Paranoid cham owner

[NatNat1028]

new with chameleons! He is a year and a half and he is great and grumpy! But yesterday I realized he didn't eat all his food. The owner before fed him 20 crickets but everywhere I read and on another post everyone advised me to feed him 10. He didn't eat all of them in the cup while I was at work so I let them go free. He ate some of them but not all of them. Is he still stressed from his move from the last home to here? Should I be worried? And is he underweight or ok??

 

[jayraye2]

He looks healthy. I just think he’s stressed. It’s very easy for them to get stressed out. Or he could be about to shed. They eat less around then as well

 

[Thehippie]

he is most likely stressed, chameleons at that age start to shed in pieces so sometimes it may seem like they are constantly in shed

 

[salty dog]

Take the red light out, bad for their eyes

 

[Leiv]

He looks good , just give him some time.

 

[Carlton]

new with chameleons! He is a year and a half and he is great and grumpy! But yesterday I realized he didn't eat all his food. The owner before fed him 20 crickets but everywhere I read and on another post everyone advised me to feed him 10. He didn't eat all of them in the cup while I was at work so I let them go free. He ate some of them but not all of them. Is he still stressed from his move from the last home to here? Should I be worried? And is he underweight or ok??

IMHO he looks chubby. That's a LOT of food every single day. At his age he doesn't need that amount of food unless the crickets are pretty small. Chams get tired of the same diet every day. Do you offer anything other than crix? Their metabolism also slows down as they reach maturity....he's there. He can easily eat every other day now.

BTW, when you let the feeders loose in the cage they eventually lose their gut contents and their supplement dusting, so they are a lot less nutritious even if he does find them successfully. If they get hungry they can annoy and even chew on your cham while its asleep.

Instead of that much food every day, offer him one day of food and just a snack the next. Rotate, and get him a better variety of feeders. A bit of hunger is great for appetite.

 

[NatNat1028]

IMHO he looks chubby. That's a LOT of food every single day. At his age he doesn't need that amount of food unless the crickets are pretty small. Chams get tired of the same diet every day. Do you offer anything other than crix? Their metabolism also slows down as they reach maturity....he's there. He can easily eat every other day now.

BTW, when you let the feeders loose in the cage they eventually lose their gut contents and their supplement dusting, so they are a lot less nutritious even if he does find them successfully. If they get hungry they can annoy and even chew on your cham while its asleep.

Instead of that much food every day, offer him one day of food and just a snack the next. Rotate, and get him a better variety of feeders. A bit of hunger is great for appetite.

Yes I am sorry if it seemed as if i feed him everyday. I and the previous owner fed every other day but I noticed he just doesn't want the crickets. I do try and feed him in a cup but even now he still doesn't seem interested at all. I have tried to feed him wax warms and meal warm (and a apple once but i already knew he wouldn't want that) I do try to feed him the warms in my hand which he has taken from my hand before but he is simply refusing everything for the past two feeding rotations. BUT the previous own also let them free roam so i am wondering if he doesn't like the cup?

 

[NatNat1028]

He looks good , just give him some time.

 

[NatNat1028]

Take the red light out, bad for their eyes

yes I 100% will change it. I just ran out of money but I am planning on changing the lights to a heat emitter with no light what so ever.

 

[NatNat1028]

Yes I am sorry if it seemed as if i feed him everyday. I and the previous owner fed every other day but I noticed he just doesn't want the crickets. I do try and feed him in a cup but even now he still doesn't seem interested at all. I have tried to feed him wax warms and meal warm (and a apple once but i already knew he wouldn't want that) I do try to feed him the warms in my hand which he has taken from my hand before but he is simply refusing everything for the past two feeding rotations. BUT the previous own also let them free roam so i am wondering if he doesn't like the cup?

now i do plan on feeding him medium sized crickets so how many would i be feeding him?

 

[zigzagzug]

My cham will eat out my hand or from the cage, but he has never eaten from a cup lol. I would feed him 10-15 crickets every other day (If they are medium, 10 if they are large)

 

[NatNat1028]

he is most likely stressed, chameleons at that age start to shed in pieces so sometimes it may seem like they are constantly in shed

yes I have noticed that! thank you!

 

[Kali11]

mealworms aren't nutritious at all. super worms are better than meal worms. but theyre like junk food. mine loves super worms, that's the only thing I feed in a cup. I give those for like treats. mine eats mainly crickets. she eats 5-7 every night. but shes only like 6-8 months old and eats like a piggy lol

your cham is very pretty, love it!

 

[NatNat1028]

mealworms aren't nutritious at all. super worms are better than meal worms. but theyre like junk food. mine loves super worms, that's the only thing I feed in a cup. I give those for like treats. mine eats mainly crickets. she eats 5-7 every night. but shes only like 6-8 months old and eats like a piggy lol

your cham is very pretty, love it!

Thank you! Yes I only give those to him as treats and if I noticed he hasn't eaten all day I see if he wants one but lately he just doesn't want anything. I'm thinking about trying roaches and seeing how he likes that cuz I heard they are another good and seeing if he will want that haha

 

[iMi]

Beautiful animal and he looks great.

 

[NatNat1028]

Beautiful animal and he looks great.

He said thank you haha

 

[zigzagzug]

sometimes in the colder months chams will eat a little less than normal because of the temp drop. Even though he can't tell that it's winter, chams have a 6th sense for it or something lol.

 

[NatNat1028]

sometimes in the colder months chams will eat a little less than normal because of the temp drop. Even though he can't tell that it's winter, chams have a 6th sense for it or something lol.

Lol thank you so much! Makes me feel a lit better! Haha

 

[salty dog]

He needs to be sprayed with a standard sprayer fine-medium mist for at least a minute better 2 minutes minimum, everyday. better 2 or three times a day, I use crystal geyser spring water. He will die without a proper uv light, I use a 5.0 t-8 4 foot light, I put 1 bulb uv the other a 6500k full spectrum bulb for live plants, from home depot or lowes, lowes sells 2 bulb t-8 fixtures ready to plug in for $15.00 and 6500k bulbs for $5.00....fixture + 6500k bulb and the uv bulb from a local aquarium/reptile store = $60.00