Merlin's feeding.

[Yavin]

Hay guys. Merlin(yemen) is about 4 and a half months old..

Up until now his feeding has been fantastic, normally eating 12+ locusts in a sitting, he did this from smalls, all the way upto mediums.

He now feeds on large to extra large locusts, but recently he has started to get fussy with his food, I am lucky if I can get him to eat about 7 or 8 mediums or any size for that matter a day.

And I cant feed him all at once any more, he takes 1 or 2 then wont look at food for a few hours, before then taking some more.

Is this a normal chameleon habbit ? or something I should be worried about.

 

[Yavin]

Hay guys. Merlin(yemen) is about 4 and a half months old..

Up until now his feeding has been fantastic, normally eating 12+ locusts in a sitting, he did this from smalls, all the way upto mediums.

He now feeds on large to extra large locusts, but recently he has started to get fussy with his food, I am lucky if I can get him to eat about 7 or 8 mediums or any size for that matter a day.

And I cant feed him all at once any more, he takes 1 or 2 then wont look at food for a few hours, before then taking some more.

Is this a normal chameleon habbit ? or something I should be worried about.

no comment at all ?

 

[jojackson]

yes, like us chams (for that matter most reptiles) get bored with the same old thing. Variety is the spice of life, offer roaches and flies, meal worms etc etc etc. I feed mine 3 different feeders on any given day.

Also, according to keepers here, chameleons tend to slow down their consumption from a few months on, this may be the case aswell.

As always, check for changes in its enviroment first.

 

[Yavin]

No changes in environtment, he has gotten a little more scared of me tho, not sure why i dont handle him very much and I have hand fed him since he was a baby.

I will try and vary his diet and see what happens there. any other tips ? his temps are fine. viv is bushy etc.

You can see his setup here http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=7OcWo1XPl8M

 

[jojackson]

Nice looking cham. Looks like he gets some excersize outside the cage too.

All I can think of apart from varying the kind of feeders is maybe place some fresh greens, fruit or carrot etc at one place inside the cage somewhere. A shelf would be good but if he hunts near the floor that will do. it will encourage the insects to gather there and atleast ensure hes not having trouble finding them.

Bigger locust jump further and faster than smaller ones, maybe you could remove the large jumping legs to make zapping them easier?

I think some variety will do the trick. One last thing, make sure hes actually drinking enough/hydrated. you can mist but also ensure the feeders eat soft juicy fruit and greens too. Hell get moisture from them aswell.

Is there a dripper in the cage? I couldnt tell lol, i was too busy playing 'spot the cham'

just thought of one other thing.. are the plants real? does he eat them?

 

[Yavin]

Nice looking cham. Looks like he gets some excersize outside the cage too.

All I can think of apart from varying the kind of feeders is maybe place some fresh greens, fruit or carrot etc at one place inside the cage somewhere. A shelf would be good but if he hunts near the floor that will do. it will encourage the insects to gather there and atleast ensure hes not having trouble finding them.

Bigger locust jump further and faster than smaller ones, maybe you could remove the large jumping legs to make zapping them easier?

I think some variety will do the trick. One last thing, make sure hes actually drinking enough/hydrated. you can mist but also ensure the feeders eat soft juicy fruit and greens too. Hell get moisture from them aswell.

Is there a dripper in the cage? I couldnt tell lol, i was too busy playing 'spot the cham'

just thought of one other thing.. are the plants real? does he eat them?

There is a dripper, its a home made one, and yeah the two ficus benjaminia at each side are real, the stuff in the middle is fake.

 

[jukeboxpunk]

Be pateint

Just be patient and don't stress. He will eat locusts again. The good thing is that he isn't starving himself. Temps in the enclosure may affect his eating habits too. If temps are too low he will eat less and sometimes not at all.

Another idea, it may be just his age. Definitely try different feeders though. My cham is doing the same thing and he is 6 months old and acting like a loon. So i feel your stress.

 

[Yavin]

Just be patient and don't stress. He will eat locusts again. The good thing is that he isn't starving himself. Temps in the enclosure may affect his eating habits too. If temps are too low he will eat less and sometimes not at all.

Another idea, it may be just his age. Definitely try different feeders though. My cham is doing the same thing and he is 6 months old and acting like a loon. So i feel your stress.

Yeah cant help but worry about him, i'm on the edge but not over, the day he goes 24 hours without anything to eat at all will be the day I really start to panic like mad.

at the moment, he just seems to HATE ME!. lol. I think I must have done something to piss him off and he just wont forgive me for it, but I cant think what it is.

 

[alhickabee]

It's those teenage years. haha Like everyone else said try some different feeders for the time being and give it some time he'll want a locust again. He's also at the age where he might be backing down the amount of food he eats. So just monitor how much he eagerly eats and adjust accordingly.

 

[BocaJan]

4 1/2 months is too young for him to start in on his adult feeding habits. He is still a baby. (ok, maybe a pre-teen). I think mixing up his feeders is a good idea. Try the old staple, crickets. They are cheap and tend to get the cham's attention easily. They are also easy to dust.

 

[alhickabee]

4 1/2 months is too young for him to start in on his adult feeding habits. He is still a baby. (ok, maybe a pre-teen). I think mixing up his feeders is a good idea. Try the old staple, crickets. They are cheap and tend to get the cham's attention easily. They are also easy to dust.

Good point, I guess 4-1/2 months is a bit young. I know mine backed down from 10 crickets (& 1 super) a day at 5 months. He would just leave two cirx in the cup so I started putting two less and gave an extra super every other day. I personally try to back down food and supplements gradually at the appropriate age. Just make sure you don't over feed him or allow him to eat so late that he can't bask for a couple more hours. Just monitor his intake and mix it up, he still should be eating <10 crickets worth of food a day.

 

[Miss Lily]

I love Merlin's free range branches in your video. Bet he has a lot of fun up there! What type of branches have you used for that?

 

[jojackson]

the day he goes 24 hours without anything to eat at all will be the day I really start to panic like mad.

LOL, imagine how you'd be with a snake that refused to eat for 6-8 months!

 

[Miss Lily]

24 hours? That's nothing! They can survive days without eating anything at all. Lily went for 10 days without eating when she became receptive last year. Every time I opened her door to feed her, she would just try to escape and ignored all the food I offered. All she wanted to do was wander around looking for a mate.