Chameleon not eating much - Temps Too Low?

[lindstedt56]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Panther, Male, 3 months old had him 3 weeks
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? Only when cleaning cage
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? Crickets, Dubias, Phoenix Worms, Meal Worms. My chameleon only eats around 5 small/med food items a day. Crickets are gut loaded with dino fuel and carrots/potatoes
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Calcium without d3 at most feedings, cal with d3 2 times a month, multi 2 times a month
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I just bought an aqua zamp, have it set to mist 4 times a day for 3 minutes. I see him drinking but not much.
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Black with white on the end. He poops every day.
Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? No
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. Got the chameleon 3 weeks ago from a breeder

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? 16, 16, 30 Screen
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? Repti-Glo 5.0, 75 Watt Basking, 60 Watt Basking
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Basking spot is around 80-85, cage floor is 65 and pretty much everything else other then basking is 68-70. I added a 60 watt to try and raise the temps Lowest overnight temp? 63 How do you measure these temps? Zoo Med digital thermometer under basking and lazer cooking thermometer gun
Humidity - What are your humidity levels?50-60 How are you creating and maintaining these levels? Aqua Zamp What do you use to measure humidity? zoo Med
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? Pothos and Umbrella tree
Placement - Where is your cage located? Tv stand in my room Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? No At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? about 6 feet off the ground
Location - Where are you geographically located? Northern California in the foothills

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

My chameleon only eats around 5 small/med crickets or other feeders a day. I have done some reading on these forums and found my cage temps are too low and thought that it might have something to do with the eating issue. My house ambient temp is 68 and have had problems getting the temp up. When the sun goes down (and my house gets colder) my chameleon curls up and gets dark so earlier today when he was doing this I added a 60 watt bulb along with the 75 watt and he started moving around again. Hopefully the added 60 watt will create a temp gradient other then hot and cold.

Also, I have been making a lot of changes to his cage and environment and have had some work done in my room so he could be stressed out a lot. Is this something to be concerned about? Other then that my chameleon seems really healthy and active. Should I get a fecal test done? Any other suggestions or comments? Thanks

 

[Elizadolots]

How old is he? I'm taking it you've had him 3 weeks.

Your temps would definitely affect his eating. They need a warm basking light to digest properly.

Any changes are stressful, so get that over with and let him settle down.

Get that straighten out and he'll probably start eating more. Please let us know.

 

[lindstedt56]

I have had him for 3 weeks and he is 3 months or so old. I try to keep his basking between 80-85 but the rest of his cage is still cold. Adding the second light helped, I will have to check tomrrow and see how much of a difference adding it made.

 

[ataraxia]

It could be that he is to cold.

Do you free range crickets or cup feed? You may have to try a combo of tricks to perk his appetite. Another thought i usually on a cage that size. i will take a piece of Styrofoam the height of the cage and divide it or take away a third of the cage.

Not directly related to the issue but what type of uvb bulb are you using?

With panthers i strongly recommend you implementing a product called reptivite twice a month.

 

[whereswaldo]

did i read that you was using a 60 watt for night heat? 68 at night is ok day temps what you need to focus on for digestion. may take a little while after you raise the temp for his appitite to come back.

 

[Elizadolots]

Your basking temp is good for a 3 month old. Don't do anything to raise that. If the lower realms are really cold then you could get ceramic heat bulbs that don't emit light to try to help with that.

ataraxia has a good point. It's possible the cage is too big for your chameleon to hunt free ranging prey at this time. You might want to cup feed some, free range others just to make sure there are some he doesn't have to go looking for. Or cup feed them all.

**edited to add**

If it's 85 at the top, then 70 at the bottom during the day is fine (even 65). At night, as long as the temp is 55 to 60 I wouldn't add heat.

 

[lindstedt56]

Reptiglo 5.0 for uvb. I have a 75 watt basking with temps between 80-85 and I also added a 60 watt on the side of his cage to try and raise the temps in the middle of the cage. originally I used a 60 watt right on top of his cage and it would barley heat his basking temp to 75 only 7-8 inches away.

I have done a mix of cup feeding/free range. Mostly cup feeding lately. He normally will eat out of cup when I show it to him but rarely over 2 items at a time. Some of his crickets are definitely medium and double the size of the small ones. My pet store sells them to me as "small" even though they range in size.

For supplements I use repcal w/d3, repcal, reptivite

 

[Elizadolots]

You want a calcium without D3 to use daily. It's important to give them the right amount of D3 and that's not very much. The board recommendation is to give D3 2x a month.

D3 adversely affects the ability to absorb Vitamin A and Vitamin A deficiency can cause eye problems (this is assuming I'm remembering everything correctly...).

 

[ataraxia]

Ahhh, here we go.. Be sure to feed appropriate size feeders. if the feeder is to big for them. they will watch it go right on by. be sure that no feeder is larger than the distance between the eyes as a general rule.

 

[Norcalmatt]

I always have one specific basking area the chameleon goes to so make it.so one branch goes.higher to the right.temp.spot. thanks

 

[Norcalmatt]

When i put mine near the basking area if its.cold it starts.hunting