My Jackson's Chameleon is a Food Snob

[mrlax]

We have a new Jackson's chameleon which we purchased about a week ago. She is approximately 12 months old. She seems to have adapted to her environment quite nicely. Approximately 30 minutes after introducing her to her cage, I caught a moth and placed it in. The moth may have lasted 5 minutes as the chameleon (Ruby) hunted it aggressively. I then introduced two adult crickets, which I powdered with vitamins, and these were eaten within the hour. The next day- 2 more moths- whacked. But now Ruby seems to completely ignore crickets. They can wander right in front of her and she doest care. I have also offered her a food cup with meal worms, and these are ignored. She walks on the rim of the cup, stares at the worms, but thats about it. I introduced another small moth and this immediately caught her attention again. I am new to chameleon ownership, and I was told to expect that chameleons have a tendency to get bored with certain food items and reject them. I thought perhaps the adult crickets were too large, but then again she did eat two right in front of me...Anyways, any suggestions or words of experience from a more veteran owner would be greatly appreciated. I apologize in advance as this has surely been covered somewhere previously on this forum, perhaps many time...anyways- Thank-you.

 

[Pilotman800]

This happens to most of us at some point. She's on a hunger strike. If you want to have her eat crickets again, stop offering her moths and ONLY offer her crickets until she gives in. It may take around 4-6 days (Most common number from what i've seen), but she should give in eventually.

Chameleons are like little kids that don't want to eat their vegetables.

As for the mealworms, only offer these around once or twice a week as a treat. They aren't very healthy. My old cham became abscessed with them, and refused to eat crickets as well.

 

[jdog1027]

I have a Jackson female that is well over a year old, and one thing I have noticed is that she doesn't feed nearly as much anymore. She is 92 grams and in good health. When she gets hungry, she'll eat. They tend to attack insects that fly for some reason. My female will go sometimes 3-5 days without eating and then one day eat normally. As long as she doesn't appear that she is losing weight, at her age I think it is a normal process. Get a gram scale from a tobacco shop or reptile show and monitor her weight. Good luck.

 

[xanthoman]

i agree with the ep, that they do sort of settle into maintenance feeding as they get older, imo, i would withhold food for a couple of days, then offer blue or green bottle flies. the phrase "powdered them with vitamins" (referring to your feeders), is sort of concerning. that could mean a lot of things, and sort of carries the implication that its something you do often with no real supp schedule.
if thats the case, then be aware that just unbalanced random supplementation is, imo, likely to lead to some sort of metabolic imbalance, and likely over-supplementation. that could lead to a whole range of classic cham health problems, and many of them would likely start out with a symptom like change in appetite.

it would probably be a good idea to fill out the help form in its entirety and repost in the health clinic forum, to get some advice to get you started in a better direction.
the sooner you catch any problem, the better chance you will have at resolving it.

jmo, if your feeders look like ghosts, you are likely headed for problems, regardless of the products used. jmo

 

[mrlax]

Thank-you all for your replies. Do you suggest I begin by emptying the cage of the 'ignored' crickets for now? I appreciate your insights and suggestions.

 

[xanthoman]

xanth feeders

Thank-you all for your replies. Do you suggest I begin by emptying the cage of the 'ignored' crickets for now? I appreciate your insights and suggestions.

imo, as a general rule of xanth husbandry, i would never offer more feeders than are likely to be eaten in the next hr or two. you dont want them to have food just available all the time, i think its good to occasionally have 2 to 7 day periods where food is scarcer than normal.
and of all uneaten feeders to leave in the cage, cricks are the worst, never leave adult cricks in overnight.
the exception to this would be bottle flies, they never seem to get enough and they never last more than an hr or two, they never seem to tire of them. a large female xanth can easily go through 50 flies in a session (not that i am recomending that). imo, no one feeder should make up more than 50-60% of their diet , and all feeders, now matter how relished, should be given in controlled, balanced amounts.
imo, if you are in sf, the single healthiest thing you could do for her would be to discontinue d3 altogether, and get her outside, for at least 2+hrs a week, also my general impression, is it might be good to lighten up on the supps until you have a better plan in place. jmo

 

[mrlax]

Thank-you again. I have removed all crickets from Ruby's enclosure. While doing so, a moth was stirred up in the enclosure and she whacked it within seconds. I placed two flies in the enclosure and they were whacked within a few minutes. Perhaps the crickets were stressing her out, I know they stress my wife out. Anyways, the powder I was using was an indoor-specific 'berry flavored' variety from Stickytongues, don't remember the precise name. Total food count in 5 days has now been 2 adult crickets (both somewhat powdered), 3 moths nearly the size of adult crickets, 2 smaller moths, and 2 flies...When I reintroduce crickets in a few days I'll try them in a cup and see how it goes?

 

[mrlax]

Shedding behavior?

I want to thank the respondents for their help here. Our chameleon Ruby is now eating crickets again. I removed all of the big chirpers, fed her flies for a day, then went down to med size crickets and she ate 4 immediately since being offered. She has also scarfed down grasshoppers, a katydid, and numerous small-medium butterflies since then.

I have noticed one interesting thing she is doing- she seems to be using her hind legs to scratch the upper part of her head - looks like a shedding issue perhaps? I have also observed her rubbing her nose against a stick. I have tried to up the humidity- which is consistently between 60%-70%- any other tricks to assist or is this part of the 'course' of things?

 

[Thezillaman21]

my chameleon has days where he only wants flies. its kinda an urge to hunt the moths are a challenge. think hunting season if you could hunt at a zoo. altho if would be easy game to get a deer it would not give you the rush that going out and stalking one threw the woods gives. the mealworms are just too easy try putting a mealworm on the side of the cage and they will climb up chameleons seem to love this. remember in the wild its rare for any meal to come easy so they want to hunt the same way a cat will kill a rat just for fun.and try offering smaller crickets even tho its full grown sometime they get intimadated by the big crickets. hope your cham grows up lol