First of all, I'd like to thank all of you for what you do here, this forum is an invaluable resource. I read a lot on the forums to prepare for the new addition to our family. We have dogs, cats, and rescued a bearded dragon a few years ago. My wife recently decided she wanted to get a chameleon, so we purchased a young (3-4 month old) panther chameleon about 10 days ago.
Unfortunately, he has not been eating much at all. He ate a few crickets each of the first couple of days from a cup we held up for him. He then stopped eating for 2 days while he was shedding. I started to worry that the cage was too big for him to hunt in (2x2x4), so we ordered a much smaller cage. While we were waiting for the cage over the last few days, we tried cup feeding the crickets, but he never seemed to find them. All in all, over the last 10 days he has eaten maybe 15 small crickets (gutloaded with breeder's recipe and dusted with Calcium w/o D3), 6 hornworms, and 4 wax worms; hardly seems like enough for a growing cham.
Today was the worst off all. He refused to eat from the cup she held up for him even though he seemed interested. We put him in his new enclosure (16x16x20) and filled it with crickets, but they all just crawled around the bottom and he didn't find any. He started crawling on the top of the cage, went to Pothos and ate a mouthful of soul from between the river rocks. We panicked, went out and brought some fresh waxworms (only thing PetSmart had) and he still refused to eat those. I don't mean to sound dramatic, but I feel like we're going to kill this little guy. I work for the county and just started conducting my yearly inventory, so although I want to take him to the vet, there is no way I can get out of work early until Friday and I just don't know if he has that long. Any help to get us through til Friday would be greatly appreciated. I will be posting husbandry info within the hour.
Cage Info:
Unfortunately, he has not been eating much at all. He ate a few crickets each of the first couple of days from a cup we held up for him. He then stopped eating for 2 days while he was shedding. I started to worry that the cage was too big for him to hunt in (2x2x4), so we ordered a much smaller cage. While we were waiting for the cage over the last few days, we tried cup feeding the crickets, but he never seemed to find them. All in all, over the last 10 days he has eaten maybe 15 small crickets (gutloaded with breeder's recipe and dusted with Calcium w/o D3), 6 hornworms, and 4 wax worms; hardly seems like enough for a growing cham.
Today was the worst off all. He refused to eat from the cup she held up for him even though he seemed interested. We put him in his new enclosure (16x16x20) and filled it with crickets, but they all just crawled around the bottom and he didn't find any. He started crawling on the top of the cage, went to Pothos and ate a mouthful of soul from between the river rocks. We panicked, went out and brought some fresh waxworms (only thing PetSmart had) and he still refused to eat those. I don't mean to sound dramatic, but I feel like we're going to kill this little guy. I work for the county and just started conducting my yearly inventory, so although I want to take him to the vet, there is no way I can get out of work early until Friday and I just don't know if he has that long. Any help to get us through til Friday would be greatly appreciated. I will be posting husbandry info within the hour.
- Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
- Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
- Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
- Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
- Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
- Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
- History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
Cage Info:
- Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
- Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
- Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
- Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
- Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
- Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
- Location - Where are you geographically located?
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