wont eat

[tkurt]

Hey guys,
I've had my male Jackson chameleon for 2 weeks now and he hasn't eating much and seems to be loosing weight. I've tried hand feeding cup feeding and even keeping a cup of bugs in his cage hanging by his fav spot. I've tried hand feeding in and out of cage and I even tried to put him in a diff cage to feed. Nothing seems to work. He has eating superworms and roaches since I had him. Is thrre a way to force feed? Should I change the spot of the cup?

His temps are 85 basking 77-80 normal temp. 80% humidity. I have a fogger and mist him when I wake up and before bed every day.

Does anyone have anything else I can try. I tried "starving" him but now I'm getting nervous. I'll be happy to provide more info if needed. He is about a couple months old and I got him from a breeder at the harve de grace reptile expo.

Thanks a bunch!,
Tim

 

[ZiggyStardust]

Hi, welcome to the forum.

To make it easier to help you, could you fill out the little questionnaire below? It will help other members answer your queries and hopefully help you.


Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

 

[tkurt]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male Jackson. He's a couple months old and had him for 2 weeks.
Handling - almost never
Feeding - I am feeding him a variety of bugs including crickets, dubias, mealworms and superworms. Food is constantly getting gutloaded. Tried offering food once a day, now he has a cup in his cage with 5 mealworms and 5 dubias
Supplements - currently using calcium with d3 and vitamins with d3. I've only used each kind for one feeding so far. I still have to pick up plain old calcium.
Watering - I seen him drink a couple times. He has a fogger that's on when his lights are and I mist his cage once in the morning and once at night. Same time everyday.
History - got him from a chameleon breeder at the harve de grace reptile expo 2 weeks ago

Cage Info:
Cage Type - medium size repitbreeze screen cage
Lighting - I have a UVB bulb and a small wattage basking bulb both brought from petco.
Temperature - normal temp is 76-80 his basking spot is at 85. Temp gets done to around 70 at night
Humidity - 80%- I mist his cage twice a day once in the morning once at night. I also keep a fogger on for around 12 hours a day.
Plants - I'm using a live plant. I can't think of the kind of plant currently bit I read it was safe on multiple reptile/chameleon websites. I also have vines for him to crawl on and a bunch of fake ivy plants around the cage.
Placement - my cage is high up on a dresser in my "reptile" room. Its not near and vents or windows.

Current Problem - original post

Thanks for the reply

 

[kplatvoet]

I'm sorry your guy isn't eating - Jacksons can be very touchy
Don't give him the D3 - since he's only had it once I doubt it's the cause though. I use it very lightly when I do and only once a month -
a bigger temp drop at night might help - and a dripper
I would make sure that his basking spot is in a small corner of the cage- I kept my temps lower when she was younger and night time as low as 50's the cool down at night makes a big difference.
70-75F (21-23C) ambient, 75-80F (23-26C) basking
This helped me a lot with my jackson- I got her when she was less than a month old.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKTbUaOQ0aA
Mine would go crazy for flying stuff - I got her some stabble flies from mantisplace.com and used their fly food to gut load-

 

[johnnyev]

Agree with Kplatvoet, anything that flies seem to really stimulate a feeding response, in any chameleons imo, even pygmies.
Have the same issue with a juvenile hoehnelii i have recently purchased. He was the runt of a litter & doesn't appear to have the best of appetites. But he rarely ignores anything that flies. Try some blue/green bottle flies. Easy to raise, just get some plain white, un-dyed maggots from a fishing shop (or make a trap in the garden like i do ) put a few in a container, somewhere warm. After a few days the maggots pupate & after a few more (temp dependant), will hatch.

Also check that the uv you are providing, is adequate.

 

[waynek]

agreed . when I kept jacksons I would get them blue bottle flies . what a show ! I would also put them on a hanging plant on my patio and anything that landed - yummy . my quads love the flying stuff also .

 

[reptilesxxx]

I wouldn't be too concerned. he may just be getting used to his new environment and everything. That also happened to my Panther chameleon for a while but then got better. If he/she keeps acting this way you can take it to someone that knows about health and stuff.

 

[kinyonga]

What happened to his holding them in his mouth for a while??

Please don't make several posts about the same topic. It makes it hard for us to follow whats going on.