Brookesia Stumpffi not eating

[Luffy D. Chameleon]

Nov 2023, I received 2x WC Brookesia Stumpffi at the same time from the same breeder.
Identical separate setups. Customized 40 gallon tank (mesh on top), heavily planted bioactive terrarium, mister (3x a day - morning, afternoon and night), Arcadia UVB 6%, UVA bulb each at one end of their tanks and heat pads on the other side set at 78°F.

One of them eats crickets, fruit flies, meal worms just fine, but the other one barely eats. Ive seem him eat only a few times since i got it.
There is a noticable difference between the 2...one if very plump and the other is definitely losing weight.
Is this a cause for concern? Is there a favourite food they cant resists?

Thank you!

 

[Beman]

Can you post some pics of the chams and of your entire set up? I will tag members that work with smaller species like this. @Mendez @javadi

 

[elizaann2]

There was a blog on here by @Mendez that mentioned something about cup feeding ones that were not eating. Not sure if that would be helpful or not. I have no experience with this species unfortunately.

 

[Mendez]

Do you have any recent pics of the animal in question? Are the cheeks sunken in?

You mentioned a breeder. So I assume the animals are CB and not WC?

When I've had a pygmy not doing well, like mentioned above, I would get a small black deli cup and place maybe five crickets in it. Then I would set the cup in a place close to the chameleon (ideally in a spot where they won't have to move from) where they can see the crickets moving in the cup.

Crickets really seem to get a reaction from my pygmies. With that said, if the crickets are too small, they might not find them as appealing. Approximately how big is the chameleon and how big are the crickets you are feeding?

Are you sure the pygmy is losing weight? I have several pygmies in my care that I haven't seen eat. I have had one dude for close to 2 years now and have only seen him eat once.

Additionally, are you trying to replicate the warm, wet season? Having seasonal temperature fluctuations are fine. They'll still grow as long as you don't get it too cold during the day. 78F with a heat pad seems unnecessary. They can handle much lower than that.

 

[javadi]

@Mendez above gives some good suggestions and it will help to answer the questions he poses.

Firstly, are they males or females? A female losing weight is sometimes more concerning than males because developing eggs can act as a nidus for infection (that males don't have) which can present as weight loss. This should be handled more promptly if so.

As for favorite foods, crickets are good and I second the idea that sometimes you just won't see them eat. However, stumpffi do seem to really enjoy and target small waxworms. So you can try some of those in a small cup to see if they are actually consumed.

Given that they are wild caught and you got them close to the start of the rainy season, unless they were subadults when they came in, they have likely been through a whole lot in their time and very likely have parasites. Stumpffi are tough but it's worth investigating their feces for parasites (float and/or smear). Dosing can be tricky with them but one can usually add a bit of panacur paste to a waxworm or cricket in a cup and get them to take the meds that way, should they be needed.

If indeed they have parasites, it can also help to offer a small localized basking spot for stumpffi, as long as doing so doesn't compromise the rest of the temperature gradients available. They will sometimes use it to give themselves a "behavioral fever" which is hypothesized to help clear the pathogens by increasing immune cell activity.

If you are interested, I wrote a 20 page care guide on B. stumpffi to be published in the next issue of responsible herpetoculture magazine. If it would help I can send it to you in its preprint form as it is not out in its final form yet.

 

[Luffy D. Chameleon]

@Mendez @javadi Thanks for the replies. They were sold to me as WC male and female (non-guaranteed) In a sex i.d. post i created, mostly everyone said I have 2 females (https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/stumpffi-sex-id.191619/) . The chameleon im questioning is the "male"...the "female" is eating great for me.

@javadi I would love the care guide please.

I have attached images of his enclosures and the chameleon in question. I can take better pics when i get home.
Tank size is 30"x12"x19" and i extended the top about 6" (the top and front door is mesh).

"His" eyes dont appear to be sunken to me. He's active and alert, but havent seen him eat and im comparing him to the female who eats with no issues.

I've tried pinhead crickets, meal worms and wax worms. Since i had him, i've seen him eat a few crickets and 1 meal worm.