Veiled not eating crickets anymore!

[Dyesub Dave]

I've noticed that recently my male veiled of apporx. 4 1/2 yrs. doesn't seem to be eating crickets. They'll run across the mesh right beside him and he'll look at them but do nothing.

I've been hand feeding him silworms every 2nd or 3rd day as well. And for the last couple of days he's been getting butterworms. He seems to have no problem with the worms but no interest in the crix.

I just made him a feeder cup that I attached to the inside of his enclosure. He sat there watching the crickets for about 10 minutes so I tossed a butterworm in the feeder. He immediately went down and got the butterworm but still won't touch the crickets. So at least I know he's not afraid of the feeder cup.

Should I just not feed him crix for a while and then try to introduce them again? Or perhaps in a few days when I run out of worms should I let him go hungry for a day and then try the crix again? I haven't had this happen before except when my female was gravid .. but now she has no problems with anything I feed her!

Thanks ... Dyesub Dave.

 

[TRI0N]

That seems to be a common tip used here to take a break from crickets for a week or so then introduce them to him again. Perhaps wingless fruit flies, mealworms etc.

 

[PardalisGirl]

Break from crickets.......

I agree about giving him a break from crickets for now. That's the one thing about silkworms, hornworms and butterworms. I've had a few males that like those things so much that they hold out for them and refuse the crickets. After a few days they will eat the crickets if they don't get the worms. When my chams see me coming around with the silkworm container they come to the cage door with their tongues sticking out about an inch. They look like little dogs following my hand movements with their heads, eyes, and tongues. It's pretty funny

 

[Julirs]

My almost 1 year old male goes on cricket strike ever other month. He actually goes on hunger strikes about that often too. I have to make sure he can't see the ladies or that is all he thinks about!

 

[Dyesub Dave]

OK ... maybe it's not the crickets maybe he's just getting lazy?? I held the container that I dust the crickets in up to his face last night and he picked off about 5 crix from it. I set up his hanging cricket feeder again and today there are 2 crix in there and about 4 or so running around the cage.

So basically it seems that he'll eat them as long as I strap on the feed bag and he doesn't have to move too much! LOL

Anybody else have a LAZY CHAM??

Dyesub Dave.

 

[dj special k]

I have a one year old male veiled that is ona cricket strike and he's lazy too. He'll eat the hornworms and the silkies... he doesn't like mealworms or super... and I've noticed his aim sucks when it comes to crickets. He would come as close as he can to a cricket that's on the screen wall, and then zap it but miss... then he'll give up after that one try. I think he's tired of crickets so Ii'm going to have to hold off on them for a week or so. They're getting older in his cage and starting to keep me up at night. If I don't get them out of there or he eats them... i'm just gonna have to zap them myself cause they're so noisy in there. Question... is a cham having bad aim anything to worry about?

 

[Jordan]

I would let him not eat for a couple of days and then see his response. Picky and lethargic makes me think he might be slightly overfeed. Not saying that you are doing anything wrong in this situation rather your chameleon maybe changing on you. With age comes a little less activity. Staying with the same food amounts maybe leaving him with a little more fat in his diet then is necessary along with this normal drop in activity levels. In turn this allows the chameleon to be a little more selective when choosing prey items and also not having to be in hunt mode all the time.

 

[Dyesub Dave]

Hey Jordan,

I understand what you are saying but I don't think that there's any way he was overfed. I was actually starting to think that I wasn't feeding him enough. I have a 10 month old male veiled that eats twice as much as this guy. He's a full grown male approx. 4 1/2 yrs. old and I was only giving him 5 or 6 large crix a day and a silkworm or 2 every other day.

But perhaps getting older and not feeling as active as you suggested is having an effect on him. For the last several days before the crix he just ate he was only getting 2 or 3 butterworms a day. Unless of course he found a stray cricket in his enclosure but they certainly didn't disappear very fast.

I just hate feeding my other chams and not offering him something. Makes me feel like I'm punishing him for something. I guess I'm just spoiling him a bit! LOL

Thanks for your input!

Dyesub Dave.

 

[Dyesub Dave]

Update on my male cham!

Well .. he still won't eat crickets. And now he doesn't eat much of anything else either. The occasional silkworm but he doesn't get too excited over those anymore either. He probably only eats several silkies or hornworms and maybe a couple pieces of grape per WEEK !!

He still gets up and moves around but goes to sleep before any of my other chams and even before the lights are out. Does this seem like perhaps a winter thing or maybe he's just getting too old to care anymore??

Any thoughts??

Thanks ... Dyesub Dave.

 

[Justin Carl]

Man I had the same problem.
My veiled was a year old at the time,
He went almost a month with little to no food at all.
Now all he will eat is super worms.
He will get out of his fast sooner or later.
Dont worry to much.

 

[PardalisGirl]

Your older cham..........

Hi Dave..........I think it may be a combination of age and season. Your male is on the upper range of life span. I've had a couple of those who in the last year of their life really slowed down like that too. There was nothing physically wrong with them. They were much less active and they slowed down eating. The only thing they were really interested in was large silkworms. It was like their whole metabolism just wound down slowly. They actually started to look like shriveled old men. I had one put to sleep and the other just died one day on his own. There was no infection or parasite issue in play. If you think about it though, this makes sense. In nature, these older and slower chams would have been picked off by predators. In captivity there is no predator to pick them off. But they can't live forever either. So they just slowly run out of steam. This stage was observed over a period of about a year for my two old males. I would just treat your male tenderly like one would treat any beloved older relative and make his life as comfortable as possible. And take any pictures you want of him now Catherine

 

[Brad Ramsey]

That seems to be a common tip used here to take a break from crickets for a week or so then introduce them to him again. Perhaps wingless fruit flies, mealworms etc.

fruitflies?

Hey, I'm going to attribute this to winter. He's not that old, and he is eating some.
I wouldn't worry too much.

-Brad

 

[Dyesub Dave]

Well I just got home and watched him eat 4 silkies. That's the most he's eaten in a long time. Maybe I just needed to post a question on the forum for him to eat. LOLOL

About a week ago I put a 1 yr. old unbred female in with him. He didn't seem to have any problems with that ... the dirty old guy!! LOL I haven't noticed the female ... who is now back in her enclosure ... change to gravid colours yet. Maybe I'll try again this weekend and see if she accepts him again or changes colours when near him.

Thanks for all your suggestions. I wish he'd just eat crickets again though. Stubborn little bugger!!

Dyesub Dave.

 

[Scotty]

Dave, I just can't get out of my head an ageing old cham with your descriptions...lol and catherine comparing it to an ageing relative, wrinkly old men, my nanna comes to mind...again lol..
I've never seen an old cham, not that yours is that old, can you post some pics for us...please! Anyone with pics of old guys/
Cheers
scott
PS. i hope he starts eating for you, it is stressful. Off topic, but I am going through the same ordeal with a few Jungle carpet hatchies at the moment, i hate not seeing any of my animals not eating...

 

[Dyesub Dave]

Hey Scotty,

There's a couple of pics in my Gallery!! The first pic is when I first got him .. he wasn't in great shape with a rubbed off piece on his chin and thin spots in his casque. The previous owner had kept him in an enclosure that was too small and didn't take him out often so he was rubbing those parts on the screen top.

He ended up losing part of his casque as you can see in the more recent second pic. He is the greener cham and the other is my 1 yr old male Jaspur trying to pick a fight with him.

Dyesub Dave.

 

[PardalisGirl]

Glad he's eating

I'm glad he's eating today Dave.....I guess Veileds must have longer life spans than Panthers. 4 1/2 years is a reasonable life for a male Panther in captivity. Some may live a bit longer, but they don't have nearly the same life span as an iguana for example. Hopefully, he will perk up when spring arrives and the days get longer. I've got a seasonal slowdown going on at my house. Although, today I had a big silkworm party and everyone perked up. I've not had them in any quantity for a while and they were greatly missed.

 

[Dyesub Dave]

Well the old gaffer still isn't eating much. He won't eat crickets at all. He'll occasionally eat a grape half or two. I don't always have silkworms on hand but when I do he doesn't go nuts for them. I put a couple in yesterday and I didn't see him eat one until this morning. So I put two more in and he hasn't touched them. Sometimes he doesn't eat for days.

He seems to be ready for sleep long before all of my younger chams as well. Usually when I get home from work ... around 5:30-6:00pm he's in his sleeping spot getting ready for lights out.

But he doesn't seem to be overly unhealthy or anything. He still drinks when I spray and moves around. But he doesn't move around as fast or as often as he used to. I guess it's just part of life but I certainly wish I could get him to eat a bit more as I'd hate to think of him starving to death. Hopefully the warmer weather will be here in a few weeks and I'll see a slight increase in eating and activity.

On a good note the younger female that I bred him with is now digging a hole and will hopefully lay her eggs in the next couple of days. So that way if something tragic does happen his legacy will carry on!

Dyesub Dave.