Chameleon’s eyes are closed

[MotherofDragons2099]

Oh poor baby he is extremely skin y

Agreed. Baby is very very skinny. You should not see the bones in his tail, arms/legs and head/face. How long ago was this picture taken?

This was today

 

[MotherofDragons2099]

Hi and welcome. You’re getting excellent help and advice and I can’t add anything more other than to stress that your sweet chameleon needs a good vet last week. Being so very emaciated can lead to a host of other problems with his organs. I’m just curious where you got him from.

I had gotten him from FramsChams. He had been doing great until today, really. He was very active, eyes open, I saw him drinking yesterday and he’d been eating too. He even ate this morning

 

[elizaann2]

No worries, I sincerely appreciate the help. I think I’d accidentally mis-written the issue with his eating. Whoops

I feed him the extra small Dubia roaches, medium BSLF and I believe the small superworms (that he rarely eats). I had been cup feeding him, which he was doing fine with. He eventually stopped eating from the cup, but he will eat if I release them into the enclosure. I had spoken to someone in a Facebook group about this, and was told to stop doing that so that he will get back into cup feeding again. I didn’t do that, because I didn’t want him to starve. I haven’t seen any dead bugs/chewed bugs in the enclosure. Unless they had all somehow ended up buried in the plant soil or underneath the rocks. I want to change to a feeder run as advised previously, then I can monitor that easily.

How many do you feed him daily? How long ago did he stop cup feeding? I would honestly check around your enclosure for them, all the bugs we feed our chameleons are nocturnal bugs and they tend to hid and burrow in the plants and dirt.

When I got my recent cham I had issues with him eating as well, while I was waiting for my feeder run to be delivered, I made my own with the help of this youtube video from the Chameleon Academy



You can easily get all these materials today to make your own feeder run while you are waiting on yours to arrive (much like my situation)

 

[elizaann2]

This was today

Got it thank you.

 

[elizaann2]

I had gotten him from FramsChams. He had been doing great until today, really. He was very active, eyes open, I saw him drinking yesterday and he’d been eating too. He even ate this morning

FramsChams is an excellent breeder. Good choice.

 

[MotherofDragons2099]

How many do you feed him daily? How long ago did he stop cup feeding? I would honestly check around your enclosure for them, all the bugs we feed our chameleons are nocturnal bugs and they tend to hid and burrow in the plants and dirt.

When I got my recent cham I had issues with him eating as well, while I was waiting for my feeder run to be delivered, I made my own with the help of this youtube video from the Chameleon Academy



You can easily get all these materials today to make your own feeder run while you are waiting on yours to arrive (much like my situation)

Thank you for this! I will use this to feed him tomorrow. I usually release 10-15 bugs, normally 13 or 15. I’m going to dig around in the soil to see if I can find any dead ones

 

[CalamityCrow]

Thank you for this! I will use this to feed him tomorrow. I usually release 10-15 bugs, normally 13 or 15. I’m going to dig around in the soil to see if I can find any dead ones

If you're feeding dubias, they're notorious for falling off stuff (they don't stick to things well) and immediately either burying themselves in dirt, or hiding under something. I've found dubias hiding under plants (and in soil) more than once.

Personally, at this young age, I offer more than he could eat and see what's leftover. That way I know he's eating is fill.

Hopefully a vet will be able to help you out and get him on the right track. I've attached a list of vets that folks on the forum have had good experiences with. Perhaps you're near one!

 

[MotherofDragons2099]

If you're feeding dubias, they're notorious for falling off stuff (they don't stick to things well) and immediately either burying themselves in dirt, or hiding under something. I've found dubias hiding under plants (and in soil) more than once.

Personally, at this young age, I offer more than he could eat and see what's leftover. That way I know he's eating is fill.

Hopefully a vet will be able to help you out and get him on the right track. I've attached a list of vets that folks on the forum have had good experiences with. Perhaps you're near one!

The closest one is four hours away
I do believe there are a handful of reptile vets in my town, and most have pretty good reviews. Thank you for the tip to offer more than he could eat, I’ll definitely do that

 

[elizaann2]

If you're feeding dubias, they're notorious for falling off stuff (they don't stick to things well) and immediately either burying themselves in dirt, or hiding under something. I've found dubias hiding under plants (and in soil) more than once.

Personally, at this young age, I offer more than he could eat and see what's leftover. That way I know he's eating is fill.

Hopefully a vet will be able to help you out and get him on the right track. I've attached a list of vets that folks on the forum have had good experiences with. Perhaps you're near one!

Exactly. What I do with my juvenile is put 10-15 crickets in my feeder run, I have a bird feeder cup in his enclosure as well that have anywhere from 15-20 bsfl and then I'll also try to hand feed wax worms, or put moths or bsf in the enclosure as well. I waste a LOT of bugs...lol. But daily my guy has access to 30+ bugs in his enclosure. Not sure if that many is recommended to give him daily but thats what I do.

 

[elizaann2]

The closest one is four hours away
I do believe there are a handful of reptile vets in my town, and most have pretty good reviews. Thank you for the tip to offer more than he could eat, I’ll definitely do that

Good, get him into one close to you asap and please keep us posted on how it goes.

 

[CalamityCrow]

Exactly. What I do with my juvenile is put 10-15 crickets in my feeder run, I have a bird feeder cup in his enclosure as well that have anywhere from 15-20 bsfl and then I'll also try to hand feed wax worms, or put moths or bsf in the enclosure as well. I waste a LOT of bugs...lol. But daily my guy has access to 30+ bugs in his enclosure. Not sure if that many is recommended to give him daily but thats what I do.

Lol as long as he's still under a year, you should be fine!

 

[MotherofDragons2099]

Exactly. What I do with my juvenile is put 10-15 crickets in my feeder run, I have a bird feeder cup in his enclosure as well that have anywhere from 15-20 bsfl and then I'll also try to hand feed wax worms, or put moths or bsf in the enclosure as well. I waste a LOT of bugs...lol. But daily my guy has access to 30+ bugs in his enclosure. Not sure if that many is recommended to give him daily but thats what I do.

I’ve heard that wax worms are pretty fatty, if I implement some of those into his food will that also help bring his weight up?

 

[CalamityCrow]

I’ve heard that wax worms are pretty fatty, if I implement some of those into his food will that also help bring his weight up?

In my opinion, you can use them as treats, but I'd say offer lots more food, and if he's eating the good feeders (BSFL, Dubia, etc.) let him eat those. Wax worms are indeed fatty, but they're also low in nutritional value. His body needs all the goodness it can get and weight is just one aspect of that.

 

[MotherofDragons2099]

In my opinion, you can use them as treats, but I'd say offer lots more food, and if he's eating the good feeders (BSFL, Dubia, etc.) let him eat those. Wax worms are indeed fatty, but they're also low in nutritional value. His body needs all the goodness it can get and weight is just one aspect of that.

I’ll look into that then, for sure. Just really hoping he’ll be okay through the night. I’m supposed to go out of state the week after next, but if I can’t get him back on track, I’m contemplating just staying home to take care of him. Fingers crossed I find a good, well educated and experienced vet tomorrow

 

[elizaann2]

I’ve heard that wax worms are pretty fatty, if I implement some of those into his food will that also help bring his weight up?

It should. Really anything will help to be honest. Don’t feed too many because they are basically the ‘Snickers’ of bugs so fattening but not nutritious. I give my chams treat bugs every Saturday so this is when he gets the wax worms. Mine like your guy won’t eat super worms

 

[elizaann2]

I’ll look into that then, for sure. Just really hoping he’ll be okay through the night. I’m supposed to go out of state the week after next, but if I can’t get him back on track, I’m contemplating just staying home to take care of him. Fingers crossed I find a good, well educated and experienced vet tomorrow

That’s a call only you can make. He is going to need a lot of TLC for a minute though for sure.

 

[elizaann2]

Checking in to see how you and your chameleon are doing this morning. Thinking of you both and hoping the vet visit goes well.