She has STOPPED eating...

[Incognito]

I had another thread about how little my jacksons 4 month female was eating. She was eating 2 1/4inch crickets a day the last 4 days. And now she won't eat at all. I was hoping this was an adjustment to just getting her this is day 5 of having her. I tryed cup feeding, I tryed letting her catch them, I tryed the crickets the worms! I don't know what to do. She is literally letting the crickets walk on top of her. She is still active walking about the cage and drinking. But I would love some more suggestions, PLEASE

 

[jojackson]

Try just leaving her be and dont be so concerned, theres no set time for a given lizard to adjust to new suroundings. It wont starve if food is available. You could offer something other than crickets, juicy bugs such as hornworms often entice, anything green really.
your not the first person to panic because his/her new lizard didnt eat right away or only ate sporadically.
New cham excitement syndrome its called, it effects new owners, not the chams!

 

[melric]

My female Jackson is the same way. Sometimes I make sure she eats by hand feeding her. There could be crickets in her cage for days and she won't eat them. But, if I hold a cricket to her face she will eat it up. Idk, is that a Jackson thing?

 

[Incognito]

Try just leaving her be and dont be so concerned, theres no set time for a given lizard to adjust to new suroundings. It wont starve if food is available. You could offer something other than crickets, juicy bugs such as hornworms often entice, anything green really.

I tried worms, she just looks at them funny She has only eaten 8-10 crickets in 5 days tho, that can't be good for her! I dont want her to go hungry

 

[jojackson]

really, it wont starve. But out of curiosity, how big is it and what are the cage tempeatures?

 

[Incognito]

I dont have a ruler or a way to weight her but I took a picture of her next to a quarter if that helps :/ The cage temps are 75ish-79ish Varies during day and night. I take her out for sun once a day. For about 20 mins, I spray every few hours and have 2 drips going in a 3ft by 2 ft by 2ft

 

[Incognito]

I dont have a ruler or a way to weight her but I took a picture of her next to a quarter if that helps :/ The cage temps are 75ish-79ish Varies during day and night. I take her out for sun once a day. For about 20 mins, I spray every few hours and have 2 drips going in a 3ft by 2 ft by 2ft

Might help if I attach that picture huh . . .

 

[melric]

Oh she's a cute little baby! I'm not sure how much babies should be eating, my adults only ever probably eat one or two crickets a day and they're fat.

 

[Incognito]

Oh she's a cute little baby! I'm not sure how much babies should be eating, my adults only ever probably eat one or two crickets a day and they're fat.

Really? Someone told me at her 4 months that she should be eating 10 a day? and thank you, I adore her! She likes to reach out to my shirts when she is on my fingers, she likes it there lol

 

[Ace]

Really? Someone told me at her 4 months that she should be eating 10 a day? and thank you, I adore her! She likes to reach out to my shirts when she is on my fingers, she likes it there lol

depends on the size of crickets which determines amount

 

[Incognito]

depends on the size of crickets which determines amount

1/4 inch crickets

 

[randomryan007]

Might help if I attach that picture huh . . .

Congrats you have a boy. look at his head it has horns. females do not have horns I had for many years jacksons. they need humid cages. babies eat what they want. if she's eating she's fine. make water always available. use a dripper. mist offten with luke warm water. I had many babies too. each baby is different. also do not handle him often. stress kills. none of my jacksons except one liked being held.

 

[Incognito]

The cage is very humid, I have two drippers and mist with warm water every few hours, I do not handle often but when I do she usually goes straight to the shirt where she relaxes. Are you sure boy??? I have a male barely older than her with hugely massive horns and the breeder told me female?

 

[Chase]

What subspecies is it? I am with Dan(jojackson) on this one. Give it more time to acclimate, and you should see increased food intake.

LPR08

 

[pantherlover]

As chameleons are opportunistic eaters, maybe try to give it a day or 2 without him/her seeing any food. Your cham doesnt look too skinny. Keep it hydrated & the bet the next time it sees food, itll go bonkers for whatever you put infront of it.

 

[laurie]

Do you have a uvb on it? If so I would not take it outside, in fact I would not handle it at all. Ofter times grabbing your shirt is just a place to get away too, if you see what I mean.

 

[Cainschams]

My opinion is stop handling it. If you cant take the whole cage out into the sun then I would wait until it is settled in before you go transferring it from inside to outside. It is young so it should be getting plenty of food but the amount its had already it will not starve. If you have access to blue bottle of house flies those might trigger a better feeding response. The important thing now is not to pester it for at least a few weeks while it adjusts to its conditions. If its in a room with human traffic, cover the sides of the cage so its limited to human contact/sight.

Edit: Make sure to provide it with plenty of drinking water also!! If its drinking well throughout the acclimation period then a low appetite shouldnt be something to worry about. It will eventually start eating better. Just leave it alone

 

[Incognito]

I'm soo confused now. I started taking the cage outside because a few of you here had told me to. I don't take just her, I put the cage out there for about 20 mins. Yes I have a uvb on her. I also only handle her to seperate her at feeding time; also at the suggestion of members here. Because she wasn't eating as much ya'll said to seperate her at feeding time because maybe she didnt want to fight for food. She has an abundance of water available to her. I have tried worms and crickets and flies. The cage is not in a high traffic area. I think I'm just not going to do anything more than put the crickets in for now because it seems everything (taking out to feed or taking the cage out into the sun) is stressing her out. I'm also confussed as to if she is a he now lol And if she is a he then thats problem the biggest problem as 2 males shouldn't be together...

 

[KatCham]

Leave your little one alone to chill out and figure out new surroundings.
Will eat when they are comfortable.
My now 4month old male ate different amounts every day, some days not at all for the first 2 weeks. Fruit flies were a huge hit!!!

 

[randomryan007]

everyone has an opinion not everyone's right. It looks like your she has horns. I could be wrong. but it does. I didn't take my babies out side untill they were 6 months. I will still leave he/she alone for atleast a couple weeks. since the other one is not having these issues maybe try taking that one out at feeding time. do you have a ficus or another non toxic plant the other one could hang out in while he/she eats?