-Male Graceful Chameleon, young adult. I've had him for about 1-2 months.
-I handle him 1-2 times a weeks, for only a few minutes.
-I feed him crickets. They are gutloaded and watered. I feed him 4-5 every other day, typically mid morning.
-I dust my crickets in Rep-Cal, with each feeding.
-I have a manual dripper that I turn on for a few minutes each day. I have an automatic mister that turns on at 7am and 2pm, for 2 minutes each. I brought it down to 1 min each when the substrate was always saturated. I have seen him drinking.
-His feces are a combo of white and brown with very slight traces of green. It is regular, even despite his lack of recent eating. He has not been tested for parasites, but I have not seen anything on him.
-His cage is a screen cage, 16" wide, 16" deep, 24" tall.
-His light is Repti Haloen, 75 watts, set into a lighting dome over the cage. The light is set to an automatic timer to go on at 6am, and off at 8pm.
-His heat is supplied partially by the light as well as an independent heat bulb. The daytime heat is high 80's and night time temp s low 80's-high 70's. I have a digital thermometer/hydrometer.
-The humidity has dropped since I reduced the misting, but I still mist twice a day, as well as the dripper.
-I have a few fake plants near the top of the cage as well a a live ficus in a pot on the bottom of the cage. There are many vines to climb on.
-The cage is next to the wall in our front room. It is a 1-bedroom apartment with just me and my wife. We have his cage on a table between the couch and wall.
-We live in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
-He was extremely active when I first got him. His eating was minimal until I raised the heat in his cage. He then was eating 4-5 crickets every other day for a good long while. He was very alert, very active, always moving around the cage. He would be on the bottom of the cage but not for long, typically as part of his roaming pattern. He would get very hissy whenever I would try and hold him. His eyes are full and alert.
Now, however, he has not eaten in a few days, a week at the very most. I have noticed that he will sit on a vine with his eyes closed mid-day. He also tends to fall asleep a little before the light goes out. He is also slightly more lethargic. He doesn't run from me nearly as frantically when I reach into his cage. Many of these symptoms could easily be attributed to not eating, which in turn could be a result of a hunger strike.
I have never had a chameleon go through one, so I am unaware of what to look for, or how to handle it. I don't know if he is slower and slightly thinner due to not eating, or if it is the other way around.
I have tried to include all of the info requested in the sticky, but if any more info is needed, please let me know.
Should I be worried, or should I let him try and strike and just wait it out?
-I handle him 1-2 times a weeks, for only a few minutes.
-I feed him crickets. They are gutloaded and watered. I feed him 4-5 every other day, typically mid morning.
-I dust my crickets in Rep-Cal, with each feeding.
-I have a manual dripper that I turn on for a few minutes each day. I have an automatic mister that turns on at 7am and 2pm, for 2 minutes each. I brought it down to 1 min each when the substrate was always saturated. I have seen him drinking.
-His feces are a combo of white and brown with very slight traces of green. It is regular, even despite his lack of recent eating. He has not been tested for parasites, but I have not seen anything on him.
-His cage is a screen cage, 16" wide, 16" deep, 24" tall.
-His light is Repti Haloen, 75 watts, set into a lighting dome over the cage. The light is set to an automatic timer to go on at 6am, and off at 8pm.
-His heat is supplied partially by the light as well as an independent heat bulb. The daytime heat is high 80's and night time temp s low 80's-high 70's. I have a digital thermometer/hydrometer.
-The humidity has dropped since I reduced the misting, but I still mist twice a day, as well as the dripper.
-I have a few fake plants near the top of the cage as well a a live ficus in a pot on the bottom of the cage. There are many vines to climb on.
-The cage is next to the wall in our front room. It is a 1-bedroom apartment with just me and my wife. We have his cage on a table between the couch and wall.
-We live in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
-He was extremely active when I first got him. His eating was minimal until I raised the heat in his cage. He then was eating 4-5 crickets every other day for a good long while. He was very alert, very active, always moving around the cage. He would be on the bottom of the cage but not for long, typically as part of his roaming pattern. He would get very hissy whenever I would try and hold him. His eyes are full and alert.
Now, however, he has not eaten in a few days, a week at the very most. I have noticed that he will sit on a vine with his eyes closed mid-day. He also tends to fall asleep a little before the light goes out. He is also slightly more lethargic. He doesn't run from me nearly as frantically when I reach into his cage. Many of these symptoms could easily be attributed to not eating, which in turn could be a result of a hunger strike.
I have never had a chameleon go through one, so I am unaware of what to look for, or how to handle it. I don't know if he is slower and slightly thinner due to not eating, or if it is the other way around.
I have tried to include all of the info requested in the sticky, but if any more info is needed, please let me know.
Should I be worried, or should I let him try and strike and just wait it out?
