Over the years I have had at least a dozen Senegals and many of

them have lived for 4 or so years with me....including the

females...in fact the very first chameleon I ever had was a

Senegal and "everyone" told me that he would never make it past

2 months. He lived much longer than that.



I have found that Senegals need to be very well hydrated. I

always made sure that mine drank every day...and they were always

big drinkers once they started to drink each day.



I seem to remember the odd one that would cut down on the amount

it ate from time to time. Try various foods....silkworms,

waxworms, superworms, etc. It might help.



You said..."If I hold his feedin cup up to him, he may eat one

or two, but he hardly eats on his own"...how many insects (and

what insects) does he eat in a day?



You said..."He still looks very healthy and hydrated"...Could

you give more details of that, please? Does he keep his eyes

shut during the day? Is the tail round and full looking or does

it have longitudinal ridges in it? What is your cage set-up like

(UV light, basking light, etc.) and do you gutload the insects

and supplement them before giving them to him?



You said..."Would this have anything to do with just ending a

growth spirt"...could the growth spurt that you are talking about

be due to him being a pre-adult and he's just reached maturity?

If so, as he reaches maturity his appetite should slow a bit.

Or since you haven't had him for too long, it could be that he

was just getting back into good health.



You said..."could he have eggs? I am not sure if "he" is a he

or she. George isn't showing any signs of needing to lay eggs

because he doesn't go to the bottom of the cage any more than

he usually does"...since you don't know if its a George or a

Georgette, why not put a container of washed playsand in the

bottom of the cage so that George/Georgette can have a place to

lay eggs if it is a female.



To tell if its a female....look at the base of the tail (closest

to the body....if its thick for about the first bit and then

becomes thin quite suddenly....its likely a male. If from the

vent its slims more slowly its probably a female. Also, most

males are more slim in the body whereas the females are deeper

and slightly heavier looking. (I'll try to post some links to

pictures of how to tell by the tail...but they may not be

Senegal pictures.)



Now...as for the parasites....this shot-gun approach of just

giving the chameleon "a" parasite medication...IMHO is not really

a good idea. First of all, it may not have parasites. Secondly,

if it does, how do you know what kind of parasite it has?? There

are round worms, flagalettes, hook worms, etc. etc....and each

one usually needs a different medication. How are you going

to know the dosage to use? Dosage is based on the weight of the

animal. Also...some types of antiparasite drugs may toxic to

Senegal chameleons. (There is at least one article on the net

that talks about this.)



In my experience, most parasites would make the chameleon die

before long when first brought into captivity (notice I didn't

say all)...and if the chameleon survives that first few months

without going rapidly down hill, (as yours has) it is thought

that the parasite load levels out in many cases. (Not saying

that they still shouldn't be treated.)



Hope this helps!

If you have any more questions, I'll do my best to answer them.

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