New Chameleon Not Eating

[ReqRep]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Ambilobe, Male, Baby, 72 Hours
• Handling - I have not yet.
• Feeding - Small Dubia Roaches in a small feeding bowl.
• Supplements - I have not introduced supplements yet.
• Watering - The MistKing runs for one minute at 8am.
• Fecal Description - No fecal or urates yet.
• History - Just got him, so there's not much to say.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Exo Terra Small X-Tall Rainforest Terrarium, 18 x 18 x 36. (Glass & Screen)
• Lighting - Zoo Med 100W Basking Bulb in a Deep Dome and a ReptiSun 10.0 Fluorescent UVB Bulb in a Zoo Med hood.
• Temperature - 70 - 75 degrees around the base, 75 - 80 degrees around the top, basking spot sits at 80 - 85 Degrees (I know that's a bit high on the later end)
• Humidity - Around 80% at the bottom and 60 - 80% on the top side.
• Plants - None.
• Placement - The bottom of the cage is about 4 feet off the ground and the top is about 7 feet off the ground.
• Location - Wester North Carolina

Current Problem - I have yet to see him eat. I know that it might just take him a few days to settle in, but my Veiled started eating immediately so I just want to be certain I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm offering small Dubias in a small feeding dish. I have shown him the dish with the roaches in it, and he definitely seems to notice them. I have had no interaction with him outside of showing him the bowl daily when I put it in.

 

[Beelinn]

My panther only eats roaches as a last resort. Do you have any crickets you can get your hands on? I'm hoping my boy will make the switch when he gets older, but he definitely prefers crickets. He even prefers nutrigrubs, over roaches!

 

[ReqRep]

I do have crickets, I'm really trying to switch all my animals over to Dubias though. They're just so much easier to keep and breed. I'll at least try a few crickets to see if he goes for them.

 

[Jared910]

I do have crickets, I'm really trying to switch all my animals over to Dubias though. They're just so much easier to keep and breed. I'll at least try a few crickets to see if he goes for them.

Definitely try some pinhead crickets to get him started, and if hes not in a super large enclosure, maybe try some wild feeding too. Either way, don't stress too much. If the animal is hungry enough, it will eat. I stressed myself crazy during the first week when I got my cham, I didn't see my cham eat one single cricket for a week. Now, she's demolishing everything i put even close to the cage.

 

[ReqRep]

Definitely try some pinhead crickets to get him started, and if hes not in a super large enclosure, maybe try some wild feeding too. Either way, don't stress too much. If the animal is hungry enough, it will eat. I stressed myself crazy during the first week when I got my cham, I didn't see my cham eat one single cricket for a week. Now, she's demolishing everything i put even close to the cage.

The enclosure is rather large, so I worry that he won't be able to hunt efficiently right now. I figured it's just him settling in, it's just the fact that my other chameleon took to eating so quickly that had me a bit worried. I'll try some pinheads tomorrow and see what happens.

 

[ReqRep]

Alright, quick update. Swapped to crickets and he's eating well. I started giving him small crickets with the legs crippled in a feeding bowl for a few days and he seemed to eat regularly. Today I tried feeding with tongs and he ate no problem! I feed him until he wouldn't take anymore, gonna keep working on that trust moving forward.

 

[jamest0o0]

You need to change some thing in your husbandry:

First of all, why do you not have plants? You need to fill out the cage. Misting should be MUCH more, i do 5-10 minutes in the morning and 2-3 more 3-5 minute mistings. At least try to get 15 minutes of misting total. They need long mistings in order to stimulate them to drink, clean eyes, bathe, etc.

Your ambient humidity is too high should be aboout 50% spiking to 70 at mistings. A glass enclosure may be a bad choice for where you live.

You need to be supplementing calcium phosphorus and d3 free every feeding, calcium with d3 1x every other week, multivitamin(such as herptivite) 1x every other week on alternating weeks with the d3.

Don't mean to be rude or anything, just some important things to change. Wish you the best with your new guy, goodluck

 

[ReqRep]

You need to change some thing in your husbandry:

First of all, why do you not have plants? You need to fill out the cage. Misting should be MUCH more, i do 5-10 minutes in the morning and 2-3 more 3-5 minute mistings. At least try to get 15 minutes of misting total. They need long mistings in order to stimulate them to drink, clean eyes, bathe, etc.

Your ambient humidity is too high should be aboout 50% spiking to 70 at mistings. A glass enclosure may be a bad choice for where you live.

You need to be supplementing calcium phosphorus and d3 free every feeding, calcium with d3 1x every other week, multivitamin(such as herptivite) 1x every other week on alternating weeks with the d3.

Don't mean to be rude or anything, just some important things to change. Wish you the best with your new guy, goodluck

Plants raise the humidity, the cage is packed with faux foliage now. I set him up last Sunday with what I had on hand while waiting for the rest to arrive in the mail.

That type of misting is correct when keeping the animal in a typical vivarium. In a glass enclosure, you can mist far less and still achieve the necessary humidity levels and hydration needs. Water stays on the plants much longer, and the humidity holds a lot easier in a glass enclosure. I see him drink when the mister runs and after it has run, so I'm not concerned about hydration at this time.

Ambient humidity peaks at around 80% at the very bottom of the vivarium and around 70% at the top. It took a few days for things to regulate but with the two misting sessions a day everything seems perfect humidity wise.

He is on a proper supplement regimen now. At first, I was far more focused on getting him to eat, to begin with. I think him missing three days supplements is alright. He's on a normal schedule now and is eating like a pig.

He's a healthy, active little dude and is already socializing phenomenally.I currently have three other Chameleons, so this isn't my first rodeo. Thank you for the input though.

 

[jamest0o0]

You're incorrect, you don't just mist for 1 minute because you wanted a glass terrarium. In nature it rains more than a minute a day. I'd like to see anyone get behind the idea that a panther only needs 1 minute. If you really want fake plants so be it, it won't kill him obviously, I thought you meant there was nothing in the cage. Most fake plants are useless, but I have seen the rare 1-2 cages with nice ones.

This isn't my first rodeo either kid. I'm just going off of the incorrect husbandry you posted. If you adjusted it since then good for you.

It's funny in a sad way, all these people that say oh my cham is a healthy little guy end up coming back in the future with some sort of problem.

I'm sorry, but it's annoying when people ask for advice and then try to correct people on the advice they get. If you already know so much why are you asking? People will always have a tough tone online though so I'll just leave this thread.