Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, I have to admit that in the past I've smugly read posts from people who say that their cham quit eating or suddenly got grouchy, evasive etc., all the while thinking "my cham is sooo tame he'd never do that, he loves me!" Well it's time for me to eat some humble pie because my cham hates me now and won't eat anything anymore.

It's been about 3 or 4 days since he's eaten (crickets were the first to go and then kingworms), the most telling that something was wrong was that he quit eating carrots which he absolutey loved.

He's just about a year old and seems to be ok as far as hydration goes. His humidity level is fine and I haven't changed anything in his cage, it's the same old set up. Physically he seems fine, just a little more stressed looking (darker). Also he's in a pretty quiet part of the house and he's in no contact with any other animals.

Can anyone give me any advice? Like I said before I know I've seen these very issues talked about here but I can't seem to find the posts. Thanks to anyone that can help. Sorry this is so long.

A few ideas. How old is your UVB light? If its been used for over 6 months you need a new one, and this might help appetite. Also, it is winter, and even if you have a set light/temp schedule for the cage chams often respond to daylight changes they sense through windows. Your house is probably a bit cooler overall too with lower humidity. This does affect the cage environment subtly and your cham may just be less hungry and a bit less active. Lower activity, less basking, lower appetite. Add some general brighter light to perk up the cage atmosphere. If you have nice weather take him outside into "real" sun. Offer food once he's active. Chams don't stop eating because they decide they hate you! Have you changed the ingredients of the gutload? If the bugs taste different the cham will notice. 3-4 days is not a long fast, so don't panic. Don't feed him for a couple of days then introduce 1-2 very active insects such as flies. If you've been feeding him every day switch to every other day (with maybe a small snack on the non-feeding day at most). Chams are intrigued by green insects so you could experiment with green food coloring or ground dried peas as a dust.

I like that idea for dusting to make green (rather than food coloring)! Do you mix it with dust so it will stick or does it stick well enough on its own?

lele

>>A few ideas. How old is your UVB light? If its been used for over 6 months you need a new one, and this might help appetite. Also, it is winter, and even if you have a set light/temp schedule for the cage chams often respond to daylight changes they sense through windows. Your house is probably a bit cooler overall too with lower humidity. This does affect the cage environment subtly and your cham may just be less hungry and a bit less active. Lower activity, less basking, lower appetite. Add some general brighter light to perk up the cage atmosphere. If you have nice weather take him outside into "real" sun. Offer food once he's active. Chams don't stop eating because they decide they hate you! Have you changed the ingredients of the gutload? If the bugs taste different the cham will notice. 3-4 days is not a long fast, so don't panic. Don't feed him for a couple of days then introduce 1-2 very active insects such as flies. If you've been feeding him every day switch to every other day (with maybe a small snack on the non-feeding day at most). Chams are intrigued by green insects so you could experiment with green food coloring or ground dried peas as a dust.
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

Carlton,

Great idea on dried peas. Morgana suggested that if you don't have a way to grind up the peas try dried parsley. I have been going to the health store for spirulina for our green coloring. There are a great many herbs out there that you can dust your feeder insects with to start a cham to begin feeding again. However, as you stated green seems to be the color that they go for.

Yosemite
Reptayls Ltd.

I've used a coffee grinder for the peas and used freeze dried peas as they were softer than truely dessicated ones. Parsley is a great idea...why didn't I think of that? Haven't tried spirulina or algae.

Thanks to everyone for the great advice, I will definitely try the dried ground peas and parsley ideas. The UVB light is only 3 months old so that shouldn't be a problem. Although the daylight has certainly changed (I live in Saskatchewan so there's no chance of taking him outside, I can barely go out myself!), I'll most certainly add another light. I have my cham in an inside room (as opposed to a corner room) and it's probably the warmest spot in the house, the temp rarely goes below 70C and that's only at night.

I realised the way I wrote my original post made it sound like I thought he went off his food because he hated me, that was not my intention. Just bad grammar. Thanks again to everyone that replied.

A few ideas. How old is your UVB light? If its been used for over 6 months you need a new one, and this might help appetite. Also, it is winter, and even if you have a set light/temp schedule for the cage chams often respond to daylight changes they sense through windows. Your house is probably a bit cooler overall too with lower humidity. This does affect the cage environment subtly and your cham may just be less hungry and a bit less active. Lower activity, less basking, lower appetite. Add some general brighter light to perk up the cage atmosphere. If you have nice weather take him outside into "real" sun. Offer food once he's active. Chams don't stop eating because they decide they hate you! Have you changed the ingredients of the gutload? If the bugs taste different the cham will notice. 3-4 days is not a long fast, so don't panic. Don't feed him for a couple of days then introduce 1-2 very active insects such as flies. If you've been feeding him every day switch to every other day (with maybe a small snack on the non-feeding day at most). Chams are intrigued by green insects so you could experiment with green food coloring or ground dried peas as a dust.

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