Worried :(

[Tiberius223]

Okay well I have had my jacksons for 2 days but I have school so I ask my mom to please pick up live worms because he has barely eaten 2 crickets that came with him ( he was A gift and my parents think chameleons prefer pellets and the food being alive doesn't matter) so now I'm worried he is hungry but petsmart employees say they do eat pellets they swear. Their lack of knowledge and incompetence could lead to health problems with my chameleon, seriously. So do chameleons eat pellets?

 

[chameleonkev]

No that's unbelievably stupid!!!!! Live foods like crickets, roaches, hornworms, silkworms etc just like they would get in the wild

I Carnt believe a shop would actually tell you that, their lisence to sell reptiles should be removed

 

[Solid Snake]

No that's unbelievably stupid!!!!! Live foods like crickets, roaches, hornworms, silkworms etc just like they would get in the wild

I Carnt believe a shop would actually tell you that, their lisence to sell reptiles should be removed

^^^This^^^

Theres no way they would recognize a pellet as food. Even a dead feeder wont even get a second glance 99.9999% of the time.

Super/meal worms are fattening though, and should only be used every so often. Hornworms are good for hydration, and silks are good to mix in with staples, but not as a staple.

Well gutloaded crickets and roaches is were you need to start my friend. No pellets, whatsoever.

 

[Tiberius223]

I also asked if they had a reptile dripper and they recommended a hermit crab sponge soaked in cold water

 

[Solid Snake]

You trollin?

 

[Tiberius223]

Me? No I'm serious they recommended it

 

[DavidBuchan]

If your parents have any control of the situation please ask them to come over to the worlds biggest chameleon forum and check up on the people who are telling you that the advice you have been given is INSANE.
Also, chams will often take up to a week to settle into a new home and get eating normally. I would not worry about him if he seems in decent health at the moment.
Do you have any pics of him and his enclosure? http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=HM0D_4NshFA&NR=1

 

[Tiberius223]

Of course, they just don't understand. The little guy is in a temporary enclosure for right now though, I've tryed my best to make it chameleon accessible with real plants and a makeshift mister but its got to and going to change soon so I can give him a tall place to crawl around and explore, he seems comfortable and a bit layed back with me because sometimes he'll fall asleep on my hand and grab for it whenever I'm near him but I fear his optimistic little attitude will change if he doesn't obtain legitimate chameleon food not dead stale things. He's plenty hydrated though so rthats good

 

[DavidBuchan]

Of course, they just don't understand.

Good on you for trying. If you think it will help I can get a veterinary surgeon with considerable experience in chameleons to write you a message which you can show to them.

 

[Tiberius223]

How long can a chameleon go without food before showing signs of hunger? And what would the signs be?

 

[Tiberius223]

Good on you for trying. If you think it will help I can get a veterinary surgeon with considerable experience in chameleons to write you a message which you can show to them.

That would be very helpful, knock some sense into em

 

[DavidBuchan]

That would be very helpful, knock some sense into em

I don't know when she'll next be online but I'll ask my favourite to take a look

 

[Tiberius223]

Thank you, if it wasn't for this forum and all it's helpful members I would have never had the confidence to actually go through with purchasing a chameleon, thank you for all the help on obtaining such a unique and beautiful creature

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Hi there! I'm a veterinarian and wanted to offer some advice on chameleon keeping to help you and your parents be successful with your new pet.

Chameleons are insectivores and will only eat live insects. They need the movement of live insects to trigger a hunting response, and without it they will completely ignore offered food otherwise. Freeze dried bugs that come in containers at the petstore will not stimulate your chameleon to eat them, and even if they did these food types are extremely low in nutrition and packed with unhealthy preservatives so are by no means appropriate for chameleons who have more demanding nutritional needs than many reptile pets.

Some veiled chameleons (and a few panthers) will readily eat veggies and fruit as well, but jacksons are not known to eat vegetation. Crickets are probably the most widely used feeder as they are easy to get, easy to maintain and easy to gutload. Other great feeder options are commercially raised hornworms (those that eat tomato plants are toxic to chams), silkworms, butterworms, phoenix worms, gutloaded hornworms, etc. Mealworms are high in chitinand fat but not much else so they are not a good regular addition to a chameleon diet. Superworms should only be used on occassion. A varied diet is key to providing your chameleon with a variety of vitamins, nutrients and enrichment.

Young chameleons (less than a year old) have a high energy need and thus need to be fed every day. For my adult Jackson I feed him 6-8 crickets every other day so a juvenile chameleon could be fed 6-8 every day. If he's younger he should even be eating more than that. Most petsmart/petcos sell juvenile Jackson's.

Here is some information on gutloading the crickets before feeding them to your chameleon: Basics of Gutloading

A chameleon will absolutely not drink from a sponge like a crab. That is completely unnatural and will never be successful. Even a water bowl is not enough. Chameleons do not and should not drink from standing water sources. In the wild they do not go down to streams to drink - they drink the dew and rain drops on the leaves of trees. You need to simulate this with a dripper or heavy misting so that water droplets accumulate on the leaves of the plants in their cage. Some chameleons will drink straight from the dripper but it is usually off of the leaves the water collects on. Your chameleon may not be comfortable drinking in front of you so make sure if you have a dripper that it continues to drip for a solid period of time (at least an hour but preferably several hours) to give your chameleon a chance to drink. A standing bowl of water is a breeding pool of bacteria, especially if any debris or stupid crickets fall into it so your chameleon should not be allowed to drink from one even if they try. Best not to even have one to begin with for those reasons and that your chameleon could potentially fall into it and drown.

Unfortunately the petstore was completely, absolutely wrong about chameleon care in what they've told you. Chameleons can be challenging pets due to their specific needs with diet, vitamin supplementation, watering, temperature and humidity requirements. Many aspects are non-negotiable if you want your chameleon to survive, and what you feed it is one of them.

Here is some more info for you: https://www.chameleonforums.com/frequently-asked-questions-71620/#post668825