Help! My chameleon isn't eating!

[Tomg]

My 6 month old 62 gram male veild Cham has lost his appetite for the past 3 days. He went from eating 12 to 15 medium crickets a day, and a few worms (which he loved and went crazy for to not wanting to eat at all. He may have eaten something yesterday but I might have just not been able to find the three missing crickets in his cage (I didn't see him eat any). In the past 3 days I've only seen him eat one worm. He seemed to lose home appetite after I cleaned his cage (just used dishwasher soap and rinsed it very well). He hates being handled so maybe he got stressed from being taken out of his cage. Also he is due to shed but I don't see any signs of it. PS all the basic Cham care requirements are taken care of property; lights, water, dusting/gut loading, misting, heat, vitamins, weekly cleanings, etc. The only thing I'm not 100% sure about is the exact humidity levels as I don't have a gauge, but I mist twice a day. Also I've had him for 3 months and he's never lost his appetite before. I'm very worried and would appreciate any advise, Thanks.

 

[Chameleon Crazy Chick]

Well, first thing first, you need to get a digital humidity gauge. The dial ones are crap. How long are you misting him for? If it's only 2 times a day, the mist should be spraying for 2-3 minutes.
Chams tend to stop eating when they're getting ready to shed. If he starts shedding within the next day or two, he's probably fine. If not, then try to mix up his diet. My cham ate superworms ravenously for 2 months, and then one day he ignored them and hasn't eaten them since. He instead switched to crickets as his "give me that right now" food.
If that doesn't work, force feeding may be an option. Look it up, tons of posts on it.
If you do end up having to force feed, a vet visit would be a good idea.

 

[Tomg]

Ok thanks I did go to the vets Ashe said to wait a few days to see if he sheds or stars eating again and if not to start the force feeding. I probably only spray for about 30 seconds to a min so I'll do it longer, and get a humidity gauge. What else can I feed him besides crickets and superworms? I've given him fruit like black and raspberrys, he liked them but also seemed to get diarrhea ,which was right around the time he stoped eating could that be why he isn't eating?

 

[kinyonga]

What's the basking temperature in the cage? Has anything changed in the room or cage he's in?
What supplements are you using specifically and how often for each?
Post a coup!e of recent photos please.
At his age if there's nothing else going on that would make him stop eating it could be his age.

 

[Tomg]

His basking spot is 87 and the rest of his cage in the coldest spot gets down to 71 72. The only change was in the cage after I cleaned it I sort of rearranged his sticks and stuff. I'm dusting the crickets with repti calcium every time I feed him (which was 6 twice a day) and giving zoomed reptivite once a week. Also I'm gut loading the crickets with various fruit. Here's some photos I just took of him (he's wet in them) and a pic of his cage layout

 

[Tomg]

Full body

 

[Tomg]

Cage

 

[Tomg]

Also updates I saw him eat one cricket today and he probably ate 3 or 4 more also he pooped, which he hadn't done yesterday (just the uriate) it was small but some thing. He still hasn't broke out into shed but I'll keep an eye on him.

 

[kinyonga]

You can use a wide assortment of greens and veggies such as dandelion greens, collards, kale, endive, carrots, sweet red pepper, sweet potato, squash, etc to feed/gutload crickets, locust, roaches, superworms...and just a bit of fruit such as apple, melon, berries, pear.this likely doesn't have anything to do with him not eating...but still so ething that would be better for him in the long run.

Do you have a substrate in the cage?

 

[Tomg]

No substrate in the cage just the metal bottom of the cage that I clean any poop I see off of. I've been useing more fruit to feed the crickets but I'll switch over to the greens you mentioned. Also I'm going to try feeding him locusts and cockroachs, since maybe he's board of the superworms and crickets.