Seeing a decrease in my 3.5 month chams appetite

[talvarez527]

Hi, im seeing a decrease in my chams diet. He is cup fed and usually eats em all (10-15) throughout the day..
Hes in a 5 tall 4 wide 2 deep cage basically living in a ficus tree in the massive cage..
He has a mistking and a dripper
Room temp is 70-75, so i know he has a good temp range because his basking is about 85 so he can get to any of those temps when he chooses..
Problem is hes not eating as much and i dont want him to fall behind with growth.
Also, i saw him sleeping on a pothos plant that i just put in the cage on the floor. Idk if he fell off the tree when trying to get into his sleeping spot which is under the crown of the tree.. Any help?

 

[camimom]

whats the outside temp by you?
it could be becuase its winter time (if its cold by you) and he is just reducing theamount of food.
How are you measuring your basking temp?

 

[talvarez527]

i was thinking it was from the recent snow.. and im using an infared.

 

[talvarez527]

its been about 30-40 outside
hes also been basking more
so shud i up all temps?

 

[camimom]

You can try to up his temps a few degrees. it wouldnt hurt to try.

If he starts to sit with his mouth ope, hes getting hot, so you can try to reduce the temp again., but they use the warmth to digest... so give it a go.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Hi, im seeing a decrease in my chams diet. He is cup fed and usually eats em all (10-15) throughout the day..
Hes in a 5 tall 4 wide 2 deep cage basically living in a ficus tree in the massive cage..
He has a mistking and a dripper
Room temp is 70-75, so i know he has a good temp range because his basking is about 85 so he can get to any of those temps when he chooses..
Problem is hes not eating as much and i dont want him to fall behind with growth.
Also, i saw him sleeping on a pothos plant that i just put in the cage on the floor. Idk if he fell off the tree when trying to get into his sleeping spot which is under the crown of the tree.. Any help?

Is he perhaps about to shed?
Is he perhaps bored (do you provide a variety of prey)?
Is he perhaps dehydrated?

 

[talvarez527]

okk
i hope his growth isnt retarded

 

[talvarez527]

he did shed exactly 3 weeks ago
Hydration is ruled out because he is misted often and is in a solid cage(with proper venting of course)

 

[talvarez527]

also. i havent been giving him variety, not much to get around here

 

[talvarez527]

bump!!!!!!

 

[sandrachameleon]

he did shed exactly 3 weeks ago
Hydration is ruled out because he is misted often and is in a solid cage(with proper venting of course)

sounds right - but for me dehydration is only ruled out if the urate is white

also. i havent been giving him variety, not much to get around here

Where is "around here"
Have you considered ordering online? A diet of only crickets isnt a good plan, IMHO
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/171-where-buy-feeders-online.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html

 

[talvarez527]

I jus put him back in his small sceeen cage. Im considering ridding of his solid cage.. i just feel more comfy with the airflow of the screen and he always did better with screen. Idk why but he was eatng at first in the big cage but then went on strike. Maybe bored?

 

[sandrachameleon]

screen can be good, if the humidity and temp of your home/are is close to what chameleon needs. I personally am not fond of screen cages, because of the potential of toenail and foot damage, and they are usually weak (cant secure heavy items to the screen). I have semi-solid walled enclosures (not screen, but there are lots of holes in the sides to allow cool air to draw in from the bottom sides as it escapes out the top holes having been heated by the basking lamp.

sometimes a cage change can cause them to not eat until they get used to things. Same if something outside the cage changes that they can see.

panthers are known to hunger strike if they are bored with the same food day in and day out. but not usually when that young

could be his growth is slowing down, thus he just needs less fuel. 10 a day may be plenty, depending on the size of the crickets.
Are you weighing him? to know if he continues to gain weight and grow?

 

[Lovereps]

If you cut and paste the questions from here:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/ and add the answers, it helps people to help you and your cham.

Sometimes there's something wrong that you may not realize but others can notice it and let you know before it impacts your cham's health.

The more complete your answers are, the better the quality the replies can be.