Picky eater/ Not eating much?

[Ophelia]

Your Chameleon - 8 month veiled
Handling - Not much, she doesnt enjoy being held
Feeding -gutloaded super worms. She stopped eating crickets/grasshoppers before she laid her first clutch, and now isnt to interested in anything.
HAND - None
Supplements - My boyfriend takes care of that end, I dont know off the top of my head, I know we dust our supers in some calcium + d3? (I think?) and she gets liquid calcium in her water
Watering - Mist in the morning, and in the afternoon. She has a waterfall in her cage, but sometimes we also set up a drip at the top of her cage if its a warmer day
Fecal Description - White
History - NONE

Cage Info:
Cage Type- Outside, I wanna say 6.5 ft tall x 4ft wide at the front x 5 ft on the sides, give or take a guesstimate
Lighting - The sun
Temperature - Fl summers. Its been fairly warm lately upper 80s/low 90s
Plants - A potted hibiscus and a ficus
Placement - outside. Half under some shaded trees, half where she can get a lot of sun
Location - South Fl


After she laid her first clutch, I expected her to be starving, but the most Ive gotten her to eat has been six supers in a day since then, and after that she has been eating off and on. Sometimes one or two, sometimes four, most times none. She doesnt like to be hand fed, so we have a cup system that had been working. I thought she might just be bored with supers so I went back to crickets for a few days, she wasnt interested. Tried a few grasshoppers, got her to eat two, and she wont go near them now.. I dont know if shes just not hungry of if she is maybe getting a hold of things slipping into her cage? Its screened, but its not perfect, sometimes crickets get out through the bottom (which we're trying to fix) and when we first transitioned to the outdoor cage, we found a wolf spider prowling at the bottom so I know there is always the chance she may be snacking on anything that might find its way in. Shes just so thin im really becoming worried about her. Is this normal?

 

[carol5208]

how long have you had her living outside?. The reason I am asking is because it is hot down here now. I live in florida also. I would not even consider leaving my chameleon outside all day on some of the days. It would seem she would never really have a chance to cool down. She probably laid a clutch already due in part to the high temps. Warm temps and overfeeding can lead to egg production. If she is getting natural sunlight everyday(how many hours would you say?) you certainly do not need to be dusting with d3 very often. So how often would you say? What brand are you using? At most, I would be using a couple of times a month. PLAIN calcium is what you should be dusting your feeders with. Also get a multivitamin to use a couple of times a month. Why do you have a waterfall? They normally do not drink from standing water and if you have a dripper, what would be the purpose? They are really frowned up due to the chance of bacteria build up in the water. Does she ever poop in the water?

 

[Ophelia]

Well, she started showing signs that she was going to lay before we moved her outside.
We have a waterfall because if we have to work late, we dont have to worry about her getting dehydrated. No, she doesnt poop in it, is that common? And its not standing, its a fountain? I dont think he dust with the d3 more than twice a month, we do have plain calcium, theyre both rep-cal brand but everything else im not sure. This is my bfs cham. Im here in the forum because im a worry wort
Shes only been living outside for about 2 months now.
I bet youre right about her being to hot but the person we had bought her from said he ONLY brought his inside when the temps dropped so I guess thats our fault for not doing more homework. :[ I feel like a bad mom now. What if we kept her in mostly shade? We have a part of our lawn that NEVER gets sun. What if we moved her cage so that it sits 25% where she could get sun if she wanted to bask and 75% in the shade? Do you think she would be cool enough?
Oh and she also poops on her hibiscus which isnt lookin so hot itself right now. Im thinking it may just need to be put in a bigger pot. Do they do ok in the shade?

 

[Ophelia]

Hers a pic of her cage when we first set it up, its a little different now, but you get the idea.

 

[carol5208]

they can do ok in the shade, but the shade temps are still pretty hot with the humidity. Do you ever see her with mouth open, gaping, trying to cool down?. I have heard of people keeping their chameleons out all day and night in Florida. It can be done I guess, just not something I would do personally. As soon as I see my chameleon with his mouth open for any length of time i bring him into the AC. You are probably gonna have her laying eggs multiple times with keeping her in such warm temps. Yes it is common for them to poop in water for whatever reason. Do you see her drink out of it? Why not look into getting a misting system if you are gonna keep her outdoors. It would provide clean water and also cool her down every so often when she gets hot. Just a thought....

 

[Ophelia]

Ive seen her do that when we had her inside and I knew my temps were to hot, but ive yet to see her do it outside. She has been hiding in one of her trees the last couple of days though. She starts her mornings at the top near one of her feeding cups and thats the time I usually rush out to feed her because Im more likely to get her to eat at that time. Any suggestions on the misting system? Brand? Who/where to get it?