My veiled chameleon stopped eating his food

bradjyoon

New Member
Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - male veiled chameleon, about 3 months old and I've had him for about 5 days
  • Handling - the first day I brought him home took me a while because I I had to set up his cage. But after that I would say about 5 min a day
  • Feeding - I fed him millworms because that's what the pet store suggested but I switched to wax worm after I learned that it's not good for my cham. I fed him about 6 millworms a day around 8PM and I didn't know what gut loaded meant but now I do.
  • Supplements - I use what was provided with the cage it's Repti calcium but seems like it doesn't dust the food very well it just chunks up and doesn't stick on to the food. Vitamin I use the same thing from what was provided with the cage. I haven't used it yet because I didn't have him for a whole week and I thought it said use it once a week for vitamin. That's all I have so far.
  • Watering - I actually spray water myself. I do it about 3-5 times a day and I see him drinks water.
  • Fecal Description - it looks nice and healthy. It's well formed brown and one white fecal.
  • History - I've had him for 5 days and fed him millworms for the first day and I changed to wax worm right after but he ate one the first day I changed and now he refuses to eat.

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - It's all screen, and it's 16"L * 16"W * 30"H it's from Repti breeze
  • Lighting - so far I'm using what is given to me from Repti breeze cage and my lighting schedule is from 9AM to about 9:30 PM so around 12 hours
  • Temperature - I have a thermometer in the cage and it indicates from the bottom it's about 74F and top could go up to 80F. Lowest goes down to 71 during the night
  • Humidity - I don't have anything to measure humidity but I constantly water it so it has water in the cage
  • Plants - I have mixture of live and fake. I use pothos for live.
  • Placement - the cage is located about 12" away from the window to the side and it's not a busy road where I placed the cage. And it's on the desk so from the top of the cage it will be about 6' to the ground
  • Location - I live in Connecticut U.S.

Current Problem - this is the first chameleon that I'm having and my cham (hunter) won't eat for some reason after I fed him millworms the first day I brought him home. Also what is it mean my cham might be impacted? And how do I solve this problem?
 
80F as it's basking temperature is way to low this should be around 95~100F I think.
Do you provide UV lighting?

Is the calcium with D3? If so you also need to buy calcium without D3 as you will be needing that more than the one with D3.
The calcium doesn't need to turn your feeders all white, just lightly sprinkle them with it... I use a pringles can and put my feeders in there , then dust them and shake em around a little bit.

You should take a look at the below:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/food/
 
Current Problem - this is the first chameleon that I'm having and my cham (hunter) won't eat for some reason after I fed him millworms the first day I brought him home. Also what is it mean my cham might be impacted? And how do I solve this problem?
Mealworm has no nutrition n a hard shell for ur cham to digest that can cause hard impact in his stomach,and its very highly addictive for ur cham once being fed with the mealworm,I will suggest feeding him some silkworm instead ,it probably will take u same amount or longer of the time to switch him back n eat other feeders since he is on strike with feeding right now.
 
need to feed in morning so cham can bask and digest there food , feeding at night might cause them not to fully digest food, the basking in the heat helps them digest food
 
Well that basking temp is actually not too bad for such a young veiled chameleon. Check the care sheets to help you get your chams husbandry in order, 95 is way too hot for such a small Cham.
Such a small Cham can eat 10-15 pin head crickets, feed the crickets the veggies you see on the care sheets
Mealworms and wax worms are not the best in nutritional value
Dust your crickets everyday with calcium without d3 every feeding, calcium with d3 2 times a month, a multivitamin 2 times a month
The cage should be listed but make sure to allow for it to dry between mistings
Get a hygrometer/temp probe it's a must!
Do a lot more research and ask for help when you need it!
 
Petshop info usually is horrific. Get rid of those mealworms before your Cham becomes impacted. That had got to be the worst idea of ever heard of for a staple food.
Personally I use and have always crickets. You can't go wrong with crickets. But I would advise offering other types of insects too every now and then.
Take those mealworms and throw them outside. Then go back to the pet store and find the person who gave you that info and smack him on the back of his head. Lol. Maybe you will knock some since into him.
 
You can't feed him all Wax worms, these are more of a exrichment food or treat. They are like eating nothing but candy to a Cham, way to much fat content. I feed mine crickets and a few other insects now and then to spice things up. If he is large enough dubia roaches are a good staple feeder.
 
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