New baby not eating

[PenelopeLove]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Senegal, male, in my care for 1 week, I think he is around 4 - 6 weeks.. I don't have an accurate age.
Handling - 2-3 times since he came home. Would ask to come out daily at the reptile centre where he was for a few weeks before bringing him home.
Feeding - mealworms are all we can get at the moment. Hoping for some crickets today. I force fed 1 worm about 4 days ago.
Supplements - repcal calcium no D3 daily and sticky tongue farms multivitamin once weekly (if he was eating).
Watering - mistking 3 x daily and a dripper that lasts for about 8 hours. I have not seen him drinking yet but found a nice white urate a few days ago.
Fecal Description - first time I found anything was today. Here's a pic:

Digested properly but a little soft.. I think cause the mister went off just before I found it!
History - he was brought to the reptile centre where I volunteer about a month ago with 20 other babies.. All dehydrated and underweight.. He ate like a hippo at the centre and was very happy to be handled.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - reptibreeze with cork background, 4x2x2
Lighting - 7.30am-7.30pm, 100w basking bulb, 1.5' from highest point in cage and tilted. 5.0 UVB zoomed.
Temperature - 84(highest) to 77(lowest) during the day. 75-60(whole cage) from lights out for the night. I measure with a digital thermo/hygrometer that saves highest and lowest temps and monitor accuracy with an analog thermo/hygrometer.
Humidity - between 60-70 constantly.. Maintained by misting and having the cork background.
Plants - one 4' shefflera and a few fake leave bunches around the sides of the cage.
Placement - the cage is 2' off the floor and located in my bedroom away from fans or vents. It is in the corner of the room against the wall. Very low traffic.
Location - Dubai, UAE

Current Problem - I've never had a baby before so just wanted to check in. He has only eaten one force fed worm since being with me and is still a fair bit shy so it seems to me he's still settling. Just wanted to check on how long I should wait before force feeding?
He currently weighs 10g (bless him!) but is VERY active lol!

Here are some pics from today in case I've missed something:


Any advice would be great.. Just want to check if I should adjust something to help him get comfy and start eating

 

[PenelopeLove]

Sorry to be annoying! Any suggestions?

 

[PenelopeLove]

Hi everyone

Just wondering if anyone had some tips to entice buster's appetite for meal worms? That's all we can get here at the moment, but he refuses to eat them.

I know he's hungry because when I take him out to free range he's catching little flies all the time.. He even hunts them down!

I'm a little concerned about him catching bugs outside as I have no idea what they are or what they've eaten, but on the other hand it means he's eating.

I've caught him drinking, both from the dripper and and from the leaves after a misting and his urates and poops are fine, but I really don't want him to lose weight.

Any suggestions?

 

[djfishygillz]

Mealworms don't really move much nor provide beneficial calories/nutrients. I would try my hardest if I was you to gather another feeder preferably a roach or cricket or at least another type of worm.

 

[djfishygillz]

He also looks to be thin, if possible you may want to get a fecal done. I am assuming he is a wild caught and probably has parasites. The fecal furthers me to think the senegal has parasites as it looks droopy and there is no white calcium piece of the fecal as most healthy poops have.

I would also try to get a basking temp around 90. I would also not force feed as the senegal is still adjusting to a new environment. Force feeding causes a LOT of stress.

 

[PenelopeLove]

He also looks to be thin, if possible you may want to get a fecal done. I am assuming he is a wild caught and probably has parasites. The fecal furthers me to think the senegal has parasites as it looks droopy and there is no white calcium piece of the fecal as most healthy poops have.

I would also try to get a basking temp around 90. I would also not force feed as the senegal is still adjusting to a new environment. Force feeding causes a LOT of stress.

Hi,

Thank you for your response. I raised his basking temps last week hoping to either stimulate his eating, or at least get his digestive tract moving to see if there are any signs of parasites. Unfortunately, as he is not eating, I cannot get a good fecal sample to take to the vet.

Of course I do want to avoid force feeding as much as possible, but I don't want him going without food for too much longer. The problem is that currently we cannot get any other feeders but Crickets and Mealworms.. oh and wouldn't you know?!?!?! there just happens to be no crickets anywhere in the whole ENTIRE country!!!

I know he wants to hunt for his food but even if I wiggle them about he just isn't interested

What else can I do to get some nutrients into his body?

 

[Eltortu]

He is probably bored of the same staple. Try something else, like wild caught flies or moths, as long as you can catch them where there is no use of insecticides.

 

[djfishygillz]

You really may have to go scavenging for some bugs, I know it can be dangerous to use outside bugs but if you have nothing else it may be necessary.

Do you have mantids out there? Silkworms? Isopods?(sorry bad spelling)

Or grasshoppers, locust?

 

[PenelopeLove]

You really may have to go scavenging for some bugs, I know it can be dangerous to use outside bugs but if you have nothing else it may be necessary.

Do you have mantids out there? Silkworms? Isopods?(sorry bad spelling)

Or grasshoppers, locust?

No we don't have any of these

We might in the mountains, but that is taking a huge risk :/

When I take him outside to his free-range trees he's catching little flies all over the place and I've even caught him running to catch them, so I know he's hungry. I'm just a little worried that he might get parasites or something from catching outside bugs?

We also have these little wild bees.. no stingers on them.. and they are very tiny.. if he has caught one of these should I be worried?

I have found a few tiny little poops that are definitely digested bugs and they are not gooey or have any type of mucus around them, although they are a little crumbly at times, but I have a feeling this is because they get wet from the mister in addition to him not really eating anything substantial.

His urates are fine. But do you think from what I've described with his poop that he could have parasites?

He's just starting to settle in this week - he's started to drink in front of me - so I don't really want to have to administer medicines if I don't have to, especially with the lack of food.

I'm so stuck.. I have no idea how to get him feeding

 

[djfishygillz]

I would say just let him eat bugs from outside, it's better than him starving to death yah know? Do people use pesticides where you live? I would start researching ways possibly toxic versus not so toxic bugs in your area.

The toxic bugs are typically bright colored and vibrant. Also if they have weird hairs or spikes I would avoid that also. I am sorry I am not the smartest when it comes to bugs...

 

[PenelopeLove]

I would say just let him eat bugs from outside, it's better than him starving to death yah know? Do people use pesticides where you live? I would start researching ways possibly toxic versus not so toxic bugs in your area.

The toxic bugs are typically bright colored and vibrant. Also if they have weird hairs or spikes I would avoid that also. I am sorry I am not the smartest when it comes to bugs...

Yeah I take him out as much as possible, but its difficult as I work during the week in the day.. on weekend he's out for as long as I can have him out there.

I may have won a tiny battle and may be able to get 10 or so crickets from a wholesaler, but nothing is confirmed yet, so fingers crossed!!

I found a good poop yesterday which would have been from outside bugs and the only thing I noticed wasn't fully digested was a tiny little wing.. so I'm happy with that.. nothing else he had eaten was recognisable.

Thank you for your help!