Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got my new adult male on tuesday and its now saturday and he still hasnt eaten. Hes being very weird, he doesnt move much and doesnt show any interest in food. How can i get him to eat? Also he seems to be hydrated. He just seems very passive and melow because when i put my hand in the cage he doesnt even show any sign of aggression. Should i take him to the vet? Hes in an outdoor cage (2.5'X2.5'X5') that gets misted 2-3 times a day. The cage gets part sun (around 4 pm) and he has a 75 watt basking bulb and a ceramic heat emitter for the cold nights. His cage is very dense with foliage and he has a feeding cup that i put superworms and crickets in. When ihad my female in there she seemed better than ever so i dont think its the cage or anything. Please help me with my male, im very worried about him.

Thanks
Andrew

please help me with my male he still hasnt eaten.

I had a similar problem with one of my chams a few years back. Some chameleons take more time to adapt to their new environment but here are some tips I used which helped me out and the cham ended up perfectly. Don't handle him too much and try to stay away from his cage so that he is not disturbed, in order for him to get used to his new habitat and recognize it as his own.

Many chameleons are not used to cup feeding, so just throw in some crickets into the cage so that the chams feels in a more natural environment. Try putting silkworms or superworms on the mesh of the cage. Once you do this, try to hide or leave, cause I found out that for the first couple of months my cham would not eat if I was looking at him.

These are some of my suggestions that worked in my case, just try to let the cham adjust to his new home and try to stay away from his cage for the next couple of weeks.

Hope all goes well and that this info was helpful.

yup, I would say let him adapt...I understand your concern but it's only been a few days. Do you know if he was captive bred/born or wild caught? How old is he? make sure you are offereing him size/age appropriate feeders.

I agree with the previous poster's suggestions, just keep in mind that if crickets are left in there overnight be sure THEY have a food source so they don't nibble on the cham - yes, it happens.

lele
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (both MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog (for summer)
0.5 Mad. Hissers (for summer - all girls, no little ones, whew!)

Also, for adapting, if he is outdoors and just young you may want to put a sheet around his cage. I found that my female relaxed a little more as she got used to her cage, and learned that she was safe there. He may not know that he is safe when in his cage (if your female was raised indoors then moved there she may have had that security and therefore no prob adapting to outdoors) and seeing birds, etc may be really upsetting him. What colour is he normally?