Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm not sure whats wrong, but she's just randomly stopped eating. I make sure she has water (drip system) and I've even manually fed her water to make sure she's hydrated. My only guess is that with the changing weather her cage has been going up and down in temp as I try and regulate it and thats stressing her but I'm not sure. She still has a good grip whenever I try and hold her but she doesn't stay in the tree like she used to. I have live, well fed crickets in her cage in a feeding cup at all times but she only eats one or two every other day or so. Do Chameleons hybernate? I didn't think they did but I could be wrong. If anyone has any sort of advance I'd really appreciate it! Thanks.

Temperature definitely plays a part in appetite with chameleons.....but its not the only reason for a chameleon to stop eating. Assuming (for now at least) that she isn't sick, a sexually mature female veiled can produce eggs even if she isn't mated...and they often stop eating as they near egglaying time. (You didn't say how old she is...but you did say that she isn't staying in her tree like she used to...which can be a sign that she's looking for a place to lay eggs.)

Have you provided her with a suitable place to lay eggs if she needs to? Not doing so can lead to eggbinding.

You asked about chameleons hibernating...a few species of chameleons hibernate/brumate...but I've never seen a veiled do either.

Just one other comment...I never cup-feed chameleons. I have always thought that the exercise of chasing down insects is good for the chameleon...and more natural. (Just my own personal opinion.) Some people have said that cup-feeding can lead to "lazy tongue" too.

Ok, so I've read into the egg laying theory and I came accross something interesting. A book that I have on chameleons says that a Veiled's passive colors should be green with verticle white stripes etc...mine was green for a few weeks after I got her then she turned brown and stayed brown. She seemed healthy, was eating and drinking like normal. Is this a strange color? Could that have been a sign that there was something wrong?

Most of my veiled females were that green and white that you speak of...but there have been some that have been brownish too.

Even the greens of my females have varied...some are just a medium green and others are brighter green. These bright green ones are absolutely beautiful when gravid....their colors are so intense!

My male veileds have had quite a variety of colors too...some have been aqua and green and white; others have been torquoise and yellow and green and white and still others have been green and brownish. (The brighter males came from my same line that always produced the bright females.)

With chameleons, sometimes their color is an indication of illness...but often by the time they show those "sick" colors its too late.