Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I bred Orion on Sept 17.
she ate a lot last Sunday (3 silkies, a large mealie, and a few small ones). Other than that she has barely eaten. She won't take crickets. I went on Wednesday and spent $10 on silkies thinking she would eat them (after Sunday) but they are all dead now and she didn't touch one. I also got two roaches. One was too big, and the other she didn't take anyway. The only things she will eat are large and small mealworms. This isn't good, b/c I don't want her to get constipated. I have been injecting them every other day with liquid calcium, just to make sure she gets enough. She'll eat two large ones, maybe three a day. Sometimes only one...
The pet store was out of waxworms when I was there. This is the last food I can try for her that I can get around here. I can't order anything offline b/c I don't have a credit card, and also I live in Canada, and I don't think there is anything else I could order offline that I haven't tried already. I'm going to try and get some waxworms this weekend... they are a half hour drive away :/ I just hope they have some in...
Anyway.. what I need to know is how many mealies can I offer her that is safe. I know they aren't good, but since they are my only choice I have to find the line between too many mealies and starvation.
I have been watering her lots, and she has been drinking so at least I don't have to worry about her being dehydrated to boot.
Is this normal at all? Am I being paranoid for nothing???
Thankyou to anyone who has advice/imput/ideas. I really appreciate it. She's almost ten days gravid... and I want her to have as healthy a cluth as possible.
THANKS AGAIN!!
~Lindsay

I still don't undersand why you're using a liquid calcium.... I mean, it may work or it may not... But why worry about it working or not if EVERYONE else is using powder calcium and it's working? Not to say that it's an issue, I'm just curious. Have you tried Superworms? They aren't as "bad" for chameleons as regular mealworms are, and she'd get alot more of a meal out of each one (they're so much bigger). Supers are also very eager to eat anything, so you can gutload then with whatever you want and you can do it quickly. If she's drinking ok it's usually a good sign, and having plenty of water will help her from getting constipated. Are you giving her plenty of natural sunlight? No matter what a problem is, it seems like sunlight helps. I would do whatever you can to get some supers, and if that's all she'll eat between now and laying at least it's better than mealies. Just feed them perfectly and keep offering her other things in the meantime. If you can get one, try a hornworm.
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Tyler Stewart
Las Vegas NV
1.2 Nosy Be Panthers
2.2 Sambava Panthers
1.0 Tamatave Panther
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1.1 Veiled Chameleons
0.0.2 CBB Desert Tortoises
0.0.1 Sulcatta Tortoise

Whether liquid calcium works i have no idea (heck i don't know if the powder works). I think maybe she used it to inject is because the powder doesn't stick to mealies like it does to crix (just a guess)..

My vet suggested liquid a while ago... that, and it's kind of hard to dust if she'll only eat mealies (super or regular, they are pretty slippery). that's all.
That, and if I can only get one worm into her, than at least I know it's one with lots of calcium.

If its not to cold, try finding someplace that doesn't spray chemicals and catch a grasshopper or two. Also try turning on a porch light and catching a couple of the brown moths with the really fat bodies. Another thing is you could try to catch flies, they might be to small though. Leave some fruit, or if you want to really attract them a piece of meat or fish, out and catch them with a net. These are worth a try, probably your cham won't turn down all of these. The wax worms are definetely a good idea too. Hope this helps. Good luck!

Thankyou! I was thinking of that before... I'm not quite sure why it slipped my mind. My bf lives out in the sticks, and there are lots of hoppers and black crix. I'll try some of those, and then moths if I have to.
thankyou again!

Hey Lindsay,

Hope Orion is ok! Anyways I think mealworms are a pretty good stable diet, once you dust them, and gutload them. Waxworms are the worms to watch out for, they are very high in fat, and very low in nutrition. But keep trying Crickets hopefully she will come around. Also I have never tried liquid calcium before, is this what you always used? Maybe thats what is turning Orion off, I would stick with the proven calcium dust either Calcium D3, or just pure Calcium.

Hey.
I think I'm just mostly paranoid. (I hope that's all). She's getting fat, and doesn't look thin in the tail at all. When I first got her she was sick, and I had to hand feed her for two months... so her not eating is a little scary. She only ate mealies then too... At least she's big enough for the large mealworms now. they are a little better. I'm scared to give her too much though, and put pressure on her stomache, or intestines or something.
I'm using the liquid just b/c it works better with the worms. I usually use dust. She doesn't seem to mind it. She'll eat even after getting an injected worm, just getting her to start eating is a problem. At least she LOOKS at the roaches. She basically laughs at the crickets... I'm going to get some hoppers and black crickets tomorrow. Hopefully that will interest her enough. Bah. I think she's just getting back at me for letting shrek ravage her lol. That's probably it... women!! lol.
I'll let you know how the grasshopper thing works out. I think she'll go for them... She's never had them before.
~lindsay

Lindsay-

You are correct, most of the calcium, calcium/D3, and vitamin dusts don't stick to mealworms, supperworms, and the like. I use a VERY fine calcium carbonate dust. The best way I can describe the dust is like powdered sugar or flower, this stuff will stick to anything. Gravid females can become picky about what they will and will not eat. I would recommend you trying to dust the food pray before you feed it, this will get there attention, also try feeding small amounts like two or three dusted adult crickets at a time. The recommendation of trying foods like grasshoppers and house flies are worth trying. My gravid Ambilobe is about ready to pop, and she always finds time to eat files. Flies are also great at stimulating chameleons to eat. As for the liquid calcium some vets will recommend there use for females on there first clutch, and around the last week before eggs are ready to be laid. I have been using the calcium dust and get pure white eggs with every clutch. I will email you off the board with some more info. Hope this helps!
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