Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm hoping sombody out there can shed some light on my Tank's problem. I've got a veiled, about 11 months old, who I've had since February. Up until a couple months ago, he was a healthy, alert eater. Abou that time, he stopped hunting, and we had to put the live food in a cup for him to catch. Then he basically stopped eating altogether. We took him to our vet (also a herpatologist) to get check out for worms (again, was neg, the first time) and to get a vitamin shot - thought it might stimulate the eating. Neither of these helped, and we had to had feed/force feed him for about 3 more weeks. He kept a good color, and was still interested in coming out of the cage to hang out on us, but was still not eating alone. Last week, we dropped him off at the vet to see if they could come up with anything. He came home a week later, still not eating, constantly brown in color, and now, with sunken in eyes. We've become really attached to the guy (not to mention all the cash that's he's cost) and really don't know what else to do. The vet is going to try some byrllium to push any impacted food through him, but that's all we have left. Anyone out there have a clue???

i don't have a ton of experience other then i read a LOT of books. at first it sounded like some kind of parasite but you said you checked for that. so maybe you should test for that again. what kind of lighting do you keep him under? this can have a major effect on them. also you should make sure to test the temps in the cage and make sure you've got a thermal gradiate. Just hang in there and keep checking everything you can think of such as feces, temp, lighting, food, vitamins. theres a good chance he will survive if you can figure out what is wrong. best of luck to you.

To help we will need a little more info. What types of lights do you use and how long are they on? What are the temps for basking, and for the rest of the cage? What is he housed in? What was your dusting schedule? What types of food do you offer?
Before you try giving him meds to see if it helps, you should try a little more trouble shooting. Chams are sensitive, and giving him things to see if it helps could make his condition worse. Is he still drinking? Do you have a pic? What does his poop look like? How often does he poop? Is his grip strong or has it changed? What are his usual colours?

To start with I would suggest offering many different good types. Chams will often go on hunger strikes (not eat for weeks or a few months) if offered only one type of insect. Try and get some waxworms, mealworms, butterworms, and silkworms, and see if he'll go for any of these. Also, try soaking him in warm water (make sure you stay with him the whole time) and that may help push any food through his system. Don't give him the beryllium (sp?) until you are SURE he needs it. Make sure his temps are up around 110*f in the basking spot, then have a gradient down to 75* at the coolest spot. Does he bask often? How many times and for how long?
Also, how bright is his cage? Adding a low wattage bulb to make it a little brighter may help stimulate his appetite.
that should give you some ideas to start with, and when you post more info about his home etc i and others will try and help you more!
~Lindsay

I agree with chimbakka. it could be something as simple as a hunger strike. another thing that really stimulates chams to eat are flies that can fly. order some house flies from americancricketranch.com. my cham wnet on a hunger strike for 2 weeks and then i got a couple flies and moths flying in his cage and he loved the challenge of catching them.
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1.2 veiled chameleons(Rocket, Jenevive, and Sally)
1.0 pacific tree frog(Kermit)
want to get a diego suarez( which I would name Tommy)

Thanks for the tips all. Tank's looking a little better today. I was hoping that he would -- once he calmed down about moving from home to vet to home again. His color's a little brighter, and he drank a bunch of H2O last night. Made me feel much better. I'll keep you posted. As for background, he's housed in a screened cage with UVA and UVB lights, on a 12 hour timer, and he spends just over half the day basking. The basking light gives a temp of about 107, and the other varies between 74 and 60, at night. It's been consistant since I've had him, and for a long time, he did well. The food - when he stopped eating, we changed his food up with different kinds of greens, in addition to the crickets and waxworms he normally got. I tried a few other kinds of worms, but they didn't fare well with him either. I think I'll give the flying critters a go with him, see if he can catch them.

for flyers you can collect a few smaller moths (an inch or so) at lights at night(depending where you live - its cold in NH and I only get a couple a week, I am guessing from your username you live in a warmer clime?? ) and then offer them to him during the day. Moths feed on nectar so if you are not in a pesticide laden neighborhood it should be OK. This way you can see if it is just food boredom. Keep in mind that waxworms are high in fat and should only be given as treats and not staple food. have you tried superworms? Luna tires of everything eventually but supers and crix she only tires of for a few days and then loves them again!

Here's an article on feeder nutrition - check out the chart

lele
Link

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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!)