Baby Veiled eyeing the food but not eating

[Alina]

Hi, it will soon be 5 days that I got a baby veiled and I am concerned that he might not be eating well. I feed him from a cup and count the crickets and mealworms I put in. He may have eaten a few crickets over these days (unless they've escaped), but generally he roams around the feeding cup looking at them. I thought perhaps the feeders appear too big for him (although the crickets are not wider than his head) so ordered some pinheads and silk worms - they are due to arrive this week. Still worried - detailed info below, any suggestions or further questions much appreciated.

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - male baby veiled, born beginning of August, so should be 5-6 weeks by now. Got him from the breeder last Thursday evening, so it's been 4 and a half days by now.
• Handling - For the first few days handled once for several minutes and offered food (the breeder said he was doing that) - past few days stopped in case he might be stressed.
• Feeding - The breeder said he was keeping them on size 1 and 2 crickets and mealworms. Got the smallest size crickets from the local supplier - they vary from 4-9mm long. The feeding cup (pictured) always has a few of those and two mealworms. Gutloaded on carrot and bug grub. I change them daily.
• Supplements - dusting with Vetrak pure calcium - got the D3 and Multivitamin ready too
• Watering - Hand-misting from a spray bottle, filtered room temperature water. He does not seem to like the movement of mist around him so I first try and locate where he is sitting in the viv, and then spray other parts so that the water goes all around - on glass walls of the vivm fake grass backdrop and the plants, but not on the cham directly. I saw him drinking a couple of times - once reaching for a water drop on the glass wall with his tongue from a distance, sometimes - rubbing his nose against the wet leaves.
• Fecal Description - first few days whiles the floor of the viv was more empty - was finding a dropping every day - elongated, plump, dark, a bit squishy but holding together. Never tested for parasites.
• History - I bought a second-hand viv with the setup, so started suspecting that the UV bulb may not have been new-ish (as advertised by the previous owner) - changed it today into a brand new Repti Glo 10.0. sanitised the rest of the viv and washed all plants (fake and real) and the tree bark. the live plants and one piece of bark were added two days ago - when I started worrying that he does not have enough foliage.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Glass viv, 90x60x60, vertical (see pictures)
• Lighting - Basking - 60W simple lamp for the basking spot, Repti Glo 10.0, there is also a ceramic heater on thermal control in case it gets cold at night or the basking spot is not heating the viv.
• Temperature - It's been warm lately, so it's about 28-30C under the basking spot and 21-23c at the bottom of the cage. Measuring with two thermometers - top and bottom. Lowest overnight has been 14-16C. There is a narrow gap at the bottom of the viv door through which air can get in - and a small vent at the top of the mesh dragging air out.
• Humidity - Hand-spraying 3-5 times a day, to the level where there are drops of water accumulating on surfaces. Humidity sensor fluctuates between 40-50%% (our normal humidity at home) and 72% - soon after the misting.
• Plants - Live Pothos, live ficus benjamin, fake vines, fake grass as the backdrop. another fake plant is coming in post to provide more foliage on the left side of the cage (pictured).
• Placement - viv is in the corridor - being passed by humans a few times a day, otherwise quiet. In the evening a few times we switched on the light in the corridor for a bit, but the cham would wake up, so we stopped. No fans or air vents; the small vent in the cage makes a bit of mechanic noise. The viv starts at about 50cm above the floor (pictured).
• Location - London, UK

Current Problem - As I said - he is either not eating at all or eating a little. Since this morning there's been 4 crickets in the feeding cup, it's past noon now and he has not touched them. He definitely sees them, he gets quite interested when they move and comes up closer. could they be too big, or could he be stressed, or could it be a light/temperature problem - or something else?
Mood-wise he spends most of the time looking muted green (or pale green when sleeping). He shows dark stripes as he goes towards the more open areas at the bottom of the cage (pictured). when I am misting or cleaning the cage or putting food into the cup he moves away under the foliage a bit and puffs up/curls up a bit, but does not generally change colour.

Also - pictures

 

[Pitcard]

At a month old, mine were still eating pinheads and fruit flies. It will generally take a cham a week or so to acclimate to his new location. Leave his cup empty until the new feeders arrive. Keep him hydrated in the mean time. When the pinheads go in, he'll be eating like crazy.

Skip the mealworms altogether. Not sure why most everybody still seems to think these are okay for chams.

 

[alphakenc]

first few days whiles the floor of the viv was more empty - was finding a dropping every day - elongated, plump, dark, a bit squishy but holding together.

If u can still find the poop then he must be eating when u not looking,at his size,he can take a week old crickets with no problem,pinhead will be too small for him.