Start to a shed or something else...?

snova031

New Member
Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Veiled, male, approx. 7 months. Had him for approx. 3 months

* Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? A few times a week. We only take him out when he comes out- if we open the door and leave it open, he will often come out and climb on us. Stays out for a few minutes then we put him back
* Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? Crickets/superworms/dubia roaches are staples, with butterworms mixed in for treats. For crickets, usually 12-15 daily, superworms and dubia usually 6-8 on the days they're fed to him. Gutloading with dry chow from the roach guy, and wet is my own mix of greens, veggies and fruits- leek, kale, romaine, mustard greens, carrots, apples, oranges, etc.
* Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I believe I have reptivite, not home now so cannot confirm brand. Schedule is 5 days a week w/o D3, alternating every Saturday between calcium w/ D3 and multivitamin
* Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? We mist ~2 minutes 3-4 times daily, with a dripper running for a portion of the day as well. We've seen him drink pretty regularly, licking both the dripper from the top of the cage as well as wet leaves after misting.
* Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Never been tested, fecal looks good from what I can tell- brown poo with white urine
* History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. Nothing really to say here- since we've had him he's been great.


Cage Info:

* Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Screen cage, 16"x16"x30", will be upgrading to 2x2x4 within a month or so
* Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? Reptisun 5.0 uvb (not coiled) and 60w housebulb for basking. Lights are on from 11:30AM - 11:30PM
* Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Have two digital thermometers in the tank, basking is generally 83-84*, ambient is low 70's. Temp drops to mid 60's at night
* Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? Humidity is generally at 50%, I'd say a consistent fluctuation between 40-60%
* Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? Yes, we have a schefflera arboricola in the cage with him, as well as a jade plant outside of the cage that he hangs out in once in a while.
* 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?The cage is in our basement, top of the cage is close to 7'. Not too much traffic up and down the stairs. Not near any fans or vents.
* Location - Where are you geographically located? Long Island, NY


Current Problem - Over the past week or so, he has become extremely picky eating, and now has stopped eating all together.

We change up between crickets, superworms, and dubia roaches. Occasionally giving him butterworms to snack on. Over the last week in a half or so, we've offered all of the above, and he's been very picky. He stopped eating the crickets altogether (3/8" - 1/2"). On Monday I believe he ate 5 superworms, and had one more on Tuesday. Hasn't eaten since Tuesday.

He's shed twice since we got him (early Nov). Last shed was approx. 3 weeks ago.

At first I thought it was a hunger strike, but then he climbed out last night and I noticed this on his side. The first two sheds started on his casque. Not sure if this is the start of a shed or something else. Hopefully I'm just paranoid and it is indeed a shed.

Any advice/input?

2011-02-03%2022.07.04.jpg
 
hello im sure its just a shed as they get older theyll start shedding just pieces at a time a leg here a cascade there lol and superworms are adddicting he probably figures if he waits long enough hell get the supers not boring old crickets lol
 
yeah it looks like a shed and mine quit eating crickets at like 7 months and still refuses them everytime I try and reintroduce them. All your husbandry sounds great. It is most likely just him getting bored with feeders which they will do from time to time. Mine never quit eating altogether but I would not worry too much unless it gets to be a lengthly period of time. As long as he is drinking that is a good sign.
 
Thanks for the input guys.

Last night, he took a few bites out of the schefflera, which he has done before (you can see some chomp marks in the pic I posted).

We're probably going to pick him up some hornworms over the weekend as I've read these get a lot of chams out of eating funks.
 
He looks nice and healthy in the picture. Try some silkworms too, mine seems to like those also. Supers are his favorite!!
 
Aww he is cute with his little Veiled attitude! No-his eyes don't look sunken-they do that when they are mad at getting their pictures taken!
 
Thanks for the complements guys- I don't think his eyes look sunken in, either.

Anyway, the fiance just let me know he's shedding, so I'm relieved.

I'm going to put up some pics of him in the photo section
 
Ok, it's been a week since I posted this. As I mentioned above, he started shedding- he did a partial shed only on his belly, though.

In the past week, he's barely eaten- one day he had 3 worms, another he had a couple more, yesterday he had one worm, and today he didn't eat anything.

He'll only eat the worms if we put them on the side of the cage and let them crawl- if they're in the feeding cup we use, or if we try and tong feed, he won't bite.

Other than the eating, he's acting completely normal. Every time we try and open the cage and feed him, he comes climbing out, though. We'll take him out for a few minutes and try again a little later, but same story- he comes climbing down his vine and out of the cage.

Any ideas/suggestions?
 
Small update- he ate 5 superworms on Saturday. Tried to give him some dubias yesterday, but no dice. He seems more receptive to supers, so going to keep using those while trying to get him back on dubias as well.

Bought him a 2x2x4 from LLL as well as a mistking last night
 
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