Over the years I have had at least a dozen Senegals and many of
them have lived for 4 or so years with me....including the
females...in fact the very first chameleon I ever had was a
Senegal and "everyone" told me that he would never make it past
2 months. He lived much longer than that.
I have found that Senegals need to be very well hydrated. I
always made sure that mine drank every day...and they were always
big drinkers once they started to drink each day.
I seem to remember the odd one that would cut down on the amount
it ate from time to time. Try various foods....silkworms,
waxworms, superworms, etc. It might help.
You said..."If I hold his feedin cup up to him, he may eat one
or two, but he hardly eats on his own"...how many insects (and
what insects) does he eat in a day?
You said..."He still looks very healthy and hydrated"...Could
you give more details of that, please? Does he keep his eyes
shut during the day? Is the tail round and full looking or does
it have longitudinal ridges in it? What is your cage set-up like
(UV light, basking light, etc.) and do you gutload the insects
and supplement them before giving them to him?
You said..."Would this have anything to do with just ending a
growth spirt"...could the growth spurt that you are talking about
be due to him being a pre-adult and he's just reached maturity?
If so, as he reaches maturity his appetite should slow a bit.
Or since you haven't had him for too long, it could be that he
was just getting back into good health.
You said..."could he have eggs? I am not sure if "he" is a he
or she. George isn't showing any signs of needing to lay eggs
because he doesn't go to the bottom of the cage any more than
he usually does"...since you don't know if its a George or a
Georgette, why not put a container of washed playsand in the
bottom of the cage so that George/Georgette can have a place to
lay eggs if it is a female.
To tell if its a female....look at the base of the tail (closest
to the body....if its thick for about the first bit and then
becomes thin quite suddenly....its likely a male. If from the
vent its slims more slowly its probably a female. Also, most
males are more slim in the body whereas the females are deeper
and slightly heavier looking. (I'll try to post some links to
pictures of how to tell by the tail...but they may not be
Senegal pictures.)
Now...as for the parasites....this shot-gun approach of just
giving the chameleon "a" parasite medication...IMHO is not really
a good idea. First of all, it may not have parasites. Secondly,
if it does, how do you know what kind of parasite it has?? There
are round worms, flagalettes, hook worms, etc. etc....and each
one usually needs a different medication. How are you going
to know the dosage to use? Dosage is based on the weight of the
animal. Also...some types of antiparasite drugs may toxic to
Senegal chameleons. (There is at least one article on the net
that talks about this.)
In my experience, most parasites would make the chameleon die
before long when first brought into captivity (notice I didn't
say all)...and if the chameleon survives that first few months
without going rapidly down hill, (as yours has) it is thought
that the parasite load levels out in many cases. (Not saying
that they still shouldn't be treated.)
Hope this helps!
If you have any more questions, I'll do my best to answer them.
