How can I get my young veiled to eat?!

[maya2]

So, I just got her 2 1/2 days ago. She's about 3 inches long, and is not eating. I'm not sure that she's drinking either.
I've offered free roaming crickets, and today I tried to offer her mealworms that I place on a watery leaf. Not having it.
She gets spotty and dark when I come by, so I've been trying to leave her alone, however even misting her cage seems to be something she'd rather avoid.

I've got vines towards the top, middle, and to the bottom. Good ventilation, I'm using a 100watt for eat (with a dimmer) and reptisun 5.0.

I haven't seen her drink water, although I make sure its always available with a dripper and hand misting.
Her feces looked fine the day after we got her, although I haven't seen any today...
Also, she shed today. Is it always this quick? Is that a factor in her appetite?

Please help!

 

[Ojala]

Give her time and space. New chameleons take a while to get accustomed to there new environment and diet. Just keep an eye on her fecal and eyes. If you start to see her eyes become sunken in, then you might want to try the shower method.

 

[kinyonga]

What are the temperatures in the cage?

 

[Lovereps]

Welcome to the forum!
You are very wise to ask questions and learn, so you can help your cham to stay healthy and have a good life with you.
Every cham needs time to adjust to a new home BUT it is extremely important to be sure that everything is exactly the way your new cham needs it to be.

Probably most of us were given some wrong advice on cham care when we first got our chams, so it would be a good idea to carefully look over this caresheet to be sure that everything is set up the way your cham needs it to be:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/
You will notice on the caresheet that the younger chams need temperatures that are a few degrees cooler than older ones need, for example.

This forum is a great place because there are people new to keeping chams as well as longtime cham keepers.

You can also cut and paste the questions from https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/ and then add your answers, so others can let you know if anything isn't quite right for your new cham, before it has any ill effect on her.

Very often, a shed will cause a cham to lose her appetite for a day or two but as I mentioned, it is best to be sure everything is the way she truly needs it to be.

Uneaten crickets should be either removed from the cage before bedtime or you can put some food--like a piece of potato or carrot ---in the cage to keep the crickets from snacking on your cham.

Having a dimmer on the basking bulb is a great idea.

Don't be afraid to ask questions and you can also find a ton of good info by searching the past posts with the search feature above.

 

[Raphael1047]

If you start to see her eyes become sunken in, then you might want to try the shower method.

She is only 3 inches, so i would not recommend the shower method.

 

[Tulsah]

She is only 3 inches, so i would not recommend the shower method.

what is the shower method? please

 

[Haze1981]

You put a plant in the shower, direct the water at the wall so only the spray hits the plant and put your chameleon on the plant. It is not recommended for small chameleons.

 

[maya2]

What are the temperatures in the cage?

75-80 in the evenings, then I bring it up to 80-82 in the days.
Would you recommend a change?

 

[maya2]

Welcome to the forum!
You are very wise to ask questions and learn, so you can help your cham to stay healthy and have a good life with you.
Every cham needs time to adjust to a new home BUT it is extremely important to be sure that everything is exactly the way your new cham needs it to be.

Probably most of us were given some wrong advice on cham care when we first got our chams, so it would be a good idea to carefully look over this caresheet to be sure that everything is set up the way your cham needs it to be:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/
You will notice on the caresheet that the younger chams need temperatures that are a few degrees cooler than older ones need, for example.

This forum is a great place because there are people new to keeping chams as well as longtime cham keepers.

You can also cut and paste the questions from https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/ and then add your answers, so others can let you know if anything isn't quite right for your new cham, before it has any ill effect on her.

Very often, a shed will cause a cham to lose her appetite for a day or two but as I mentioned, it is best to be sure everything is the way she truly needs it to be.

Uneaten crickets should be either removed from the cage before bedtime or you can put some food--like a piece of potato or carrot ---in the cage to keep the crickets from snacking on your cham.

Having a dimmer on the basking bulb is a great idea.

Don't be afraid to ask questions and you can also find a ton of good info by searching the past posts with the search feature above.

Thanks to everyone so much for helping me out!
I did put a little food in the bottom because I was afraid of disturbing her by trying to wrangle the crickets.

She shed yesterday in about 10 hours, is that normal?

Also, sometimes she has her mouth open. I was about 2ft away when she did this, is she deciding whether or not to hiss... or something else?

 

[Lovereps]

Thanks to everyone so much for helping me out!
I did put a little food in the bottom because I was afraid of disturbing her by trying to wrangle the crickets.

You're very welcome.
Asking questions and making adjustments in her care when needed are the best ways to keep her healthy.
There's plenty of bad cham advice out there on the internet and from some sellers, but this forum offers more reliable info than anywhere else that I know of.

She shed yesterday in about 10 hours, is that normal?

Some shed faster than others.
It's only a problem if the shed stays stuck to your cham--in which case generous misting with some warm water often does the trick to help her complete the shed.

Also, sometimes she has her mouth open. I was about 2ft away when she did this, is she deciding whether or not to hiss... or something else?

Chams will gape for different reasons...
If they are too hot they gape.
Cage temps for Veiled chams her age should be between 72-80 degrees with a basking spot temperature of 85 degrees.

A cham who is sick with a respiratory infection will often gape to breathe more easily.

In this case, most likely it's the fact that you are 1000 times her size and she is afraid of you--so she is trying her best to scare you away.

I forgot to mention that you can try tempting her with Phoenix worms/ Calciworms which are very wiggly and often get reluctant eaters to eat.
The absolute healthiest diet for your cham is a variety of feeders that are fed a nutritious diet.
To help ensure proper nutrition, feeders are lightly dusted with calcium that does not have D3 at most feedings
2x a month, dust lightly with calcium with D3
and 2x a month use a multivitamin powder

 

[maya2]

Nah its not stuck at all. I noticed her getting a little sheddy before I went to work at 6am, and by 5ish she had stripped it all off like a runaway teenager.

Phoenix worms and Calciworms! Thank you so much for the tip! I'll try that later today if she's still reluctant.