Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We got our first jax a week ago, but we've never seen him eat any crix. We found poo a couple of times this past weekend, though. Will some of them only eat if they know they're not being watched? If he's eating any, it's not very many because the # of crix doesn't seem to be decreasing in the cage. He's around 11 weeks old according to the breeder, who also advised to put 20 crix in @ a time. He said to let the cham eat them until they're almost gone, then put in 20 more. The day after we got him, he seemed pretty stressed & turned black. He's been normal green variations since then, however. I did alot of reading before getting him, but not seeing him eat really concerns us. Any advice? He does drink well, btw.

Thanks for any replies!
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God Bless, Beardie Dreams, & Peace!
Pogoniacs™

If he's only 11 weeks old, your food may be too big for him. What size crickets do you have in there with him?

It is true that some chams will not eat while you are in the room. You are a potential preditor, and they keep en eye on you moreso than the crickets in their cage.

Throw me more info, and I will try to help you out.

Joe
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Joe
- www.chameleonkeepers.com

You have to give your chameleon 1-2 weeks to get used to its new enviroment. If your chameleon is drinking, try getting some stuff that you put in the water that has electrolyes in it.
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Ethan

If the cham is drinking on its own don't add electrolytes. You can cause additional problems. To know if your cham is actually eating (and getting any of the dusts or gutloads from the crix) you will need to confine the food somehow. Free range crix pick up fecal matter and bacteria (and just hide until dark anyway when the cham is asleep), lose dust and gutload fairly quickly, and can chew on your cham at night if there is no food in the cage for them. Some chams don't feed out of bowls and people worry that their tongues don't get exercised enough. There is a really ingenious insect feeder design that confines the crix somewhat so you can keep track of how many disappear or get eaten, and keeps fresh gutload available to them until they are eaten. It also lets them climb around and attract the cham's attention. Go to www.chameleonnews.com and look under Tips and Tricks articles from Bill Strand. It is simple and homemade.

We tried 1/4" crix, but he wouldn't eat those, so we tried 1/2" ones. We're going to get smaller ones today. Also, we offered him some bee moths (wax worms), but he didn't take those, either. He's in a 65 gal. Reptarium with hibiscus & ficus plants, as well as some vines & branches. His humidity is only reading 52% & his temp is 79.9F at the moment (Acu>Rite digital probe thermometer/hygrometer.) I bought a cool mist humidifier, but it didn't raise the humidity at all, so I have an ultrasonic one being shipped to me. Let me know what other info you need & I'll be happy to get it to you. Also, any suggestions on how to get the old crix out of his cage? Thanks again!
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God Bless, Beardie Dreams, & Peace!
Pogoniacs™