Panther Chameleon bored with crix...now what?

[ken2414]

My male panther chameleon has recently become bored with and is refusing crix in general. what else can i feed him?

 

[graydon]

There is a veritable plethora of insects that chams can eat. examples would be dubia roaches, super-worms, butter-worms, flies etc.. If your cham isn't eating crix, dont feed him for a day. I guarantee he will eat them if he is hungry. Butter-worms and wax-worms should be fed sparingly because they are high in fat content.

 

[ken2414]

he hasnt eaten in about three days and ive filled his cup up every day. he is drinking fine tho. im ordering silkworms tonight tho

 

[graydon]

How old is he? Silkies are great feeders as well.. I forgot about them.

 

[ken2414]

he is about nine months old now. i plan to get eggs of silkies as they are cheaper but they wont be ready for feeding til about two weeks...will my cham eat the crix so he wont starve himself?

 

[graydon]

I believe that if any animal/reptile is hungry enough, they will eat. Now, chameleons on the other hand are very finicky reptiles. If there is anything wrong with the cham at all, it can result in the cham not eating. If you are sure your cham is fine, I believe that he will eat when he is hungry. I would start to worry if he doesn't eat within the next few days. If you haven't fed him anything besides crix it is very possible he is on a hunger strike.

 

[ken2414]

i think hes on a hunger strike since all he's eaten is crickets. his cage temps and humidity are fine and he is drinking. if hes on a hunger strike will he not eat regularly until he eats something else?

 

[graydon]

Ive never had a cham go on a hunger strike so I cant answer that. I would def try and get some new feeders into his cup. Or wait another couple days and he will eat. An animal or reptile will not starve itself unless there is an illness.

What kind of lights do you have? Are you gut-loading your crix?

 

[ken2414]

okay ill try that then thanks and ill keep watch on him to make sure he is moving normal

 

[sandrachameleon]

3 days could simply be a hunger strike from boredom. Could also be its not hungry. Even if its not bored, its a good idea to provide a varied diet.

There's a list of feeders in this blog entry: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/74-feeders.html
there is information on nutrition, including links to charts tell you what varous feeders provide to your chameleon in that regard, in this blog entry: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition.html