Chameleon's appetite

[ndelmar]

Hello everyone,

My veiled chameleon Yoshi recently has not been eating from his normal cricket pit. I made a pit out of a water carton and stick crickets in their and usually yoshi will just pick them off. However, when i do leave a worm out on a branch he will go for it, but will not go for the crickets in the pit. Also Yoshi suffered a burn and or a fungal infection in which I have to medicate him twice a day which really bothers him. I was wondering if the whole process of me medicating him twice a day is stressing him to the point where he is not recognizing food in the cricket pit? OR does anyone have any other suggestions as to how I could place the crickets in the cage with out them escaping everywhere. Keep in mind my cage is HUGE: 18inch x 18 inch x 48 inch, wire mesh around the whole cage(crickets are able to fit through the wire mesh).

One more thing, do chameleons appetite go down as they get older?

Thanks!

Niko.

 

[jackscham]

How old is he? Baby or sub-adult chams can have voracious appetites, but as they approach adulthood their appetites often decrease. I've had adults show no interest in food of any kind for days at a time. What are you treating him for, a burn or fungus?? And yes, frequent handling may be causing stress on him, which could be affecting his appetite.

 

[carol5208]

you could try putting the crickets in an opaque cup and hang if from a branch or vine. you will probably have to pull of their legs so they don't jump out. My chameleon at about 7 months old just stopped eating crikcets altogether. He likes worms much better than crickets. I have periodically gotten crickets to try and reintroduce them to him but he just refuses. I have basically given up on the cricket thing. I guess they get bored with food like we do.

 

[ndelmar]

Yoshi is around 6-7 months old. as for the burn infection the vet prescribed me a cream called silver sulfadiazine, and for the fungus it too is a cream called miconazole nitrate 2& or miconazole cream #1. I was also given a betadine solution for cleaning the area twice a day.

 

[ndelmar]

Carol 528, Thanks for that idea, I may try that and see if that will help.

Another question.... If for some reason Yoshi starts to not eat crickets for good, what other calcium rich insect can be a good replace?

 

[carol5208]

Alot of people feed the Dubias Roaches but I am not sure of their calcium content but they are great feeders also. I am sure someone can post their nutritional value or you can research it easily. I know silkworms are close in nutritional value to crickets in some aspects, but they are soft bodied opposed to the harder body of a cricket so you have to have some chitin in their diet like superworms.

http://www.silkwormshop.com/benefits.html Here is a link for you on silkworms. They are higher in calcium than crickets.

 

[Obama the cham]

chitin? wat is this chitin u speak of?

 

[carol5208]

it is the hard exoskeleton of the insect. The outside of the body that makes them crunchy!!!