Help he's slowing down on eating

[Veild Cham Owner]

• Chameleon - Veiled, male, 5months (not really sure) I got him Febuary 21
• Handling - bc he is a baby I have been trying to handle him often so he won't be so scared of me
• Feeding - crickets, occasionally wax and meal worms and almost every day he gets kale or romaine lettuce . Every Wednesday I give him some strawberry or Apple (I gave him some apple today) I usually give him 5 crx in the morning and 5 after school (around 2) and after school is when I give him the kale and other fruit and veggies. I gut load my criers with just about any fruit or veggies I can find in my house (Apple, carrot, orange, romaine lettuce, kale, strawberry, celery)
• Supplements - i dust every Sunday, Tuesday and Friday with calcium (Repti Calcium) and every Wednesday I dust with multi vitamines ( rep cal )
• Watering - I have a mist king WHICH I LOVE I have it set for 30seconds every hour. I sometimes see him drink in the morning but he's a pretty shy drinker
• Fecal Description - Brown fecal with white urate. He has never been tested for parasites
• History - he used to be a BITCH but that's a typical pet store baby Cham for you lol but now he is very active and lovable

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - 4h X 2d X 2w screen
• Lighting - I have a 100 watt and a 74 watt, a 10.0 Uvb light and a 60 watt for night time (NO HATE ON THE NIGHG TIME)
• Temperature - basking spot is 85-90F (it's pretty hot when I put my hand in his basking spot) bottem of cage is 70. I have a thermometer.
• Humidity - Humidity is always Inbetween 70%-80%. the mister and live plants help keep it up. I have a little thing that measures humidity.
• Plants - Yes I do, I have two different types of draceneas in there. I also have a vine from petsmart and some will tree branches going across the cage.
• Placement - it is located in my room. it is right above an air vent but that is the one that sucks in dust. I have a small fan across the room that I turn on at night to help me sleep. It is next to a window which he likes to look out lol. It on top of a coffee table which is about a foot off the ground.
• Location - New england

Current Problem - He is starting to slow down on eating which is really starting to worry me. Today he only had 4 crx (not his usual 10) and a little but of kale and apple. Could he just be slowing down and not growing as much or do you think something is wrong. I noticed this problem a couple days ago when he wouldn't eat the crickets that were dusted with the white calcium. Everytime I try to offer him a crx with tweezers he completely ignores it and walks onto my hand. He is still super active and super friendly he just doesn't want to eat

 

[alphakenc]

I belive the veiled cham will not eat equally amount of the food every day....some day will be more n some day will be less as long he DID NOT stop eating completely.
You can try switching out the cricket diet for some other type of the feeders so he doesn't get bored with his diet,if the weather permitting you to take him outdoor,please do so,sometimes basking under the natural sun will do the trick for him to get back on his diet.
If he still stop eating completely,then you will need to pay a visit to a chameleon specialist vet asap just to see if anything he needs to be corrected internally,best luck with your veiled cham.

 

[oneillchameleons]

He looks quite skinny and should have been consuming around twenty feeders everyday up to seven months old or so. Also you still haven't adopted the widely accepted supplement schedule recommended by these forums. And (even though you said no hate) there should be NO lights at night at all. Try to offer different insects as said above. Waxworms and mealworms are poor feeders at best. Hornworms, silkworms, Phoenix worms, locusts, grasshoppers, roaches are all great.

 

[alphakenc]

I agree with oneillchameleons ,the best solution is fat him up with least amount time,since you already fed him with the mealworm which is highly addictive and I know is not your fault so please dont be hard on yourself...anyway speak of the mealworm part , I will gutload the "superworms" instead with collard green ,mustard green and carrots and feed him with the "superworm" instead of the mealworms since superworm can easily put on some weight for him(also make him believe is a large mealworm),other choice will be the silkworm,which is far superior feeders as far as I'm concern ,and I know you will improve his diet since you are a very caring person for this beautiful veiled cham of yours

 

[TheVeiledProphet]

You know what I think about the status quo, standard "accepted" advice from "normal" "experts" and stuff, well I may be none of those things. But let me just say. Dude, you are really feeding frequently, and varied as well. Mission accomplished. Don't consider life as one constant,upward stepping goal to fulfill, just be in the moment that you are given, and be what that moment wants of you. You won't eat the same thing every day. Some days more. Some less. So too for the chameleon.
Your chameleon looks healthy. Americans are used to looking at overweight people around them so they anthropormophisize animals and think the same rules applies. For both humans and chameleons it is true, if you don't have at least a little "hunger" in your life, there's nothing worth living for anyway.

 

[alphakenc]

Dude, you are really feeding frequently, and varied as well

I belive the "Dude" is a her,and the "normal expert " will only give suggestions since she will know her cham better than anyone else in this forum , hunger is great but " He is still super active and super friendly he just doesn't want to eat"is a different story unless its only happen once in a while.
Sometimes its hard to decide what is right or wrong,but once they on the right tracks,things will improve much quicker,I will always rely on my cham's own behavior along with the info that I researched in this forum,your own perception is your own reality,if the things dont look right,it is telling you to "change" and that change will be up to the person to decide!!

 

[Veild Cham Owner]

I belive the "Dude" is a her,and the "normal expert " will only give suggestions since she will know her cham better than anyone else in this forum , hunger is great but " He is still super active and super friendly he just doesn't want to eat"is a different story unless its only happen once in a while.
Sometimes its hard to decide what is right or wrong,but once they on the right tracks,things will improve much quicker,I will always rely on my cham's own behavior along with the info that I researched in this forum,your own perception is your own reality,if the things dont look right,it is telling you to "change" and that change will be up to the person to decide!!

lol yes i am a girl but being called a "dude" is a ok The superworms at my local petstore and super big should i buy them and give him a couple as for a have a fear of him choking one food. And to comment from your other coment i usually dont give him wax + mealworms those are just some food items i have. on saturdays (when i take him out to clean his cage) i will give him 5 of each BUT ONLY on those days. My local pet store is so so so annoying and only carry wax, meal and super worms, where could i find the other types of worms so i can buy them as soon as possible. can i buy them offline? I was soon going to post about if i would be able to feed him insects from outside like moths and spiders but i think maybe i should stick to buying things offline? I'm not to sure. back to the super worm part. I am heading to the petstore tmro and i will look into getting the super worms as i think he will like them. One a day for the next week should make him chunky a week or two ago (when it was so sunny and hot out) i brought him outside and he loved it!! I would completely bring him out again its just that it has been cold and raining for the past week

 

[alphakenc]

lol yes i am a girl but being called a "dude" is a ok The superworms at my local petstore and super big should i buy them and give him a couple? And to comment from your other coment i usually dont give him wax + meal worms those are just some food items i have. on saturdays (when i take him out to clean his cage) i will give him 5 of each BUT ONLY on those days. My local pet store is so so so annoying and only carry wax, meal and super worms, where could i find the other types of worms so i can buy them as soon as possible. can i buy them offline? I was soon going to post about if i would be able to feed him insects from outside like moths and spiders but i think maybe i should stick to buying things offline? I'm not to sure. back to the super worm part. I am heading to the petstore tmro and i will look into getting the super worms as i think he will like them. One a day for the next week should make him chunky

Lol,I was hoping you are a girl cause they are lots person here have guys name are actually ladies in this forum.
Sometimes I get my feeder in the fauna classified feeder section or rainbowmealworm.net,or you can try some of the sponsor in this forum,order like a thousand(try fewer amount for the first time) will last u a long time,I only use superworm as a treat,cause I learn it can be pretty addictive with the cham once they start eating them(in ur case is different) ,dubia roach are my current staple diet for my adult cham,please gutload all ur feeder as what they eat is what's going to go inside ur precious cham.if u havnt feed ur chamy any superworm or other feeders u mentioned,please dont order them too many ,just in case he still refuse to eat them,order the lowest amount that they allow u to order,then once u find his staple diet,you can start order more or even better to breed them urself.
Im sure ur veiled chamy will appreciate u to be his number 1 friend/owner.

 

[Veild Cham Owner]

Lol,I was hoping you are a girl cause they are lots person here have guys name are actually ladies in this forum.
Sometimes I get my feeder in the fauna classified feeder section or rainbowmealworm.net,or you can try some of the sponsor in this forum,order like a thousand(try fewer amount for the first time) will last u a long time,I only use superworm as a treat,cause I learn it can be pretty addictive with the cham once they start eating them(in ur case is different) ,dubia roach are my current staple diet for my adult cham,please gutload all ur feeder as what they eat is what's going to go inside ur precious cham.if u havnt feed ur chamy any superworm or other feeders u mentioned,please dont order them too many ,just in case he still refuse to eat them,order the lowest amount that they allow u to order,then once u find his staple diet,you can start order more or even better to breed them urself.
Im sure ur veiled chamy will appreciate u to be his number 1 friend/owner.

Ok thank you so much!! I will definatlly look into that website tmro as for it is getting very late here and I have school tmro. I am think about definatlly looking into the phonix worms (they are highly sugested) and supers and roaches. Hopefully he will take an interest in some. Once I find some good insects that he likes I will most likely make a scedual for him like Monay all crx and Tuesday all roaches and Wednesday all fruit ect.

 

[alphakenc]

Ok thank you so much!! I will definatlly look into that website tmro as for it is getting very late here and I have school tmro. I am think about definatlly looking into the phonix worms (they are highly sugested) and supers and roaches. Hopefully he will take an interest in some. Once I find some good insects that he likes I will most likely make a scedual for him like Monay all crx and Tuesday all roaches and Wednesday all fruit ect.

Sounds like a plan.....good luck with ur chamy,bye now.

 

[Veild Cham Owner]

Heading out to petsmart right now to get more crx and some supers. I am gutloading the crx with carrot,kale,romaine lettuce and celery leafs and a tad but if Apple for hydration. I am thinking that I will have to cut the worms in half bc they are so big but I will ask for the smallest size. My mom said no to the roaches but u can get the locust and grasshoppers and all the other worms!! I just need to find a good website that carries them.

Edit : I got the supers and they are smaller than i thought. The girl said I need to cut off their heads bc they will eat through my chams stomach WHICH I OF CORSE WILL DO!! I hope he likes them I got the smallest count (25) so if he doesn't like them I only had to spent 4$

 

[alphakenc]

I am thinking that I will have to cut the worms in half bc they are so big but I will ask for the smallest size

I will suggest not cutting the superworm in half just because the cham usually after their prey by their movement unless he is willing to be handfed by you,try find the smallest size that he will take in.

 

[Veild Cham Owner]

I will suggest not cutting the superworm in half just because the cham usually after their prey by their movement unless he is willing to be handfed by you,try find the smallest size that he will take in.

i didn't end up cutting them in half all i did was cut off the head and he loved them!! he had four and would probably would've eaten more!! They are about one inch long and ate them perfectly fine. I am looking into some websites so i can buy some more insects that were suggested.

 

[Carlton]

A couple of questions for you...

When you put your hand in the basking area you say its hot? For it to feel hot to YOU it would have to be over 98.6 F (your normal body temp). If so, I wonder if your basking area is hotter than your thermometer is showing.

If there is visible light on his cage at night he's probably getting sleep-deprived. If your room doesn't get cooler than 55 F you do not need heat at night. Chams need a temp drop at night of at least 10 degrees in order to rest. They have full color vision, so the light may be keeping him awake.

Also, as chams get older their growth rate slows and so does their metabolism. He may not be as hungry now.

i didn't end up cutting them in half all i did was cut off the head and he loved them!! he had four and would probably would've eaten more!! They are about one inch long and ate them perfectly fine. I am looking into some websites so i can buy some more insects that were suggested.

There is NO REASON to cut the heads off worms. That is an ancient myth. A healthy cham is perfectly capable of crushing the insect adequately before swallowing it. In fact, the more it thrashes the longer a cham tends to hold it clamped in their jaws. The PetStupid employee is clueless. I think the most I ever did to disable a superworm was pinch the head slightly if the cham getting it was timid or small.

 

[Carlton]

My local pet store is so so so annoying and only carry wax, meal and super worms, where could i find the other types of worms so i can buy them as soon as possible. can i buy them offline?

This is the typical feeder selection at retail stores, hardly any will have other types.

 

[alphakenc]

Excellent,Im very happy for ur cham,now he shall start putting some weight let him eat as much as he can since he is only 5 month old ,along with other great feeder like crickets, silkworms, hornworms,Butterworms, dubia roache.get him as healthy as he can be.

 

[Veild Cham Owner]

A couple of questions for you...

When you put your hand in the basking area you say its hot? For it to feel hot to YOU it would have to be over 98.6 F (your normal body temp). If so, I wonder if your basking area is hotter than your thermometer is showing.

If there is visible light on his cage at night he's probably getting sleep-deprived. If your room doesn't get cooler than 55 F you do not need heat at night. Chams need a temp drop at night of at least 10 degrees in order to rest. They have full color vision, so the light may be keeping him awake.

Also, as chams get older their growth rate slows and so does their metabolism. He may not be as hungry now.


There is NO REASON to cut the heads off worms. That is an ancient myth. A healthy cham is perfectly capable of crushing the insect adequately before swallowing it. In fact, the more it thrashes the longer a cham tends to hold it clamped in their jaws. The PetStupid employee is clueless. I think the most I ever did to disable a superworm was pinch the head slightly if the cham getting it was timid or small.

I mean it is warm and i can definitely feel heat.
thanks for the info about the supers!!

 

[Veild Cham Owner]

Excellent,Im very happy for ur cham,now he shall start putting some weight let him eat as much as he can since he is only 5 month old ,along with other great feeder like crickets, silkworms, hornworms,Butterworms, dubia roache.get him as healthy as he can be.

indeed i will!! thank you so much for the help!!

 

[alphakenc]

indeed i will!! thank you so much for the help!!

You are more than welcome,and Carlton is giving you some good advise besides all the myth u might heard in the pet store.