Feeding Strikes? How Long?

Nicodemayo

Nicodemayo

Avid Member
Just wanting to know on average how long you guys will see feeding strikes go on. The past couple weeks my panther cham has been on a feeding strike eating on and off (and the days he does eat he'll eat like 2 phoenix worms and a cricket if im lucky and if im really lucky and super worm) and he hasn't eaten in the past couple of days. He has a small amount of protozoan cysts but tomorrow is his last day of treatment so hopefully they're knocked out. The past couple of days he's only had Flagyl and ive given him water with the syringe to keep him hydrated cause his he has small poos with orange urate. Just wondering how long some of you have observed your panthers going on feeding strikes and how long have you let it go on before trying to force feed or do you even force feed at all? The day he gets off this strike ill be so relived. Hes very healthy looking and very active so im not to worried about him i just want the strike to be over. Surprisingly i really havnt seen him loosing weight at all really. I feel like hes my child and he wont eat lol. I gave him a shower today to keep him hydrated and i cleaned his cage with bleach water as the vet told me to do.

Looking happy as normal but hes an ass and wont eat for me lol and somehow got some protozoans from god knows what.
 
hey Nico..
so it was a parasite after all, huh?
Well, we're on the same boat (with mine in a worse condition i guess).
yours looking good still.

My chameleon has stopped eating for 2 weeks now.
and his albon and panacur treatment will commence next week.
Today, he has finally eaten 2 hornworms hatchling.
he stopped pooping altogether because he no longer eat anything.
drastic weight loss and pelvic start to show.

There is nothing i can do anymore. He refuse eating. won't even open his mouth unless i pry it open (forcefully).
So, i stop force feeding him.
:( i'm ready for the worst actually.
 
Im very sorry dodolah. At least he ate some hornworms today. I guess he ate them on his own? You think its the parasites taking a toll on yours? When i had the fecal check done, the vet said there was a very small amount. Tomorrow is his last day of treatment. Check out this thread on the last page and theres a description of what the vet feels is up with oscar. Its the scanned photo of his vet report. Good luck with yours. How come you've completely given up on force feeding? :(

https://www.chameleonforums.com/hunger-strike-possible-protozoans-9360/
 
Nicodemayo said:
Im very sorry dodolah. At least he ate some hornworms today. I guess he ate them on his own? You think its the parasites taking a toll on yours? When i had the fecal check done, the vet said there was a very small amount. Tomorrow is his last day of treatment. Check out this thread on the last page and theres a description of what the vet feels is up with oscar. Its the scanned photo of his vet report. Good luck with yours. How come you've completely given up on force feeding? :(

https://www.chameleonforums.com/hunger-strike-possible-protozoans-9360/
Click to expand...

he does ate them on his own.
The last force feeding does not work at all.
I have to pry his mouth to make it open.
He close his mouth real tight.
Any stronger force will break his teeth.

That's why i given up on force feeding him.
Good luck with yours too.
 
desultadox said:
Wow, that guy's sick? He looks awesome! Those red spots are hot.
Click to expand...

I wouldnt really call him "sick" lol. Hes keeping weight and very strong even after eating hardly anything in the past week. His flagyl treatment is done so hopefully i knocked out the protozoans but this seasonal strike is getting annoying. Thanks for the compliment though

Justin- How often is yours eating? Have you been force feeding?
 
To be honest he eats dirt first thing in the morning then every two day he may eat a super worm.
I'm really getting tired of this.
I had him figured out for a while, then my feeding methods stopped working.
I force feed him like once a week, so he gets a good dose of calcium.
 
so he's getting one meal per week and is he staying strong? Im wanna hear more about your situation.lol. Hes a veiled right?
 
My two boys went on a strike together... damn unions! hahaha.

Jake is my younger male vieled. I was worried about him the most because he looked so thin. I took him to the vet and they did a fecal test, came back with nothing. The vet was shocked at how strong Jake was for his thin figure. I force fed Jake for about two weeks after the visit. I would feed him every other day or so with his baytril (vet said to give him some just incase for a few days). I think they were both on a strike for a month and a half maybe two months. I started weighing them almost everyday a couple of weeks after the vet visit. Fred isn't up to speed with Jake. Jake is almost 8 months and he was 122.9grams yesterday! Fred is prolly 8-8.5 and he was 102.9 yesterday. Fred always looks bigger than Jake.... so I don't get it.

I started taking them out for sun baths as often as i could about a two week ago. They would eat ants in the pot of the Ficus tree. Fred got so used to the natural sun that I can just open his cage and hold a stick out for him and he'll come running. After the ants I offered Dubia to them and they started eating again. Now they are back on a cricket diet, ran out of Dubia. :rolleyes:
 
wow. I hope this doesnt last a couple months. I just force fed Oscar 2 crickets with his calcium with d3, a molted superworm, and 2 big juicy waxworms (wanted to give him something fatty and juicy). I also gave him .8mL of water to top it all off.
 
It would take a pretty extreme situation for me to feel like I needed to force feed a chameleon.
The pardalis female who just finished her 3 week egg-laying might qualify.
In my opinion, force feeding happens way too often.
Incidentally the de-parasitizing medicines are appetite suppressants.
Nicodemayo, now that the treatment is done have you administered a pro-biotic?

-Brad
 
Brad Ramsey said:
It would take a pretty extreme situation for me to feel like I needed to force feed a chameleon.
The pardalis female who just finished her 3 week egg-laying might qualify.
In my opinion, force feeding happens way too often.
Incidentally the de-parasitizing medicines are appetite suppressants.
Nicodemayo, now that the treatment is done have you administered a pro-biotic?

-Brad
Click to expand...


I was lucky that Jake is easy to feed. If you place his head between your index and middle finger he would open up very easily. I didn't even need to really touch him, just knowing my fingers were close to him like that made him gape. I would squirt a little critical care (mixed on the watery side) and then place him above my head. After the feeding he was rewarded with pure sunight in his out door Ficus. He loves that.:rolleyes:

The only time I have ever FORCE fed was when my Panther wouldn't eat. I wish I had started sooner because I lost him. This wasn't a hunger strike gone bad... I just like to keep food going through the system.
 
Nicodemayo said:
wow. I hope this doesnt last a couple months. I just force fed Oscar 2 crickets with his calcium with d3, a molted superworm, and 2 big juicy waxworms (wanted to give him something fatty and juicy). I also gave him .8mL of water to top it all off.
Click to expand...

Having some Critical Care on hand is a good method of feeding. It is a lot easier to get the tip of a suringe into an animals mouth than a wigling cricket or warm. Just a tip to make things easy on both of you.
 
Brad Ramsey said:
It would take a pretty extreme situation for me to feel like I needed to force feed a chameleon.
The pardalis female who just finished her 3 week egg-laying might qualify.
In my opinion, force feeding happens way too often.
Incidentally the de-parasitizing medicines are appetite suppressants.
Nicodemayo, now that the treatment is done have you administered a pro-biotic?

-Brad
Click to expand...

summoner12 said:
Having some Critical Care on hand is a good method of feeding. It is a lot easier to get the tip of a suringe into an animals mouth than a wigling cricket or warm. Just a tip to make things easy on both of you.
Click to expand...

Brad, the vet never gave me any pro-biotic. He told me to bring back a stool at the end of the month, and if thats clean, wait 3 months, and if thats clean, check back every 6 months and if they come up positive we'll continue treatment. I decided to force feed him cause he hasn't eaten in like 4 days. I wouldn't have but today he seemed a little skinner than he had been. Your probably right though. Maybe i should back off alittle. You have to understand though, people force feed even if they may not need to because people really care for our pets, and knowing they havnt eaten in 4 days is enough to make any pet owner uneasy. It probably has to do with the fact that most of my life, ive never had pets that would ever not eat. My snake would skip the occasional week, but they're way different cause you dont have to feed them every day anyway. I really havnt noticed any hugely significant weight loss so your probably right, maybe i should back off a bit. I'm just afraid he isn't getting the nutrients he needs.

Summoner, the live bugs havnt been a problem because as soon as they hit his mouth/tongue, he chomps down.
 
When you take the stool sample in, I would ask about it (pro-biotics).
The medicine kills beneficial microorganisms as well as the parasites.
And it may not be a bad idea to get the beneficial bacteria jump-started.

-Brad
 
Last edited:
Oh My Freaking Jesus He Just Ate On His Own!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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