Tip of tail fell off

[MissSkittles]

Bsfl don’t move a whole lot…unless you get them a little wet. Then they are active little climbers and squirmers. I feed them separately in a small cup that I hold.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

Silkworms grow really fast. I order 100 monthly. A few of them die but as long as i transfer them weekly to a clean tray with chow they stay alive all month. I use clean tongs for the transfer. They are nutritious and move alot when they are biggef.

 

[CryptKeeper]

So I just want to comment on this aspect... Even if he barely eats he is ok. This boy is holding quite a bit of extra weight. you can tell by how full his casque is along with his cheeks and how thick his limbs are.

I would evaluate how much you are feeding, what you are feeding, and how often once you get him through the illness. Holding extra weight like this can be very hard on their renal function.

While getting treatment and moving forward I would avoid fatty feeders like wax worms. Moving over to something like silk worms would be a very good nutritious option but also provide more hydration.

per the tail, his looks totally normal. I do not think what you found was the tip of the tail.

So just to confirm, while he’s sick and not eating anything but wax worms should I just let him stay on his hunger strike and just keep offering different things to him and leave the wax worms out of it even though that’s all he’ll eat?

I see many people have different theories on weather super worms should be fed as snacks or a staple what’s your thoughts on that?

I just ordered 100 silks but they’ll be small so should take a bit before I can try them and gonna get some Dubias as well to try. Also the horned worms should be moths soon so I should have some variety to offer him daily.

 

[Beman]

So just to confirm, while he’s sick and not eating anything but wax worms should I just let him stay on his hunger strike and just keep offering different things to him and leave the wax worms out of it even though that’s all he’ll eat?

I see many people have different theories on weather super worms should be fed as snacks or a staple what’s your thoughts on that?

I just ordered 100 silks but they’ll be small so should take a bit before I can try them and gonna get some Dubias as well to try. Also the horned worms should be moths soon so I should have some variety to offer him daily.

So for an overweight cham to feed them wax worms which are essentially sacks of fat is not something I would do. You said he was eating crickets as well. A hunger strike is when they literally go off all food. If he is being picky and just going for certain things then that is quite normal.

I personally do not feed a base of super worms. And I only feed small/medium ones. So while you could include 1 or 2 each feeding it is not something I would only feed. They do have a higher fat ratio then other options. And the large ones have a pretty intense bite. I have seen in the forum a few times now where the cham has been bitten by large superworms and ended up with mouth rot. So it is not something I personally risk.

Even if the silks are only 1 inch long you can feed them off. Keep them on food so they have what they need to grow. I have found that smaller sized dubias move more than the bigger ones which can be more enticing to a chameleon.

 

[CryptKeeper]

So for an overweight cham to feed them wax worms which are essentially sacks of fat is not something I would do. You said he was eating crickets as well. A hunger strike is when they literally go off all food. If he is being picky and just going for certain things then that is quite normal.

I personally do not feed a base of super worms. And I only feed small/medium ones. So while you could include 1 or 2 each feeding it is not something I would only feed. They do have a higher fat ratio then other options. And the large ones have a pretty intense bite. I have seen in the forum a few times now where the cham has been bitten by large superworms and ended up with mouth rot. So it is not something I personally risk.

Even if the silks are only 1 inch long you can feed them off. Keep them on food so they have what they need to grow. I have found that smaller sized dubias move more than the bigger ones which can be more enticing to a chameleon.

Ok sounds good and I’m not positive if he’s eating the crickets. I haven’t seen him in a long time eating them but they disappear and don’t see them anywhere in the enclosure. Thing is sometimes they disappear overnight so I doubt those ones he’s eating. I just can’t find them it’s really odd tbh. Like I said before I didn’t have him on a feeding schedule I would just put food in the cricket feeder or worm dish and leave them in there and he’d eventually eat them so I gotta change that habit. He trusts me enough to feed him from tongs when he was feeling ok so I’ll try to do that again or just put roaches etc in front of him daily to see if he’ll eat so I can be sure he ate or not. I think he’ll eat the silks he always loved them. But yeah not positive he’s eating the crickets lately.

 

[Beman]

Ok sounds good and I’m not positive if he’s eating the crickets. I haven’t seen him in a long time eating them but they disappear and don’t see them anywhere in the enclosure. Thing is sometimes they disappear overnight so I doubt those ones he’s eating. I just can’t find them it’s really odd tbh. Like I said before I didn’t have him on a feeding schedule I would just put food in the cricket feeder or worm dish and leave them in there and he’d eventually eat them so I gotta change that habit. He trusts me enough to feed him from tongs when he was feeling ok so I’ll try to do that again or just put roaches etc in front of him daily to see if he’ll eat so I can be sure he ate or not. I think he’ll eat the silks he always loved them. But yeah not positive he’s eating the crickets lately.

Ok you really do not want to use tongs at all with a chameleon. This is extremely dangerous and the cause of most tongue injuries. If they hit the tong and you pull back at all you can hyper extend the tongue or even cause enough damage to need amputation of the tongue. This is why with chameleons it is strongly not advised to use them.

You will need to get him on a strict schedule to reverse the obesity. It seems like you are not tracking what he is or is not eating. I do not feel like he is actually on a hunger strike.

 

[CryptKeeper]

Ok you really do not want to use tongs at all with a chameleon. This is extremely dangerous and the cause of most tongue injuries. If they hit the tong and you pull back at all you can hyper extend the tongue or even cause enough damage to need amputation of the tongue. This is why with chameleons it is strongly not advised to use them.

You will need to get him on a strict schedule to reverse the obesity. It seems like you are not tracking what he is or is not eating. I do not feel like he is actually on a hunger strike.

Yeah I’m totally not sure of how much he would eat bc I figured until he’s 1 year he could eat as much as possible I def read that info wrong. And I just highly doubt he’s eating the crickets at night bc he’s in same exact spot in the am and that’s normally when the crickets go missing is at night I count them prior to lights going off.

But yeah ima keep track from now on of what he eats I’ll remove any not eaten bugs. And really good to know about the tongs. I haven’t done it in awhile I just know he would, I’ve been trying to just place horned worms on branches near him but to no avail. (Since those are his favorite besides wax) before he got sick when I’d put the crickets in the feeder he’d walk right up and start eating. I guess I’ll just have to take it day by day and see how he does and try other insects daily.

Should I only give him a limited time to eat and if he doesn’t then remove them and try again the next day at same time?

 

[Beman]

Yeah I’m totally not sure of how much he would eat bc I figured until he’s 1 year he could eat as much as possible I def read that info wrong. And I just highly doubt he’s eating the crickets at night bc he’s in same exact spot in the am and that’s normally when the crickets go missing is at night I count them prior to lights going off.

But yeah ima keep track from now on of what he eats I’ll remove any not eaten bugs. And really good to know about the tongs. I haven’t done it in awhile I just know he would, I’ve been trying to just place horned worms on branches near him but to no avail. (Since those are his favorite besides wax) before he got sick when I’d put the crickets in the feeder he’d walk right up and start eating. I guess I’ll just have to take it day by day and see how he does and try other insects daily.

Should I only give him a limited time to eat and if he doesn’t then remove them and try again the next day at same time?

No, you would give him the entire day to eat the insects from a feeder run or cup. Then remove anything he does not eat. You risk them getting out at night and biting the chameleon. Crickets will do this they get hungry and go looking for what they can eat.

 

[CryptKeeper]

I got the silkworms and roaches and he loves the worms and is eating I’m so happy! He didn’t eat the roaches right away but I put 2 in his dish and they were gone within like 10 min (he’s a shy eater I have to walk away if other people are around) so I’m not sure if they escaped or he ate them. I will try and see next feeding but all around good news seems like he’s much better now. And I started feeding him much less and every other day