Please help! Male or female?
- Thread starter Nikola91
- Start date
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
Many chameleons very easily develop an addiction (for lack of a better word) to superworms and refuse their regular feeders. You’ll need to break her of the habit - stop giving them at least until after she’s eaten her regular bugs. I give supers as treats, just a couple a month. Stay strong! I have a fussy eater and don’t give in to him…much. He doesn’t care for roaches, so I don’t give him those. But that is the only accommodation I make for him. He is also a secret eater, so I put his feeders in his feeding station and walk away. If your girl continues to refuse eating anything besides supers, I suggest a vet visit with a fecal check for parasites.
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
Not very long, because she is still a little one. She has no built up reserves and needs regular nutrition in order to stay healthy and grow. I personally wouldn’t let her go for more than a week. But you need to find out why she may not be eating, aside from a superworm preference.
Parasites is always one of the possibilities for not eating. Even if she has had a clean fecal test before, she could still have parasites…they just weren’t shedding their casts or whatever at the time she was tested.
Are you keeping an eye on her basking temps? Don’t take for granted that they will always be the same.
Is she basking? Has she been showing any signs of sickness, such as not basking, staying down near the bottom, eyes closed when lights are on, eyes sunken in, etc? Any noises when she’s breathing? Has she been holding her head up, like stargazing?
Are her feeders small enough for her to eat? Anything larger than the space between her eyes is too big. I much prefer to give smaller feeders to my chameleons, rather than as big as they can handle.
Is her feeding station kept in the same spot? Is it where she can see it and the yummy bugs in it from her basking area? Do you stay and hold the cup or watch her to make sure she eats? Is her feeding area exposed? Maybe try placing a fake plant on the outside of the enclosure to somewhat hide her from view and make her feel safer. They are very vulnerable to predators when eating and drinking, so she needs to feel safer.
How much supplement are you putting on her bugs? You want the lightest of dusting. If they look like powdered donuts, you’ve put too much. I put a tiny amount of supplement in the bottom of a tall deli cup and then add my bugs. I don’t shake or swirl, but instead let them dust themselves as they walk or jump around. If I do see they have still gotten too much on them, as I’m moving them to the feeding station with tongs, I blow the excess off.
