My veiled chameleon hasn't eaten for 2 days

[TaylorTjandLemmy]

We got our Cham (Lemmy) 2 days ago. He's a month old. I've read that some chams get very stressed out when moved into a new habitat, and when this happens, they tend to not eat for a few days. If he is stressed, he hasn't been showing it though. He is still a very bright, vibrant green color when he's active in his habitat; as opposed to the dark green and brown color he turned when we first got him.

Lemmy hasn't eaten for the past 2 days, but has been drinking water. The food we have been giving him are just regular mealworms that have been dusted with calcium.

I wasn't sure if maybe we should try feeding him something different, or try feeding him differently in general. We put the worms in a small bowl and he didn't try eating them. We also true to hand feed him and that didn't work.

 

[Birdy]

I am guessing that he just needs time. My Jacksons did the same thing when I first brought him home.

 

[TaylorTjandLemmy]

I am guessing that he just needs time. My Jacksons did the same thing when I first brought him home.

Do you think mealworms are still okay to continue trying to feed him? He's about the size of my thumb right now, so I'm not sure if he would be able to eat crickets yet.

 

[LindsayG]

Do you think mealworms are still okay to continue trying to feed him? He's about the size of my thumb right now, so I'm not sure if he would be able to eat crickets yet.

You can get pin heads and also flightless fruit flies if he's that small. I would suggest swapping out mealworms for small superworms. Much more nutritional and also a lot easier on the tummy. Meal worms have a hard exoskeleton and have been known to cause impaction. When my guy was that small I started on flightless fruit flies and then tiny crickets. They grow soooo fast that he'll soon be eating many different feeders. Mine loves hornworms now which you can also feed to a small cham as long as they are very small. Variety is key.

 

[TaylorTjandLemmy]

You can get pin heads and also flightless fruit flies if he's that small. I would suggest swapping out mealworms for small superworms. Much more nutritional and also a lot easier on the tummy. Meal worms have a hard exoskeleton and have been known to cause impaction. When my guy was that small I started on flightless fruit flies and then tiny crickets. They grow soooo fast that he'll soon be eating many different feeders. Mine loves hornworms now which you can also feed to a small cham as long as they are very small. Variety is key.

Great! Thanks so much!

 

[LindsayG]

Great! Thanks so much!

You're very welcome! ask lots of questions. There are so many extremely experienced keepers here that are more than willing and happy to help with all of your questions. This forum is a great place to learn! Read as much as you can and ask when in doubt good luck with your new little guy.
Ps. Can we please see pictures!?!

 

[TaylorTjandLemmy]

You're very welcome! ask lots of questions. There are so many extremely experienced keepers here that are more than willing and happy to help with all of your questions. This forum is a great place to learn! Read as much as you can and ask when in doubt good luck with your new little guy.
Ps. Can we please see pictures!?!

This is my boy, Lemmy!

 

[JGuinan007]

This is my boy, Lemmy!

Hope I'm wrong but his mits look deformed/odd

 

[jajeanpierre]

We got our Cham (Lemmy) 2 days ago. He's a month old. I've read that some chams get very stressed out when moved into a new habitat, and when this happens, they tend to not eat for a few days. If he is stressed, he hasn't been showing it though. He is still a very bright, vibrant green color when he's active in his habitat; as opposed to the dark green and brown color he turned when we first got him.

Lemmy hasn't eaten for the past 2 days, but has been drinking water. The food we have been giving him are just regular mealworms that have been dusted with calcium.

I wasn't sure if maybe we should try feeding him something different, or try feeding him differently in general. We put the worms in a small bowl and he didn't try eating them. We also true to hand feed him and that didn't work.

Have you ever seen him eat? Many chameleons do not eat out of a cup.

He looks plenty big enough for small crickets.

Meal worms are not a good staple for many reasons. Go to the Resources section of this web site and read everything. There is a specific care sheet for Veileds.

He does look like he has some swelling and damage to his toe nails, probably from climbing on a screen. That probably should be looked at by a vet, especially when coupled with his not eating. If he is in a lot of pain from the toe nail injuries (or possibly infection) he might not eat. Those kinds of injuries can be very, very painful.

 

[TaylorTjandLemmy]

Have you ever seen him eat? Many chameleons do not eat out of a cup.

He looks plenty big enough for small crickets.

Meal worms are not a good staple for many reasons. Go to the Resources section of this web site and read everything. There is a specific care sheet for Veileds.

He does look like he has some swelling and damage to his toe nails, probably from climbing on a screen. That probably should be looked at by a vet, especially when coupled with his not eating. If he is in a lot of pain from the toe nail injuries (or possibly infection) he might not eat. Those kinds of injuries can be very, very painful.

I took those photos in the car on the way home from getting him. He was living in a glass enclosure so his toe nails wouldn't be swollen from a screen or anything. Do you think taking him to a vet would be my best option? I also have not seen him eat. But we have been doing a lot of research and I've gotten a lot of feedback from others and we are going to try a couple of different things for him. Just to see what he likes and how he prefers to eat in general.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Have a close look at the tips of his toes. I can't tell from the photo but it looks like he doesn't have any or they are quite short or just stubs. The only way they get damaged that I know of is from screen, possibly even the screen ceiling of a glass enclosure. (My babies are always getting up to the ceiling and it makes me CRAZY.) The tips of the toes look swollen. If they are swollen, they are inflamed from either the injury itself or from infection.

What I would do doesn't matter--I've had a bit more experience than you have so I should have a better handle on the whole situation starting with my judgement of whether or not I can handle this on my own or I need a vet. You can only get that experience by going through it, and a good vet can be a great teacher. My vets all have been and if they aren't I find one who is. Look for a reptile vet. Often avian (bird) vets have experience with reptiles.

I believe a healthy baby should eat right out of the box. I don't give them as much leeway that others on the list do who say they need to settle in for a couple of days. If they don't settle in basically immediately, something is wrong with either the chameleon or the set up. A chameleon might be doing well in the place you bought it from but the stress of a change might set him up for an illness that probably was lurking just under the surface before you bought him. Stress itself doesn't kill, but stress shuts down the immune system so they become sick with something that their (non-stressed) immune system could have fought off. Another thing to look at is that your habitat might not be allowing him to relax. Two days of not eating is a long time for a baby. Veiled babies are notoriously aggressive feeders.

Your habitat might be causing him stress. The food or the way you are presenting the food might be inappropriate. I have one glutton who eats out of a bowl but would starve before he considered roaches as food. Once they stop eating, they often decline simply because they've stopped eating. Get some small crickets and let them loose in the cage. Make sure there is lots of cover for him to hide in so he feels safe. They won't eat under stress, so not eating can be a sign of stress.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[gotwqqd]

Took About a week before my veiled really started to eat

 

[TaylorTjandLemmy]

We just started feeding him super worms and he started eating them immediately.

He must not have liked the mealworms.

Thank you all again for your input!

 

[ashmichaelson]

This is my boy, Lemmy!

He's awfully cute! But yeah, it sounds like you got the idea of what he likes. I bought mealworms when I got my girl Pascal (she was a few weeks old), and she didn't eat for a week after I got her. I offered her mealworms every day, and then on the last day I let some small crickets loose in her enclosure, and she ignored them for a day before she ate them all in like ten minutes and wanted more. Then this winter I started feeding her mealworms because crickets are hard to obtain in Idaho winters, and she totally got addicted to mealworms and it's hard to get her to eat crickets again.

 

[TaylorTjandLemmy]

He's awfully cute! But yeah, it sounds like you got the idea of what he likes. I bought mealworms when I got my girl Pascal (she was a few weeks old), and she didn't eat for a week after I got her. I offered her mealworms every day, and then on the last day I let some small crickets loose in her enclosure, and she ignored them for a day before she ate them all in like ten minutes and wanted more. Then this winter I started feeding her mealworms because crickets are hard to obtain in Idaho winters, and she totally got addicted to mealworms and it's hard to get her to eat crickets again.

Thank you! He's pretty sweet. But yes, he loves super worms. We gave him mealworms and ignored them completely. So we tried super worms and ate 6 of them immediately. So then we let a few crickets loose in his cage, and he caught them and ate them quickly as well. It's so relieving to see him so active and eating again

 

[JGuinan007]

That is good you should not feed a cham mealworms anyway, they are hard to digest. So what is going on with thoughs toes?

 

[TaylorTjandLemmy]

That is good you should not feed a cham mealworms anyway, they are hard to digest. So what is going on with thoughs toes?

Yeah this is our first one and we have just been doing a lot of research online to figure out the best way to care for him, and mealworms were the number one food option we had seen across all articles. But we learned that he hates them, and he loves crickets!

His toes though... We looked at the picture again, and we think that it's just the angle of the photo. He has nice, sharp toenails and he's climbing around perfectly fine. He's extremely active and he's bright green now. So we think that he's happy and not in any pain.

We will keep an eye out though.