shedding/eating

CoolCham

Member
OK so a couple weeks ago I posted a topic about my female Jacksons not eating. Everyone here said it was because she was shedding. Well its been almost three weeks and she hasn't eaten anything, except maybe a cricket or two. How long is her shed supposed to last? Its pretty much all gone except a few small pieces. I've seen her drink but she won't take anything from me. Are there any ways to get her to eat? Thanks
 
Many chameleons will eat while they are shedding(mine do) and if three weeks have passed and she is not eating then something else is going on. Do you offer a variety of feeders? She could be bored with her food. If she is young the shed should be completed within a day or two. There might be a few remnants of the shed that will get stuck here or there. Older chameleons tend to not do full body sheds as often so they shed in parts and it can take longer than a few days.
 
I too would offfer some new feeders. Also filling out the how to ask for help form in the health section could offer suggestions as to anything that may help.
 
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Jacksons chameleon, she is a female and is full grown-not sure about the age. We've had her for about 2 months
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? Never, I don't really need to handle her to clean either
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? I feed her large crickets, as many as I can in a day (she doesn't eat much). I've tried roaches but they don't move and she doesn't go for them. I gut load with flukers orange cube stuff.
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I dust with calcium no d3 every other week, with d3 every month
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? We have a homemade mister that mists 4 times a day for 3 minutes. We also have a big dripper going. I have seen her drink.
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Appears to be solid, normal droppings, never tested for parasites.
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
Don't know anything els. Ordered online from lllreptiles
Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Aluminum screen 4' by 2'
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? Not sure what brand but theres a regular 40 watt for heat and a uvb tube. Both are new.What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Its about 75 overall and 85ish at basking. I have a pe2 temp gun.
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? About 50%-only use the mister and dripper.
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? A large pothos, umbrella plant and lucky bamboo.
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? Its located in my room so very low traffic. Its setting only about 3 inches off the floor.
Location - Where are you geographically located? West michigan

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about. Eating problems-stated in first post

Sorry if any of that was confusing as I'm doing this all on my phone :/
 
Hello CoolCham.
Much of what you've been doing is great but there are some things that will benefit her if you change them.

Your cham may also be expecting. I looked at a picture in another of your posts and she does look rather plump in the abdomen.
Typically, at some point during the import process, the boys and girls are kept together, so it is not uncommon to acquire a female who is already pregnant.

Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? I feed her large crickets, as many as I can in a day (she doesn't eat much). I've tried roaches but they don't move and she doesn't go for them. I gut load with flukers orange cube stuff.
Unfortunately, the Fluker's gutload isn't a good idea.
The commercial gutloads may be packing the crickets with levels of some nutrients that are too high for chameleons and not enough of other nutrients.
Jackson's chameleons are even more sensitive to oversupplementing than other types of chams.
Here is some good info on feeders and what they should eat:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/food/

The best cham diet is one with a variety of feeders which are themselves fed a nutritious diet.
Excellent feeders include silkworms, hornworms and Phoenix worms.
Your cham will likely go nuts for some Blue bottle flies. You hatch them from pupae, which takes only a few days at room temperatures.
(I get mine from here: http://www.mantidpets.com/shop/page...8ZUgFQQs3jEfpJkd3cnXaPxsTb4B3vGPc&shop_param= )
Jackson's also love land snails but the safest ones to feed would be captive bred, so you don't have the worry of them transmitting parasites to your cham or that the snails have eaten any pesticides.

My chams don't have any interest in roaches either.


Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I dust with calcium no d3 every other week, with d3 every month
D3 ix a month is good but your cham needs calcium without D3 much more often.
Typically, every other feeding is advised.
She also needs a multivitamin 1x a month.
I use this one- the formulation without D3--Reptivite also makes a formulation with D3:
http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog...-vitamins/-/zoo-med-reptivite-without-d3-2oz/


Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Appears to be solid, normal droppings, never tested for parasites.
The majority of Jackson's are wild caught chams and often harbor internal parasites.

What is your daily lighting schedule?
You forgot to answer this one.
Sometimes people have been given bad advice and they've installed red lights for nighttime--which is bad for a cham, as they need total darkness to sleep.
Others have not realized that a consistent lighting schedule is healthiest for your cham.
A timer is ideal.
10-12 hours of darkness/12-14 hours of light are reasonable.
During the darker months, you can use 12 hours of light and during the lighter months you can extend the day length to 14 hours.

Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Its about 75 overall and 85ish at basking. I have a pe2 temp gun.
Your cham will benefit from a 10-15 degree nighttime temperature drop

Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? About 50%-only use the mister and dripper.
She would be better off with higher humidity of 70%-80%.

Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? Its located in my room so very low traffic. Its setting only about 3 inches off the floor

Chameleons feel more secure when they are kept above eye level.
Perhaps you could put her cage on top of a piece of furniture, a crate, etc. to elevate the cage.

This caresheet is very good although I believe that it is better to dust the feeders with plain calcium at every other feeding, rather than only 2x a week, especially if she is expecting:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/jacksons/
 
Thanks so much! The lighting schedule is I usually turn on heat and UV at 7 and turn it off at 8 pm. I do not use heat pads or any nighttime heating. I will try to get humidity up and stop using flukers cricket feeder. I will also dust without d3 more often. Thanks for the advice and I will try those other feeders mentioned!
Oh yeah, one last question, what age are Jacksons usually full grown? Do they usually get full grown after or before a year?
 
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