Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I will follow this post up with some pictures, but Friday I begin force feeding turkey baby food(not baby turkey food). I know this can be risky and not good, but the vet told me to do this if I had to, and I think the time has come(hasn't eaten for 6 days). He's been pretty good about staying hydrated and whenever I mist(3 times a day) he comes up from the floor(see earlier posts) to drink. I put an ice cube on the top screen to let it drip in twice a day and he will usually drink from it at some point.

But what this post is more importantly about: force feeding tips. I've never had to do it for any of my animals and I'm quite nervous about it. I've got this little plastic syringe thingy to use, but how much should I put in? I was told if I basically hold the back of his neck/head near his crest he should open his mouth and I can just squirt it in there? I'm not too sure about some of this but any advice from anyone will greatly help me.
Thanks,
James

When I was trying to save Thraxxis, I force fed 2 X daily using a mix of turkey baby food thinned with pedialyte and some live culture yogurt. You may want to start with the yogurt only. It helps their natural gut flora to revive after a period of inactivity. Thraxxis was only a small 5 month old and I gave him 2 cc (ml) at each feeding. I used a 18 gauge ball-tipped feeding syringe, but my vet said if I didn't have one of those to position the syringe over the tongue, at the rear of the mouth and release the food slowly. Very hard to do with a squirming cham. Getting his mouth open was easy at first since he hissed at me, but as he got worse it became more difficult. when yours hisses at you put a cotton swab or wooden popsicle stick cross wise at the back of his mouth so that he can't close it until you are finished. I'm sorry that your chameleon requires this. it is a traumatic experience for you both. Good luck, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that you are more successful than I was. Diane RIP Thraxxis

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dianedfisher@yahoo.com

My 3 CWD-Avanyu, Tripod and Drago

out. Diane gave you tips on force feeding, there is a bug juice recipe on adhcam.com under their husbandry section (I think). But posting your whole setup system and pics of it a surrounding area would still help. Something is really bothering him if he keeps digging like this and all the force feeding in the world may not help if he is still stressed and may stress him more. Waiting for pics...
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While he's drinking try to put the head end of a cricket into his mouth so that he will bite down on the cricket while he's drinking. He may eat the cricket....and this is a lot less stressful than force feeding. (I call it assist-feeding.) If he doesn't take it (spits it out) then there is something wrong with him that needs attention asap.

I think ice water may be too cold for him....try using a small yogurt container with a tiny hole punched in the bottom of it so that the drip rate is 1 or 2 drips per second. That way you can use warm water. (I always let my tap water sit overnight so that the chlorine dissipates.)

You said..."how much should I put in?"...it depends on the size of your chameleon....but they don't have all that big of a stomach.

You said..."I was told if I basically hold the back of his neck/head near his crest he should open his mouth"...another thing that sometimes works is to tap the top of the head (not too hard) while holding them gently around the neck so that they can't turn and bite you. I often place them on a large towel so that they have something to grip/hold onto, but they don't have any "traction" to push/pull away from me. Any method that you have to use that requires restraining him will be stressful...so IMHO its better to try the "assist-feeding" way if possible.

You said..."I can just squirt it in there?"....don't squirt it in....ease it in. You don't want to end up with food in his lungs.

I always try to use insects to force/assist feed them...I'm never sure what any other "unnatural" (to them) food will do. I'm not sure they have the enzymes to digest foods that they don't normally eat. A veiled should be okay with a "slurry" ofveggie/fruit/greens as well as insects though. Just my opinions.

If you post a picture, we might be able to tell you if he at least looks healthy or not.

Its frustrating not being able to figure it out, isn't it??

I just re-read all the posts in the first posting you did about his digging...you said..."His poop was a brown green red runny mixture"...what did the vet say about the condition of the poop?

It still sounds like a female digging to lay eggs....but you said it has spurs. What happens when he sees you watching him dig? Does he keep digging or quit and go back up into the trees?

What do you do in the way of gutloading the insects and dusting/supplementing them? (I can't remember if you ever discussed this or not.)

Does he look/act unhealthy in any way (except for not eating, and sleeping a little more than usual as you already mentioned)? Are his eyes sunken in at all? Does his tail look thin or have longitudinal lines in it that extend quite a ways down it? Does he look too thin? You said he had some health issues before...what were they?

Did the vet make any comments on his condition? What did the vet say?

I'm in a bit of a rush so I'll answer what I can. Right now I'm feeding superworms. He stopped going for crickets, and upon introduction he took a liking to these. I've been gutloading with leafy greens, some baby food, and dry cereal.

To be honest I have no idea what was wrong with him. I took him too the vet and basically they dewormed him and I guess they decided thats all that was wrong with him.

I'm really tired and I can't remember your other questions without hitting back, which eliminates this post, so when I'm awake and have more time I'll answer everything else. Thanks guys(and girls)...

sorry, I haven't remembered the details of this. Is he a veield? Cause
some species, BOTH males and females have spurs...

Also, how much WAS he eating before going on a hunger strike.
Odten, they'll stop eating fro up to a week if they've been way overfed
for too long. It happens. My first (over 10 years ago) veiled would eat
20 adult crickets a day. then one day, he stopped eating. For over a
week. After that, I cut back and he was fine.

You said..."To be honest I have no idea what was wrong with him. I took him too the vet and basically they dewormed him and I guess they decided thats all that was wrong with him"...so the vet made no comments about anything while you were there?

You said..."I can't remember your other questions without hitting back, which eliminates this post"...there are two things you can do to solve this in the future....before you go to "reply to this message", highlight the person's message that you want to reply to and then click on "Edit" at the top of your screen and go to "copy"...then go to "reply to this message" and click on it. When the page opens, go back to "edit" and click on "paste" and then you can see the person't message that you are replying to. I just delete it before I hit "post message".

The second option is to go to "file" and click on "new window" which will allow you to open Kingsnake there too. Go to the message you want to reply to and then you can flip from one page to the other by clicking on the appropriate page at the bar at the bottom of your screen.

Hope you got some sleep!

K: thanks for those navigation tips! I'm learning a lot more than chameleon care from you! LOL...we computer illiterate individuals need some 'care sheets' too! Diane
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dianedfisher@yahoo.com

My 3 CWD-Avanyu, Tripod and Drago

I have a lot to learn about computers yet...but I'll keep on with that just like I keep on learning about the chameleons and other things! Learning is a life-time procedure!

Hey did dr dulhausen show you how to open his mouth and secure him ? I began forcefeeding right after i took storm to see him and I force fed him for 2mounthes. It was hard work but it did pay off.The only affects was storm is an extra docile male vieled and he really only eats worms etc,silkies,wax,meal and supers but he is healthy everyother way good luck and keep us posted
kevin
chameleon76