New Cham New Issue!

[Ladynyce]

Everytime I get a new cham I tend to freak out a bit thinking the worst.

Question, My new Female Meller Cham was bought 2 weeks ago now, She has been eating 12 - 14 gutloaded crickets (kale, collars greens, strawberries, oranges, cricket food and water) daily. Recently she has been acting a bit different I guess. Shes so big so its hard to know he active level but she isn't as active I guess since I got her. She's a dark army green with yellow and black dots notaa lot just a few. Now here is werwe're my concern kicks in. Today I didn't notixe her eat anything there is about 5 crickets in her cage that actually has been in there since last night.

Yesterday I found a repitile store and I bought her silkworms and hornworms. I feed her 4 silk wormsand 2 good size hornworms plus she had 4 crickets in the morning. I am concerned that she hasn't ate today and noticed she isn't drinking that much either!

Should I be concerned at all ?

 

[NHenn]

Sorry I don't have any experience with Mellers but I would keep switching up the food like you are doing to keep her eating. The worms should have a lot of fluid in them so that will also help with hydration. If she will eat right when you put the worms in you could also spray the worms with water so she will get a little extra at that point as well.

As for activity, color and appetite, I don't know what is normal and not normal for a meller, hopefully it is just due to the recent change and she needs some more time to settle in to her new environment.

 

[Psychobunny]

I dont have any experience with Mellers either, but I am guessing that she
seems less active maybe beacause she is settling into her new home, and
feels more comfortable now.
How old is she?
My chams go through spells where they will eat like little pigs, then suddenly,
not want to eat at all for a few days.
It's annoying when I dust and dump a few dozen crickets into their feeder
only to have them totally ignor them.

From the stuff I have read about Mellers, they are generally not very active,
and mostly enjoy being lounge-lizzards

 

[Carlton]

Everytime I get a new cham I tend to freak out a bit thinking the worst.

Question, My new Female Meller Cham was bought 2 weeks ago now, She has been eating 12 - 14 gutloaded crickets (kale, collars greens, strawberries, oranges, cricket food and water) daily. Recently she has been acting a bit different I guess. Shes so big so its hard to know he active level but she isn't as active I guess since I got her. She's a dark army green with yellow and black dots notaa lot just a few. Now here is werwe're my concern kicks in. Today I didn't notixe her eat anything there is about 5 crickets in her cage that actually has been in there since last night.

Yesterday I found a repitile store and I bought her silkworms and hornworms. I feed her 4 silk wormsand 2 good size hornworms plus she had 4 crickets in the morning. I am concerned that she hasn't ate today and noticed she isn't drinking that much either!

Should I be concerned at all ?

First, you probably won't know if its a female or male. Melleri are difficult! "Her" coloration suggests some stress, but she's still in the settling down period so that isn't unusual. A relaxed melleri tends to be a medium leaf green with lighter yellow bands, no spotting or hard bright edges on the bands. There is a lot of color variation though. Go read The Melleri Discovery website. It has the best info about melleri and many pictures of various color variations and how to interpret them.

When most melleri first arrive they are probably somewhat starved and dehydrated from the stress of travel and shipping. They tend to be in what I call "hero mode"...hiding their problems and trying desperately to appear healthy and vigorous. It's their attempt to fool predators and not to show any weakness.

If she is in fact settling down by now her appetite may drop a bit once she gets her reserves back. I wouldn't worry about not eating on a particular day. It happens. Now if she's not eating for a week, or not drinking at all THEN something's wrong. A well hydrated healthy melleri doesn't necessarily drink a lot every day unless the air is too dry. If is is in fact a female there's a chance she could be gravid...many imported females are. Weigh her and track her weight over time. If gravid you'll see it.

 

[Ladynyce]

First, you probably won't know if its a female or male. Melleri are difficult! "Her" coloration suggests some stress, but she's still in the settling down period so that isn't unusual. A relaxed melleri tends to be a medium leaf green with lighter yellow bands, no spotting or hard bright edges on the bands. There is a lot of color variation though. Go read The Melleri Discovery website. It has the best info about melleri and many pictures of various color variations and how to interpret them.

When most melleri first arrive they are probably somewhat starved and dehydrated from the stress of travel and shipping. They tend to be in what I call "hero mode"...hiding their problems and trying desperately to appear healthy and vigorous. It's their attempt to fool predators and not to show any weakness.

If she is in fact settling down by now her appetite may drop a bit once she gets her reserves back. I wouldn't worry about not eating on a particular day. It happens. Now if she's not eating for a week, or not drinking at all THEN something's wrong. A well hydrated healthy melleri doesn't necessarily drink a lot every day unless the air is too dry. If is is in fact a female there's a chance she could be gravid...many imported females are. Weigh her and track her weight over time. If gravid you'll see it.

Thank you so much!