Panther, but it's always been my experience that chams are a lot like us and can be moody at times. So it's very likely he is acting that way because he isn't getting his way.

 

[ridgebax1]

Omar did the same thing almost overnight. Up until he was about 8 months old he was a real sweetie. I would take him out everyday and feed him then literally overnight he changed. He would gape, hiss and lunge at me when I went to take him out of his cage. I believe hormones or something kicked in and he decided I was not welcome in his territory. He no longer would eat if I took him out and put bugs in his bin. He used to patrol the perimeter and pick off bugs as he walked around. He also stopped eating on a daily basis. I just put his food in and he would eat when he felt like it. I still offered fresh food everyday just some days he would eat and others he would not. 2 grams could or could not be significant based on his total weight. Since he is an adult I would venture to say he weighs about 150 grams or more so I would not worry about 2 grams. As long as he is staying hydrated he should be ok. I would try giving him some flies. If he eats them right up then you know he is just being stubborn. Offer him the other food daily as you have been and he probably will give in at some point.

 

[Lpsouth1978]

2 grams could or could not be significant based on his total weight. Since he is an adult I would venture to say he weighs about 150 grams or more so I would not worry about 2 grams. As long as he is staying hydrated he should be ok. I would try giving him some flies. If he eats them right up then you know he is just being stubborn. Offer him the other food daily as you have been and he probably will give in at some point.

Remy has actually always been a small guy. Last time I weighed him, on Friday, he was 98g. Last night he was at 95.6g. I also offer him fresh feeders everyday, but have only seen him eat one roach in the last week. One of the adult males I put in his cup escaped and caught his eye. After about 30 minutes of it crawling around the cage, he finally decided to go for it.

As for hydration, he is not shy about drinking in front of me. As soon as it starts to rain he begins licking water off everything in sight.