vomiting and a picky eater

[Xandrix]

Wednesday, my wife put about 30 crickets into my veiled chameleon's tank (he's about 3 months old by the way). He is a pig, and within about 30 minutes had eaten all of them. Yesterday, she fed him about 12 crickets in the morning. Last night, I was letting him walk around on me and he seemed perfectly normal. After walking around for about 10 minutes, he put his head down, opened his mouth all the way, wiggled his head around and then "vomited" a marble sized ball of something. It basically looked like a ball of cricket shells. After that, he licked his mouth, walked around for about a minute and then settled down on my hand.

He has never done that before and I have noticed that he tends to eat as fast as he can tag the crickets with his tongue. I'm guessing he didn't chew very well and overate. I haven't seen any more vomit since that one incident. Should I be concerned?

On another note, I can't get this thing to eat anything but crickets. No wax worms, no meal worms, no superworms...nothing. He'll go days without eating with a bowl of mealworms wiggling right in front of him. Any suggestions?

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

Wednesday, my wife put about 30 crickets into my veiled chameleon's tank (he's about 3 months old by the way). He is a pig, and within about 30 minutes had eaten all of them. Yesterday, she fed him about 12 crickets in the morning. Last night, I was letting him walk around on me and he seemed perfectly normal. After walking around for about 10 minutes, he put his head down, opened his mouth all the way, wiggled his head around and then "vomited" a marble sized ball of something. It basically looked like a ball of cricket shells. After that, he licked his mouth, walked around for about a minute and then settled down on my hand.

He has never done that before and I have noticed that he tends to eat as fast as he can tag the crickets with his tongue. I'm guessing he didn't chew very well and overate. I haven't seen any more vomit since that one incident. Should I be concerned?

On another note, I can't get this thing to eat anything but crickets. No wax worms, no meal worms, no superworms...nothing. He'll go days without eating with a bowl of mealworms wiggling right in front of him. Any suggestions?

Hello there , I’m sorry to hear your baby did not feel well . I’m going to attach the ask for help form . If you could copy fill out and then paste as much detail as you know . Other keepers can take a look and help you out .

It likely was a ball of meal worm bodies . There very very hard for chameleons to digest . They’re not recommended due to that . They do not gut load either . If you would like to introduce worms silkworms are a great choice .

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/

 

[Xandrix]

Hello there , I’m sorry to hear your baby did not feel well . I’m going to attach the ask for help form . If you could copy fill out and then paste as much detail as you know . Other keepers can take a look and help you out .

It likely was a ball of meal worm bodies . There very very hard for chameleons to digest . They’re not recommended due to that . They do not gut load either . If you would like to introduce worms silkworms are a great choice .

Thanks for your response, but it would have to have been a ball of cricket bodies, as that is all he eats. I will fill out the help form though to get other opinions. I'm hoping it's just a fluke, but I'm only a novice so I know just enough to be dangerous

 

[JacksJill]

I have seen stressed juveniles vomit once during handling and be ok. The hand over hand treadmill can really stress them out. If it happens again he stops eating I would have a vet handy.
A husbandry check in the form above is always a good idea.

 

[Kristen Wilkins]

Thanks for your response, but it would have to have been a ball of cricket bodies, as that is all he eats. I will fill out the help form though to get other opinions. I'm hoping it's just a fluke, but I'm only a novice so I know just enough to be dangerous

It could be . If the babies temps are not warm enough he will not digest properly . Someone can take a look once you have help form filled out .

 

[janjan20]

Welcome! At that age in my opinion 30 may be excessive. I’m sure their stomachs can only handle so much. I would cut back to maybe half that. I’m sure this is not the case but when my Cham was vomiting he was sick and dying so just keep a very close eye on him. I’m not saying that is what is happening it’s just my experience.

If he’s only eating crickets then just let him eat crickets. Make sure they are dusted appropriately and gutloaded VERY WELL. Some tend to be picky eaters so you can try again later with other feeders. I wouldn’t feed meal worms. They are harder for them to digest, just stick with the supers.
Lastly, make sure all feeders are size appropriate for his age.

Husbandry check is a must especially if you are a first time owner

 

[The Wild One]

At that age I’m sure that if him eating 30 crickets a day he will get over weight quick, might want to cut back on that