Trapped!

[jmwhitel]

Darth Bane is my 6 month male ambilobe from Komeleons, son of Noki. He is an awesome cham, and is very social, healthy, and friendly. He gets lots of time in his large outdoor enclosure. Recently he has become obsessed with going to ground to explore. So obsessed that it is effecting his eating patterns. He spends all day searching both his indoor and outdoor enclosures for a way out!

Here is my ?

Is this just a phase that most adolescent chams go through? Will he grow out of this and chill out eventually and just be happy to be in his tree outside?

His growth has slowed down because of the reduction in his diet. He is still eating maybe 6-10 cricket/roaches per day, but way down from his 15-20 that he used to eat daily. He currently weighs 60grams and appears very healthy.

Thanks!

 

[Brad]

Hello
How long have you had Darth Bane? What is the temperature gradient in your enclosure?

 

[oblgobl]

Male panthers can start to act restless around this time of year I think it's the weather triggering them to want to wander and look for a mate. He is about the right age to become sexually mature, if you have a female thats within sight of him this is almost certainly the cause of his behaviour.
Seeing as you said he hangs around near the bottom alot it does make me think that perhaps the temps are too hot so just check them if you havn't.
At around his age some do start to slow down their eating and growing this is natural although him being restless probably effects his eating more than normal. When my chams become over 6 months I slowly start reducing their feeding times so they only get fed every second day instead of everyday I find their appetites are better that way, this is a personal preference and not everyone does it.
He certainly look very handsome and healthy anyways.

 

[jmwhitel]

Hello
How long have you had Darth Bane? What is the temperature gradient in your enclosure?

Around 86 degree in basking and low 70's down at the bottom. I have had him since February.

 

[jmwhitel]

Male panthers can start to act restless around this time of year I think it's the weather triggering them to want to wander and look for a mate. He is about the right age to become sexually mature, if you have a female thats within sight of him this is almost certainly the cause of his behaviour.
Seeing as you said he hangs around near the bottom alot it does make me think that perhaps the temps are too hot so just check them if you havn't.
At around his age some do start to slow down their eating and growing this is natural although him being restless probably effects his eating more than normal. When my chams become over 6 months I slowly start reducing their feeding times so they only get fed every second day instead of everyday I find their appetites are better that way, this is a personal preference and not everyone does it.
He certainly look very handsome and healthy anyways.

Thanks for the feedback. This is what I thought. There is no female around. I always thought to wait until a year old to start fasting every other day, but will try it now to see if that helps.

The temps are 86 degrees in basking spot. he is in a heavily planted enclosure, both outdoor and indoor. He does this behavior in both. After further investigation, I really do believe he is just an explorer and looking for some ladies!

Appreciate the feedback guys

 

[oblgobl]

Instead of every other day you could start maybe just missing say 2 days a week (Monday and Thursday for example so he has a nice gap) that might improve his appetite. Not that there's anything wrong with feeding him everyday if thats what your preference is, some people feed their adults everyday just not as much so they dont get fat.

 

[jmwhitel]

I used to fast my female veiled in order to combat the constant egg production. Will fast him tomorrow, then feed him Wednesday and see if that sparks his appetite. Maybe he is taking the overabundance of feeders for granted

Also need to get some worms and snails to give him more variety, maybe the cricket/roach combo is getting old.

 

[shmeenakoz]

Ugh I'm going through the same exact thing with my guy (7 months old)! I also thought that all the above mentioned were the issue. I think the weather, and sexual maturity is a big factor. I will also be feeding every other day since in the recent past this seems to help! Good luck with your lil' man, he looks gorgeous!

 

[Rex305]

I have a Jackson. about 10-11 months old. same thing happening last and this month sofar. he likes to chill on the bottom of the tank lately (i have a tank/cage combo) at first i thought it was temperatures. checked that...temps are fine. then i thought it might be because he had no spot to just lay down on (only had bamboo sticks, vines, and ropes) made him a DIY hammock, but i still find him on the bottom exploring alot lately.

he does come up to the top every now and then, but yeah getting the same behavior right now.

so some of you think it's weather related or looking for a mate? ...

 

[fleetwoodchams]

Darth Bane is my 6 month male ambilobe from Komeleons, son of Noki. He is an awesome cham, and is very social, healthy, and friendly. He gets lots of time in his large outdoor enclosure. Recently he has become obsessed with going to ground to explore. So obsessed that it is effecting his eating patterns. He spends all day searching both his indoor and outdoor enclosures for a way out!

Here is my ?

Is this just a phase that most adolescent chams go through? Will he grow out of this and chill out eventually and just be happy to be in his tree outside?

His growth has slowed down because of the reduction in his diet. He is still eating maybe 6-10 cricket/roaches per day, but way down from his 15-20 that he used to eat daily. He currently weighs 60grams and appears very healthy.

Thanks!

Hi Jim,

Memphis ( Bane's Brother) is doing exactly the same thing.
He climbs the door to get out as soon as he sees me.
If it's nice out we go out to the tree if not I put him in his indoor free-range tree. This seems to settle him down a bit then he's OK with going back into the habitat for feeding.
I really think Noki's boys are gentle giants and like to be held. I know Memphis does.
This probably plays a part in it too, since I have held him and carried him around with me since he was just little.
Guess you got a spoiled cham Jim : )

 

[PCD]

Same with my 7 month old. If I have the door open, he tries to come out. I actually think he's learned something... If I put a worm on his favorite feeding leaf, he used to snap it up before I even got the tongs out of the way, now, he waits til it falls off to the cage floor, almost KNOWING I'll get my arm in the cage, or crouch down to see better to grab the worm.....that's when he makes his move! On top of my head or on my arm in less than 2 seconds.

I swear the guy does this on purpose

 

[shmeenakoz]

Same with my 7 month old. If I have the door open, he tries to come out. I actually think he's learned something... If I put a worm on his favorite feeding leaf, he used to snap it up before I even got the tongs out of the way, now, he waits til it falls off to the cage floor, almost KNOWING I'll get my arm in the cage, or crouch down to see better to grab the worm.....that's when he makes his move! On top of my head or on my arm in less than 2 seconds.

I swear the guy does this on purpose

Oh for sure, they're no dummies

 

[fuzzhc]

My male is about the same age and going through the same thing! It's previously happened with my female panther and male veiled about the same time too. Must be an age thing