Senegal Cham not eating!

[amart]

my bf and i got 2 juvenile senegal chams a week ago. The smaller one was very active and friendly while the other slightly larger one wanted to be left alone and sleep most of the time. (i figure she/he was stressed after moving) It's been a week and they have both shedded and now swtiched roles. The smaller one is still active but doesnt like to be touched like she/he did before, and has also not eaten since we have had it. The bigger one will eat right from our hands and seems to be healthy. We have the correct screened terrarium, fake plants, vines, branches, lighting, humidity, misting, and heating (according to the vets and what i have read all over). They both drink water all the time off of the plants and screen. They also have a cup where they can reach and se into to get their food. We tried mealworms but neither cham touched them. The larger one has been eating crickets, but thats all we have tried so far. Tried hand feeding the little one but he wont eat and seems very skinny. Other than that he is active and liked to sit on the screen right under the light during the day. Both sleep at night and move about during the day. There is always food available, and we've notice that the larger one doesnt hog the food or keep the cham from going near the cup. Any suggestions on what to do to get the little guy to eat? (sorry this is a damn book i wrote, just wanna help him)

 

[camimom]

well it sounds liek you need to get them out of the same cage.
even though you dont see bullying, or stres colors, doesnt mean it isnt happening.

whats your basking temp?
do you ahve a uvb bulb?

what about supplements?

what are their genders?

 

[amart]

Your chameleon- juvenile senegal maybe a couple months old
Handling - in the week we have had them, handled about 3 times for no more than 10 mins
Feeding - crickets and a couple free range and the rest cup style. (tried mealworms, didnt take to them)
Supplements - calcium with vit D to dust crickets in
Watering - Dripper, supplemented with a couple mistings.
Fecal - normal, from what I have seen, brown, hint of yellow and white
History - have had for a week

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen, 18x18x24
Lighting - daytime and nighttime lights (dont remmeber the watts, not at home at the moment)
Temperature - 70-80
Humidity - about 70% (going to get a fogger to try and help also)
Plants - fake
Placement - by the window about 4 feet off of the ground, not in a high traffic location
Location - northern Florida

Current Problem - not eating. Moving around a lot, just shed, skinny looking.

 

[camimom]

Your chameleon- juvenile senegal maybe a couple months old
Handling - in the week we have had them, handled about 3 times for no more than 10 mins
Feeding - crickets and a couple free range and the rest cup style. (tried mealworms, didnt take to them)
Supplements - calcium with vit D to dust crickets in You need a calcium without d3 fro every feeding, a calcium with d3 for twice a month feedings, and a multivitamin for twice a month feedinds
Watering - Dripper, supplemented with a couple mistings.
Fecal - normal, from what I have seen, brown, hint of yellow and whiteYellow means dehydration
History - have had for a week

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen, 18x18x24you need to seperate them.. now
Lighting - daytime and nighttime lights (dont remmeber the watts, not at home at the moment)do you have a uvb bulb? and you should have no night time light. no light at all. they need darkness to sleep.
Temperature - 70-80
Humidity - about 70% (going to get a fogger to try and help also)
Plants - fake
Placement - by the window about 4 feet off of the ground, not in a high traffic location
Location - northern Florida

Current Problem - not eating. Moving around a lot, just shed, skinny looking.

sometiems chams wont eat before during and after a shed. so thsi could be nromal.
but you need to get them in seperate cages.. this can cause stress even if you dont see it.

 

[amart]

i figured i would have to seperate them. They came together and we got them along with the terrarium and lights so they wouldnt even have to move to a new tank. They are always sitting by eachother, the little one sits ontop of the bigger one and they seem fine, no puffing up or anything, so we assumed they were okay for now. But i do think they need to be seperated, so i will try that and post afterwards. Thanks so much!

 

[camimom]

i figured i would have to seperate them. They came together and we got them along with the terrarium and lights so they wouldnt even have to move to a new tank. They are always sitting by eachother, the little one sits ontop of the bigger one and they seem fine, no puffing up or anything, so we assumed they were okay for now. But i do think they need to be seperated, so i will try that and post afterwards. Thanks so much!

youre welcome!

and the same home coudl be causing the no eating.. so see what happens a few days after seperating.

 

[kinyonga]

Supplements - calcium with vit D to dust crickets in...depending on the supplement you might be giving it too much D3.

Lighting - daytime and nighttime lights (dont remmeber the watts, not at home at the moment)...do you have a UVB light? What brand and type (spiral, compact, long linear tube)? You don't need a light at night unless the temps. drop below 65F.

Temperature - 70-80...You didn't mention the basking temperature.

As has already been said....they should be separated...and that also includes a visual separation between the two cages.

Here's some information I hope will help you with supplementing, etc.....
Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.

Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.

A wide variety of insects that have been well fed and gutloaded should be fed to it.

Since many of the feeder insects we use in captivity have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).

If you also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).

Dusting twice a month as well with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite which has beta carotene.)

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.
Please note that various supplements have various amounts of D3 and vitamin A and so some can be given more often than others. The idea still is not to overdo the fat soluble vitamins like D3 and prEformed vitamin A.

Here are some good sites for you to read too...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
If you can't access the sites above that have the word "archive" in you can do it through the WayBackMachine.

 

[amart]

the bigger one will only eat when we hand feed them, so far neither has eaten out of the cup that's been sitting in there..the crickets are dusted with the vit. d3 calcium. We have a UVB light and then a red heat light. No basking light..is that necessary, even though its warm enough in there?? also their poop is very yellow..dehydrated, but they have a dripper and we constantly spray in there. The little one seem to only drink when we are spraying and he will sit and let us spray directing into his mouth. Thanks so much and ill check out those sites also.

 

[Chuck G]

They are wild caught chameleons and are most likely loaded with parasites.
A vet check with fecal samples if you want to save them.

 

[Thezillaman21]

the bigger one will only eat when we hand feed them, so far neither has eaten out of the cup that's been sitting in there..the crickets are dusted with the vit. d3 calcium. We have a UVB light and then a red heat light. No basking light..is that necessary, even though its warm enough in there?? also their poop is very yellow..dehydrated, but they have a dripper and we constantly spray in there. The little one seem to only drink when we are spraying and he will sit and let us spray directing into his mouth. Thanks so much and ill check out those sites also.

ok lighting with the red heat is fine but at night make sure no lights are on. also dont pray into the mouth dirrectly its not good cuz it gets into the lungs. listen to chuck and get a fecal done some vets do them for only $20. well my vet did just to have the chance to work with a chameleon.
you may also want to give them more room or seperate.