Veiled Eating Less

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, Male and had him since June (4 months) and guessing he's about 3-4 months old.

Handling - Very rarely, maybe 1-2 times a month


Feeding - 10-12 medium crickets a day, using vetark calcium (with d3) twice a month and normal calcium (can't remember name) lightly every feeding. 1-2 wax worms a month

Supplements - Mentioned in feeding :)

Watering - Has a little dripper and mist 3 times a day but don't see him drink


Fecal Description - Solid and firm brown poop with white urate. Not been tested for parasites.

History - No history

Cage Info:

Cage Type - Wooden viv which is 4 foot high and 2 foot width with 4 big vents at back but changing to screen cage after Christmas.

Lighting - Viv is made by pet store, 60 watt house hold bulb for basking and 5.0 compact UVB bulb which both is on from 9AM and goes off at 9PM.

Temperature - Top of viv (basking) is 85, middle to bottom is mid 60-70's and is measured by a temperature gauge. No heat at night as the room is 75F.

Humidity - Humidity is 80% and is caused by misting 3 times daily and is measured by a humidity gauge

Plants - Only fake plants are used.

Placement - Viv is located in the living room which is the warmest room in the house and stays at 75F without heating and is low traffic. Doesn't stress when me, mum & dad and dog walks past.

Location - United Kingdom

Current Problem - My concern is that my male veiled chameleon doesn't seem to be eating as much as he has been before, I'm putting 10 medium crickets in his cup a day and only eats 4-5 crickets. He's not loosing weight, very active and drinking and shedding fine and also going to the toilet fine but on some occasions he's left them all day and decided to eat them when the sun comes up and his lights are not yet on he next day. So is this fine for him to leave them and eat them the next morning?
 
Generally it's not recommended to leave the crickets in the enclosure overnight, but I honestly have never had a problem doing that - however I do have a small container of cricket gutload in each enclosure and that together with the live plants, the crickets do not bother the chameleon.

Be aware that chameleons in general eat less in the fall (even if you don't change anything, their natural rhythm dictates this) and, as your cham grows, it will start eating less as well.
 
Is he shedding? I've heard that chams don't eat as often when they're shedding.

Has anything in or around the enclosure changed that would have caused him to become stressed?

You may also want to get a fecal done to make sure he doesn't have any parasites.
 
Is he shedding? I've heard that chams don't eat as often when they're shedding.

Has anything in or around the enclosure changed that would have caused him to become stressed?

You may also want to get a fecal done to make sure he doesn't have any parasites.

He wasn't shedding at the time but started his shed today. His environment hasn't changed. I know he ate all his crickets yesterday but didn't touch any today with him shedding. But he's hydrated with nice white urate.
 
He wasn't shedding at the time but started his shed today. His environment hasn't changed. I know he ate all his crickets yesterday but didn't touch any today with him shedding. But he's hydrated with nice white urate.

So he did eat all of them yesterday? I wouldn't worry too much then. As long as he continues to eat healthy, I think you're okay.

Its normal that his appetite isn't as strong now since he's shedding.
 
I'm slightly confused that you've had him since June and he might be 3 months old....did he come in an egg?.....I wouldn't worry too much about his appetite going up and down a bit as he goes through stages (as long as he still eats daily at his age all is fine), maybe offer other bits of variety to stimulate his appetite, but not more than say 5 mealworms or flies per week, because you don't want to make him think he can get away with not eating his crickets. He might go through a phase of 'troublesome teenagerness' soon, I think all Veileds do in their own way......this could be what he's getting ready for. Also, you are probably offering him bigger crickets than before, right? Size does matter, lol
 
\maybe offer other bits of variety to stimulate his appetite, but not more than say 5 mealworms or flies per week, because you don't want to make him think he can get away with not eating his crickets. He might go through a phase of 'troublesome teenagerness' soon, I think all Veileds do in their own way......this could be what he's getting ready for. Also, you are probably offering him bigger crickets than before, right? Size does matter, lol

I completely agree. I gave my guy too many mealworms and he refused crickets for awhile. He was a Panther, too. :p
 
He's on small to medium which he's been on for a few weeks now and doesn't struggle with the size. I do try and offer more variety but he refuses locusts, mealworms, veg and fruit and only accepts crickets, odd wax worm and odd fly and moth.
 
He's on small to medium which he's been on for a few weeks now and doesn't struggle with the size. I do try and offer more variety but he refuses locusts, mealworms, veg and fruit and only accepts crickets, odd wax worm and odd fly and moth.

Nothing to worry about if he eats his crickets I guess, as long as you've got good gutloading
 
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