Fussy male panther chameleon

[luckyy15]

My 10 month old panther chameleon has started to get really fussy with his food. I feed a variety of feeders including crickets locusts supers dubias I've also tried silkworms and butter worms but he is being really fussy recently and won't really eat many crickets and has totally gone off the locusts he isn't showing must interest in the other feeders except the supers when I give them to him. Should I stop giving him the supers I don't want him to start only eating supers. Should I offer him the other feeders until he is hungry enough to eat them ? All the feeders are gutloaded with fresh fruit and veggies as well as bug grub. Could it be his age ? Do they go through phases like this when maturing ?

 

[Jeweledchameleons]

Change his environment
get him out of his cage and into the sunlight.
let him be stuck in a small (fake) tree or whatever for a few hours.

It'll do him good...
I've found that they get "depressed" or frustrated at being stuck in a cage all day
Certainly a young horny male feeling his oats
that instinct tells him to roam around and search for a female.

Do that for a few days and if he's like mine
they'll snap out of it and get hungry again.

(also you might want to increase his water intake).
He may just be having problems moving stuff through his intestines.

 

[pantherlover]

a highly respected breeder told me that a healthy chameleon thats drinking could go a week without food without a problem. i recently had a similar problem with my female panther, about 8months. she has been more interested in getting out of her cage than eating. i trusted the info that was given to me & it worked. i like the unfamilliar territory idea too.

 

[carol5208]

My panther is around i 8 mos and I noticed too when I put the crickets in his cage in the morning he hims and haws around and then he finally will eat them slowly here and there. He is crazy for the supers also! The thing about taking him our of the cage is true. I live in FLA and I have a big screen room. i set up a hibiscus tree for him in there and I throw some crickets in a cup and when he is out there sunning I hold the cup up and he will usuall eat everyone of them. He seems more energetic and hungry out of his cage. Good advice!

 

[sandrachameleon]

Yes. If it were me, I'd just stop offering the supers for awhile. It will eat what else it is offered when it gets hungry enough (and you sound like you're offering sufficient variety). They can go quite awhile without food, if they are healthy, so dont worry about it he choosed to go without for a week.

 

[Chamillonaire]

My cham is doing the same thing. I took him to the vet and they said they dont see anything wrong. So I gess my cham need the same thing.

 

[luckyy15]

Thank you all so much for your help. I haven taken him out in the garden when the weather is nice which at the mo it is which unusual for the uk so I'll try this over the next few days and see if he gets his apetite again as he does seem to like to*come out and say hello he is a friendly cham when he feels like it he walks up my arm when I open the cage. I haven't given him any supers this week. I feed him every other day should I continue to do this while he's being fussy or try every day until he is back to normal ?

 

[pantherlover]

i personally feed 3 to 5 appropriate sized feeders everyday but some people feed every second day or less. keep an eye on the pads on the head. if it looks like the brain is trying to pop out, your good to go.

 

[luckyy15]

yea his fat pads stick out here are a couple of recent pics how does he look ? i put some food in this morning so we will see if he has eaten anything when i get home later.

 

[luckyy15]

Getting worried :-(

Still hasn't eaten anything today should I be worried if it's under a week as I feel worried just wish he would eat something but got to be good and not give in and offer him supers

 

[Karmaleon]

whats a super?

 

[Karmaleon]

new to this site and cham family so not sure if im replying correctly but! What's a super?\

 

[luckyy15]

Hi it's a giant mealworm chameleons love them. Haven't read this thread in ages
My Cham is doing really now absolutely loves his food and gobbles everything pretty much straight away

 

[carol5208]

Glad to hear your chameleon is doing well two years later! They go through stages of not eating certain things. And yes, they love supers!!!

 

[Karmaleon]

So hearing the trouble that everyone else has had with Supers.. should I avoid them all together? I heard mealworms aren't the most nutrious things. Is that different from super mealworms? Lol like supermen.. man.. movie just came out.. gettit?

 

[Karmaleon]

To late now lol I ordered some horn worms and 500+ supers came with and yep he did in fact love them.. first thing he's devoured from my hands actually lol so thanks Mulberry Farms