Not eating still

[Uri]

It’s day 10 and he’s eaten 5 crickets and 3 mealworms and 1 roach. I got him on the 29th he’s still doing his wall crawling he’s was a bit stressed earlier because I cleaned his enclosure from the dead crickets he refused to eat that hid under the plant pots. I’m not sure what else to do. I’ve got a bird feeder that he ignored he’s eaten a 2 insects from a shooting gallery but barely anything, and the rest of the insects he’s eaten were free roam but he mostly ignores them and they end up dying before I remove them. I thought he had eaten a ton of soldier fly larvae but turns out they squeezed through a small space in the shooting gallery and all hid in his pot plant and I could tell cuz the camera in his enclosure has no trace of him eating them and the fact that a dozen larvae were crawling in the dirt and went to hide when I shone a light on them(I’m hoping they pupae into flies) what else can I do and is it okay for him to go this long? I’ve had my husbandry reviewed and fixed the problems that were found and gotten a fecal test which came back negative so I’m not sure what’s wrong, he’s a t.j.j should I be worried

 

[Uri]

This was him just yesterday when he was getting ready for bed he has shown 0 signs of lethargy and I have hours of footage where all he does is roam and scan constantly with fairly relaxed colors. Occasionally he turns dark to bask

 

[ERKleRose]

Has he been tested for parasites?

 

[Uri]

Has he been tested for parasites?

Yeah his test came back negative and he had 2 previous tests that had the same results before I got him

 

[ERKleRose]

Yeah his test came back negative and he had 2 previous tests that had the same results before I got him

I have no experience with jacksons, so I can't help more than that.
@Mendez @Kaizen @JacksJill will be much more help than me hopefully. Good luck!

 

[Uri]

I have no experience with jacksons, so I can't help more than that.
@Mendez @Kaizen @JacksJill will be much more help than me hopefully. Good luck!

I actually got him from @JacksJill

 

[Mendez]

I just read your post from the other day and I have a few questions about your husbandry.

1) How far away is your uvb light to the nearest branch underneath it?

2) What are you using to measure the basking spot temperature? 100 watts is quite high for any species, but if your temp measurements are correct, then you should be fine.

3) Is his cage located next to a window with a view outside? Or do you have a cat or other animal that can enter the room?

 

[Uri]

I just read your post from the other day and I have a few questions about your husbandry.

1) How far away is your uvb light to the nearest branch underneath it?

2) What are you using to measure the basking spot temperature? 100 watts is quite high for any species, but if your temp measurements are correct, then you should be fine.

3) Is his cage located next to a window with a view outside? Or do you have a cat or other animal that can enter the room?

I have Moved the uvb to he around 6 inches away from the basking branch as hes still screen climbing, it is high but the basking branch stays at 82 with the it quickly getting to the 70s everywhere else it’s a cold room. And there is a window but it’s a basement so the window isn’t visible, is covered by a thick cloth and as far as I know no heat gets through it’s too dirty to let in any view not to mention too high and I have no other animals except a dog which never goes into that room they haven’t even seen each other and I plan on keeping it that’s way

 

[Uri]

The uvb bulb and fixture are both about a 3 weeks old I also have a spare unopened bulb that I bought on accident because I thought the bulb and fixture were sold separately will it go bad even if it’s unopened for six months?

 

[Mendez]

I have Moved the uvb to he around 6 inches away from the basking branch as hes still screen climbing, it is high but the basking branch stays at 82 with the it quickly getting to the 70s everywhere else it’s a cold room. And there is a window but it’s a basement so the window isn’t visible, is covered by a thick cloth and as far as I know no heat gets through it’s too dirty to let in any view not to mention too high and I have no other animals except a dog which never goes into that room they haven’t even seen each other and I plan on keeping it that’s way

Everything sounds pretty good then. Have you noticed more or less screen climbing since you moved the basking branch closer to the uvb? He looks good and healthy. And the activity you describe sounds good as well. He's probably still settling in.

Perhaps you can add a few more branches up higher in his cage that are not directly under the uvb or basking light. Other than that, it sounds like a waiting game. Keep us updated and try not to make too many changes to the cage. If you are going to add more branches, make sure you do it all at once and then leave it alone. Though I should think adding more branches might help counter the screen climbing. If a cham realizes he/she can climb higher via screen or branches, especially in a new setting, they will take any opportunity they can get to an extent; and since you do have a lot of open space in the top 75% of the cage, this may be where he wants to be.

 

[Mendez]

The uvb bulb and fixture are both about a 3 weeks old I also have a spare unopened bulb that I bought on accident because I thought the bulb and fixture were sold separately will it go bad even if it’s unopened for six months?

Should be fine. These lights are stored in warehouses for much longer. Plus, some people stock up on uvb lights once and use them later down the road with no problem.

And I also did the same thing, didn't realize it was a package deal

 

[Uri]

Everything sounds pretty good then. Have you noticed more or less screen climbing since you moved the basking branch closer to the uvb? He looks good and healthy. And the activity you describe sounds good as well. He's probably still settling in.

Perhaps you can add a few more branches up higher in his cage that are not directly under the uvb or basking light. Other than that, it sounds like a waiting game. Keep us updated and try not to make too many changes to the cage. If you are going to add more branches, make sure you do it all at once and then leave it alone. Though I should think adding more branches might help counter the screen climbing. If a cham realizes he/she can climb higher via screen or branches, especially in a new setting, they will take any opportunity they can get to an extent; and since you do have a lot of open space in the top 75% of the cage, this may be where he wants to be.

I only moved it about an inch higher off the screen and moved the branches higher as well as added some more pothos vines to add extra coverage and cleaner a lot of the bottom space to keep track of poops which not much has come out mostly dead crickets. He also does this weird thing where when he basks sometimes he will start firing up for no reason I see it on the cameras and I don’t understand why he doesn’t gape tho he just puffs up does his “salute” and stays there alert watching before eventually heading back into the foleage

 

[Uri]

I’m just worried he will start losing weight and if he’s not eating like he should be then I’m not really sure what to do to entice him the insects are quickly outgrowing him with me having to take some out to kill them before they get too large and I really don’t have use for them. I don’t plan on breeding them either since well I only have one Cham and Plan on keeping only one at a time

 

[Mendez]

How close is the camera to the cage? Tbh I'm not a fan of cameras. I set a wyze camera on top of my cham's cage and I could tell he was uncomfortable by it. After a week of stressing him out, I finally took it off and he was fine. Some chams get used to it, but when getting used to a new situation such as your cham, cameras can be even more uncomfortable. I'm not sure if they can see their reflection or if they see the camera focusing or what (also make sure to turn off IR). But from my limited experience, my jackson's chameleon viewed the camera as a threat. You can try taking it away and then once he gets established and eats well, you could put the camera back up and see if he gets used to it being around.

Sometimes I would just sit and watch the camera and I swear he could tell that I was watching him. He locked his gaze directly into the center of the camera every few seconds for a couple of seconds--it was eery.

Hopefully, you can decipher my message. The end of the semester is nigh and projects are due--so my brain is fried. I apologize in advance if my paragraphs make no sense.

 

[sergeantapone]

I won't claim to be an expert by any means, but your chameleon's behavior sounds pretty much identical to my veiled's the first couple weeks I had him. I've had him 4.5 weeks now. He certainly would not eat from a cup, didn't like the shooting gallery I made, and would only rarely eat a cricket or roach I put near him. Usually, he would just hide from me and ignore any feeders. So I put a Wyze camera on top of the cage, which didn't seem to bother him (If your chameleon acts noticeably different around the camera like Mendez suggested, I'd try to take it away a few days), then I put a feeder cup in the cage with a sturdy stick mounted straight from the bottom of the cup right up into his basking spot. The cup is kind of hanging on some double strapped zipties, so it can still be removed and cleaned. I found the chameleon was eating LOTS when a.) I wasn't around and b.) the feeders crawled right near him. Some of the crickets still don't come out of the cup and some still make their way to the bottom of the cage where he won't find them, so I used a good 10-12 crickets at once. I also moved his dripper to drip on a leaf pretty high near the basking spot as well, and I've seen him drink from it almost every day. More recently, I've also caught him on camera sitting in his basking spot and just puffing himself up to 2-3x size for several minutes, and it concerned me, but the exotic vet I brought him to last week told me this was pretty normal to increase their surface area under the heat. (His basking spot sits at 81-83 degrees F.) Well the day after we went to the vet last week, he started SHEDDING and has been mid-shed through the weekend, and yesterday I realized my humidity at the basking spot was 68% in the middle of the day, even though it read closer to 40% where the gauge usually sits. So I've also made an effort to lower the basking area humidity during the day, because it seems to change drastically with the weather where I live. I hope he gets through the shed more easily now. If I were you, I would try feeding your chameleon this way and be absolutely sure the temp/humidity in the basking spot are on-point. If he starts eating regularly, you can always then train him on a regular cup or shooting gallery in good time.

 

[sergeantapone]

Side note, my veiled is a 2-month-old male, and I've been putting crickets in his cup twice a day.

 

[Uri]

I won't claim to be an expert by any means, but your chameleon's behavior sounds pretty much identical to my veiled's the first couple weeks I had him. I've had him 4.5 weeks now. He certainly would not eat from a cup, didn't like the shooting gallery I made, and would only rarely eat a cricket or roach I put near him. Usually, he would just hide from me and ignore any feeders. So I put a Wyze camera on top of the cage, which didn't seem to bother him (If your chameleon acts noticeably different around the camera like Mendez suggested, I'd try to take it away a few days), then I put a feeder cup in the cage with a sturdy stick mounted straight from the bottom of the cup right up into his basking spot. The cup is kind of hanging on some double strapped zipties, so it can still be removed and cleaned. I found the chameleon was eating LOTS when a.) I wasn't around and b.) the feeders crawled right near him. Some of the crickets still don't come out of the cup and some still make their way to the bottom of the cage where he won't find them, so I used a good 10-12 crickets at once. I also moved his dripper to drip on a leaf pretty high near the basking spot as well, and I've seen him drink from it almost every day. More recently, I've also caught him on camera sitting in his basking spot and just puffing himself up to 2-3x size for several minutes, and it concerned me, but the exotic vet I brought him to last week told me this was pretty normal to increase their surface area under the heat. (His basking spot sits at 81-83 degrees F.) Well the day after we went to the vet last week, he started SHEDDING and has been mid-shed through the weekend, and yesterday I realized my humidity at the basking spot was 68% in the middle of the day, even though it read closer to 40% where the gauge usually sits. So I've also made an effort to lower the basking area humidity during the day, because it seems to change drastically with the weather where I live. I hope he gets through the shed more easily now. If I were you, I would try feeding your chameleon this way and be absolutely sure the temp/humidity in the basking spot are on-point. If he starts eating regularly, you can always then train him on a regular cup or shooting gallery in good time.

Unfortunately he ignores free roam insects he has eaten from his shooting gallery but it’s still not much

 

[Uri]

How close is the camera to the cage? Tbh I'm not a fan of cameras. I set a wyze camera on top of my cham's cage and I could tell he was uncomfortable by it. After a week of stressing him out, I finally took it off and he was fine. Some chams get used to it, but when getting used to a new situation such as your cham, cameras can be even more uncomfortable. I'm not sure if they can see their reflection or if they see the camera focusing or what (also make sure to turn off IR). But from my limited experience, my jackson's chameleon viewed the camera as a threat. You can try taking it away and then once he gets established and eats well, you could put the camera back up and see if he gets used to it being around.

Sometimes I would just sit and watch the camera and I swear he could tell that I was watching him. He locked his gaze directly into the center of the camera every few seconds for a couple of seconds--it was eery.

Hopefully, you can decipher my message. The end of the semester is nigh and projects are due--so my brain is fried. I apologize in advance if my paragraphs make no sense.

It’s right on top next to his uvb fixture he doesn’t seem to notice it. It only bothered him the first day but afterwards started just roaming like normal basking, drinking, hiding, and coming out when he wants to warm up again or get to his dripper(he doesn’t go to his dripper much but I’m not worried about that the few urates that came out were white) he doesn’t seem to notice it he only locks eyes with it when he’s scanning but doesn’t seem to notice them much

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."he mostly ignores them and they end up dying before I remove them".... Could you not put a small dish of food in the cage for the insects?

Is your chameleon pooping? Is it drinking?

Photos of the cage and chameleon please.
What are the temperatures in the basking area and cage

@Kaizen @JacksJill ...can either of you help with this?

 

[Uri]

You said..."he mostly ignores them and they end up dying before I remove them".... Could you not put a small dish of food in the cage for the insects?

Is your chameleon pooping? Is it drinking?

Photos of the cage and chameleon please.
What are the temperatures in the basking area and cage

@Kaizen @JacksJill ...can either of you help with this?

I have both a shooting gallery feeder he’s used a little and a bird feeder cup I just added to see if that gets his attention he’s ignored the cup. I don’t have any pictures of the cage that are recent that is from my last husbandry review I’ve sense removed the moss vines , elevated both the sticks and plants to leave a clear floor with only the blocks of wood elevating the pots to provide more coverage added more horizontal branches of varying sizes from my front yard I also have added a couple fake vines until my real ones grow out more which shouldn’t be long now. The feeders he has he’s just kinda ignored and yes they are moving the larvae and roaches bump into each other a lot making them squirm around it’s pretty gross if I’m being honest. He poops but not much as well he’s not eating much his urates are white and he’s definitely drinking I’ve caught him on camera and early in the morning when he wakes up the basking area is 82 but since I’ve risen the branches I also had to rise my lights that photo was taken on my last husbandry review thread I think. His daily routine so far has been to wake up and bask for 30 minutes or so sometimes longer sometimes less time then drinking dew and retreating into the leaves where not even the camera can see him and wanders around the entire cage for the most part but avoids the bottom. I see him come in and out he rarely looks into the camera and from what I can see he’s never closed his eyes during the day