hi,
anyone know why my new chameleons arnt eating? I have my male in a large reptarium 260 gal and my female in a 22 gal reptarium. i saw both of them go into their food jars the first day here to eat some crickets, but I havnt seen them eating again since. I covered the females cage up as there is some activity where I have their cages and I left the males cage open. both have 13 watt uvb lights above their cage. the room temps about 78 degrees and I mist them 3x daily as well as keep a dripper on each cage. its been 3 days now and im getting concerned as none of the crickets are dissapearing from their jars. i also left a few crickets loose in their cages in case they prefer to hunt them, but those crickets are also still walking around their cages.

what is the basking area temp?

If you just got them they just might be a little bit stressed still. They may just need a little more time...it's not uncommon for a herp to be calm and seemingly very hungry right when you bring it home, and then see them stop eating soon after.

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-Adam

"Help Protect our Planet from Overcollection, Purchase Aquacultured Livestock and Captive Bred Herps"

My first question is the same as Adam's - what are your basking temps?? Also what species are your chameleons?

If they are new, as Adam said, they may well just be settling in to their new environments. Also what age are they? It is winter and many lizards lose their appetites or have a decrease in appetite over the cooler months.

Also it would be wise to try other foods as well - our chameleon goes through fads.. he will eat crickets but is quite lazy and likes to be tweezer-fed meal worms and some wax worms, also locusts are a big fave.

What are your humidity levels? What is the larger enclosure made of? How much activity is in the room? Can the chams see each other?

Last question - what level/make are your UVB bulbs, e.g. reptiglo 5.0/8.0, arcadia 7% so on?

If you can provide us with more information then we are more likely to be able to help you, but in the meantime I would advise you not to worry too much as three days isn't a long time. Also the chameleons may not necessarily eat while you are watching, so just because you don't see them eat doesn't mean they aren't.

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"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004

i have jackson chameleons, the temp is between 75-80 degrees. I have them in screened reptariums, im feeding them mostly crickets but also some mealworms and I just ordered some roaches and waxworms to try. I took em eto the vet and she gave me some food to force feed them with, wich I hate to do as their stressed enough as it is. They cant really see each other. Im using a 13 watt supercoil uvb light on top of their cage. i mist them 3x daily and keep a water drip on them twice a day. the vet also told me to take them outside 1x daily for a 1/2 hour, but again I have to handle them to do this as I cant move their cages. I did see my female eat one cricket this morning yeahhhhh!!! so maybe their starting to adjust.

Glad to hear your femal ehas eaten something. I have a veiled and am not expereinced with Jackson's but your temps seem a little low to me??? As I say, I'm not too sure of the difference in care betweent he 2 but my cham has a basking area of at least 95 degrees and several temp gradients throughout his cage. Maybe this is something someone else can verify? Good luck with them both

actually...if i'm not mistaken, jackson's chams like cooler temps and need a basking area of about 80 degrees F. Dont quite me on that because I may have dreamed it and forgot that I did lol.

be especially careful when you are force-feeding your chams. They are very VERY fragile and holding them down and prying their mouths open in the way needed to force feed could cause serious damage.

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-Adam

"Help Protect our Planet from Overcollection, Purchase Aquacultured Livestock and Captive Bred Herps"

As I said Adam, I don't keep Jackson's myself and don't know a great deal about their care requirements. I would hate to have to force feed any of my herps though - it must be a very stressful thing for both herp and keeper

Just a thought but can your chams see each other? Its my understanding that they are very territorial and the sight of the other chameleon may be stressing them out. Also are you sure that your vet is knowledgable about herps? It always worries me when someones first response to an animal not eating is to force feed. This is very stressful to the animal and it would be very easy to injure it.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

no my cams have a lot of shrubbery in their cages so they cant see each other really. i just got a new bigger reptarium for my female and she seems happier, but the male is being difficult and your right its stressful and very difficult to force feed them as they dont open their mouths any more. i m at my breaking point, i just dont think they want to eat but ill keep putting vitamin enriched crickets, waxworms, mealworms and roaches and keep them covered to releive any stress and pray they start eating on their own. they are both a light green color except when I go in their cage they turn blackish, so im leaving them alone for a few days and see what happens

my male jackson is going to the bottom of his cage now and his eyes are beggining toi sink in im really worried about them, i spent months researching them and I feel im doing everything right except for having to force feed them. im at my wits end and im afraid im going to lose him