Winter hibernation?

[bucky]

Im curious as to if anyone elses chameleon has entered the winter hunger strike chameleons always seem to do during the winter?My panther these past weeks has only been eating 3-5 crickets every other day, out of the 9-12 i feed him. Is this too soon for him to be slowing down? He also seems to go to sleep earlier.

Cage Type: a terrarium 48x30x16
Lighting: 5.0 reptisun UVB and a 70 watt light bulb for basking.
Temperature: Normal temps are around 70-75 and basking are 80-86
Humidity: The humidity is around 40-50% and its basically made by misting him and by the plant.
Plants: One Arboricola
Location: The cage is located in my room, its not by any air vents or where drafts are.

Your Chameleon: A blue bar panther ambilobe,he is 3 years old,male.
Feeding: His diet consists of crickets,he gets about 10-12 every other day, I am using carrots and a variety of leafy greens to gut load the crickets.
Supplements: I use repcal about every feeding and rep cal w/ d3 every 2 weeks. And herptivite every 2 weeks also. I swab his mouth with a q-tip with fish oil on it once a month for Vit. A.
Watering: I have a dripper on the whole day that drips off a leaf. I mist him 2x a day for about 3-5 minutes.
Fecal Description: They are usually a little runny with a white/tan part at the end.
History: He has had an eye problem that has plagued him for a while. But that ended about two summers ago, it seemed to be a vitamin A defficiency that was the problem.

 

[Thompson]

Mine probably is. He's been only eating about 4 crickets out of the ten I give him.

 

[SSimsswiSS]

Maybe change up the feeders (superworms, silkworms, roaches) once in awhile will get him moving. A mature 3 year old is going to slow down on his food intake. Is he active? or does he play, one with the branch all day?

 

[bimac6]

Isn't it normal for an adult chameleon just to eat 4 every other day? Their appetite goes down when they're older. My panther is still eating 9-10 a day since he's just 6 months, but, there is no such thing as cold in Tampa!

 

[kinyonga]

When you give your chameleon cod liver oil, you give it not only vitamin A but vitamin D.

 

[Cainschams]

Hey David. Sounds like Louie is doing well I wouldnt worry about him cutting back that much. Actually it should probably be about 6 crix every other day in the warmer months. I would not be surprised if he starts slowing down quite a bit. Last time I saw him he was looking rather "big boned" and it would probably be good for him to slow down a good bit and loose some weight. I always saw a decrease of activity and food intake in the panthers I owned. Even when they were around 10 to 12 months old and still somewhat young in the winter time.

If he was mine I would make him loose some weight honestly. Maybe try cutting his intake down to 10 crix a week and see if he looses wieght and then maintains after a certain point. He is getting older so naturally he will not be as active and not growing very quickly so food intake does not have to be as much. I know how hard it is not to watch him hog down on those things

 

[bucky]

Alright, I'm just wondering if anyone elses chameleon is going through this. He does seem to be active, doesnt sit in one spot a day. I never really thought he was fat lol, maybe this is good hes eating less? If cod oil also gives vit. D, should I be using some other vit A. supplement only? Ive read on some sites to use vit A. atleast every two weeks with fish oil. I just dont put it on the cricket, and use it once a month because i dont want to overdose,should it be more then?
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/supplements.html