Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just bought a panther chameleon at a large reptile show sunday. he ate that day a little and has not eaten since. he molted tuesday. they dont lose their apatites when they molt do they? I also have not seen him drink since I got him. his eyes do not look sunk in. I have him in a 2ft. by 6ft tall cage with uv and heat lamp. . . drip system for his water. I'm offering him crickets. . . is there something else he might like better? does anyone have any sugestions. . . I'm very concerened for him

you might want to try some silkworms. how are you offering the food? if you just bought him im assuming hes a juvenile, and a 6ft tall cage might be a little too big for him. perhaps a feeding dish will help if not a smaller cage. try getting a spray bottle and gently spraying water around his mouth, you should see him drink.

yes he is only 3 months old. I've tried a spray bottle and a mist setting on the hose. . he has not drank. . I dont know if hes drinking when I'm not around. . and I have his food in a dish. where might I be able to find silk worms?

He's been through an extremely stressful time and is probably quite upset at all the changes. You could put a temporary partition in the cage to confine him and the food to a smaller space. Don't put too many insects in the cage at once. Sometimes small chams get overwhelmed by too much food and just sit and stare at the movement. Put an ultrasonic humidifier on the cage to help him stay hydrated if you aren't sure he's drinking. Keep any outside activity to a minimum. Even cover the cage front with a sheet to give him lots of privacy. Check with the seller as to what and how he was fed (bowl, size of food, etc.). Try offering small houseflies or moths...most chams love hunting them.

I've never Realy had a problem wiht my chameleons eating,but I am going to give you a sugestion that work's realy well on leaftail geckos that I import( they never eat ). What I do is put the calcium supplement in some fruit baby food and then with an eye droper I dab it around there mouth and on ther nose.
The stickyness annoys them so they lick it of thus forcing them to ingest there vitamins. I do this everyday atleast twice and before you know it they're eating evrything that looks even remotly close to food. I hope something remedies your problem. Good Luck

Thank you to everyone who offered sugestions. I stopped checking on him throughout the day and I bought some waxworms for him. He liked those and gobbled a few up, now he's eating crickets and drinking nicely I'm very relieved