Hunger strike

RandellTheCham

Established Member
hello again guys. Randel has had this hunger strike for around a month. He only accepts wax worms and eats dryed leafs at botterm of his viv.

I also noticed he eats the locuts in his cage when the lights just go off.

Should i not feed him for couple days? How long can hunget strikes last here is a picture of him
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2210.JPG
    IMG_2210.JPG
    356.4 KB · Views: 133
He looks like a good healthy boy. He can last months on eating very little. I would stop giving wax worms at all, they often make hunger strikes much worse. Offer only crickets and roaches (staple foods that will take any gutload). He will be stubborn and eat nothing but if you do this until he gives up then it will be better for him in the long run.
Wax worms really should be a very occasional treat, just fatty and with little vitamins or minerals to make up for it (because you can't gutload them).
 
Agreed with @JaguarShark. He can go a little while and be just fine. I have have to do this every so often to get my guys to eat their roaches. Every once and a while they get picky and refuse them so I let them go a couple of days and then offer only the roaches for a while until they are eating them again. Sometimes it's a few weeks of offering only the roaches. Then I will slowly add a few of the fun stuff back in a couple a week as long as they eat their roaches first. They act like such toddlers sometimes.
 
Also, I would try and take everything out at least an hour before lights go off. Without the heat from the basking spot at night, the locusts won't digest properly and that could be contributing to his picky behavior.
 
Also, I would try and take everything out at least an hour before lights go off. Without the heat from the basking spot at night, the locusts won't digest properly and that could be contributing to his picky behavior.

I agree with the sentiment of this, in that it could be contributing to his pickiness. Feeding later at night consistently is probably not good for them, like in humans it's not the best way.
If the temps are ok then an occasional late feeder is no problem though, remember in the wild if they see something to eat they will happily take it and finish digesting it tomorrow :)
 
I agree with the sentiment of this, in that it could be contributing to his pickiness. Feeding later at night consistently is probably not good for them, like in humans it's not the best way.
If the temps are ok then an occasional late feeder is no problem though, remember in the wild if they see something to eat they will happily take it and finish digesting it tomorrow :)
This is very true that in the wild the bugs don't get put away at night. Lol. My reason for mentioning it is that it is something we can control and could be a contributing factor in a Cham not eating well during the day. I
 
If he's enjoying worms maybe you could try silkworms. Silkworms are very good for your chameleon and they can make up a large part of his diet. My Cham cannot resist them.
 
Back
Top Bottom