Robobob
Member
So unfortunately and with much sadness i have come to the decision that i might have to put my panther chameleon up for adoption since i cant seem to find a solution to he's bad habits involving his eating habbits.
Since the day i got him about 6 months ago he has always been a picky eater. I have offered him all kinds of insects ranging from crickets, locusts, dubia, mealworms, caterpillars.. you name it, and allthough he have been trough phases
where he have been eating somewhat normal it has mostly been a struggle with hand feeding to get him to take any insects whatsoever.
But troughtout all this time there is one thing he has been snacking on frequently that has had me concerned on a daily basis, which is the cork bark that makes up the back side of his enclosure.
At the start i thought after doing research that he might be doing it because he lacks certain minerals or something but i have since then come to the possible conclusion that he simple likes to snack on it, sitting next to his feeding bowl filled with
various insects, gut loaded and ready but instead ripping off pieces of bark and happily chewing. the fact that he is very healthy, active and not constantly constipated is kind of a mystery to me.
At this point i feel like i might want to give him away to someone who has a more suitable enclosure for him where he cant keep up his bad habits of eating bark. i wish i could just remove the rear of the enclosure but it's firmly build into the cage to
the point where i cant take it out without destroying it. I also dont want to buy a new one since i spent aproximately 1000 dollars and more hours than i can keep track on the project. And say i did spend hundreds of dollars on a new enclosure, there is no guarantee he wont find something else unsuitable to start eating.
In retrospect i would not have build an enclosure like this if i knew that there is a possibility that the animal might start eating out of it, but i am a first time owner and know that i did everything i thought was right to make him a perfect home.
I also had close to zero luck finding similar problems with other people's pets and the only similar threads i've read is mostly how concerned owners ask for advice after their chameleon accidently eats a chip of wood after missing a shot with it's tongue. And to add to it the store where i bought him from also keeps bark in their enclosure and they have said they never recall experiencing a problem like this.
I would appreciate if people could avoid cocky comments like me being a irresponsible owner, i really devote an extreme amount of time, money and worry about my pet but i have come to the crossroads where i dont know what to do anymore,
so if anyone feel like they have a suggestion that i can try before finding him another home it would be really appreciated.
Thanks in advance
picture of enclosure and cham below
Since the day i got him about 6 months ago he has always been a picky eater. I have offered him all kinds of insects ranging from crickets, locusts, dubia, mealworms, caterpillars.. you name it, and allthough he have been trough phases
where he have been eating somewhat normal it has mostly been a struggle with hand feeding to get him to take any insects whatsoever.
But troughtout all this time there is one thing he has been snacking on frequently that has had me concerned on a daily basis, which is the cork bark that makes up the back side of his enclosure.
At the start i thought after doing research that he might be doing it because he lacks certain minerals or something but i have since then come to the possible conclusion that he simple likes to snack on it, sitting next to his feeding bowl filled with
various insects, gut loaded and ready but instead ripping off pieces of bark and happily chewing. the fact that he is very healthy, active and not constantly constipated is kind of a mystery to me.
At this point i feel like i might want to give him away to someone who has a more suitable enclosure for him where he cant keep up his bad habits of eating bark. i wish i could just remove the rear of the enclosure but it's firmly build into the cage to
the point where i cant take it out without destroying it. I also dont want to buy a new one since i spent aproximately 1000 dollars and more hours than i can keep track on the project. And say i did spend hundreds of dollars on a new enclosure, there is no guarantee he wont find something else unsuitable to start eating.
In retrospect i would not have build an enclosure like this if i knew that there is a possibility that the animal might start eating out of it, but i am a first time owner and know that i did everything i thought was right to make him a perfect home.
I also had close to zero luck finding similar problems with other people's pets and the only similar threads i've read is mostly how concerned owners ask for advice after their chameleon accidently eats a chip of wood after missing a shot with it's tongue. And to add to it the store where i bought him from also keeps bark in their enclosure and they have said they never recall experiencing a problem like this.
I would appreciate if people could avoid cocky comments like me being a irresponsible owner, i really devote an extreme amount of time, money and worry about my pet but i have come to the crossroads where i dont know what to do anymore,
so if anyone feel like they have a suggestion that i can try before finding him another home it would be really appreciated.
Thanks in advance
picture of enclosure and cham below
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