Chameleon eating by himself problem

[mahleighgurl]

This is my veiled Chameleon Napoleon. I've had him for about a year and a half now. I got him from Petco and he looked already full grown. Petco wasn't taking care of him at all and he had to go to the vet because he had infections. He's better now but sometimes he eats really slow. The mealworms will be right up to his face and his tongue will miss. Then he just kinda gives up. I hand feed him this mixture from the vet called carnivore care and I hand feed him bits of fruit on occasions. He just has the hardest time lately eating on his own. I don't know if its because he's old or what. He went to the vet a couple months ago and they said he was really healthy. I just wanna help him eat on his own. It makes me sad to watch him slowly eat mealworms.

 

[irisnoclaws]

i know how you feel! i had a female veileds and she was the slowest eater too, she would do the same thing, no catch prey when its right in front of her, i just called her slow, she was my "special" cham and i fed her by hand every feeding because of it, she would have never found any food if i hadn't done it that way. she was about a year and a half but she had a bad owner before her(got her from craigslist) I think you should just play it safe and keep hand feeding your boy, sorry i cant be of more help to you, wish you the best of luck!

 

[carol5208]

One and a half years is not old for a chameleon. I have a 5 year old that shoots his tongue just fine. Age could possibly play a part in a very old chameleon but not in your case. Was this behavior gradual or sudden? For how long has it been going on? Can he shoot his tongue, but misses the food? Cannot extend it far? Both? Missing could be due to eye sight problems. Not being able to shoot could be some sort of vitamin deficiency. Please fill out the ask for help form in the health clinic section. Copy and paste it.

 

[Kate]

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/
This is your link to the form.

 

[mahleighgurl]

I've had him for a year and a half but not sure how old he was when I got him. Petco said he was 6 mos but seeing how they cared for him I'm not sure what to think.

His tongue can extend but he just misses alot. He will get about 2 mealworms after about 30 or more min.

 

[carol5208]

Even two years old is not old in chameleon years. Please fill out the form as requested so we can see something that might be the potential cause. The more information you give us the better.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Try cup /bowl feeding while you resolve the problem with his tongue so that he can easily eat by grabbing food with his mouth, hardly needing his tongue.

please reassure me that you are not offering many mealworms, but rather a wide variety of prey. Mealworms are one of the least healthy feeder prey options available and should form no more than 20% of a chameleons diet.

Have a read of the info in this blog entry, as I think it may be helpful to you:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/232-tongue-troubles.html