getting enough food?

Discussion in 'Chameleons' started by kristasjz, Aug 13, 2004.

  1. kristasjz

    kristasjz Embryo

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    Well i just bought a new baby jackson (born on july 1st) yesterday. He wouldnt eat at all yesterday, but he ate 2 crickets today. It's kinda hard to get him to eat because he wont take it unless it's on a branch in front of him, and sometimes he doesn't even take interest. I know it might be early to be worrying because I'm sure he's just very stressed, but i'm hoping that for now 2 or 3 crickets are fine for one day until he's more comfy. I do plan on picking up some fruit flys or something tomorrow in hopes that he'll eat more. The crickets are a little shorter than the length of his head and barely wider than the space between his eyes.
     
  2. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  3. cheriT3719

    cheriT3719 New Member

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    ok, first, that baby was too small to be sold. They should not be sold before 3 months, because they are too fragile and stress out too easy. I am guessing it is just stress as far as not eating. Just make sure you are misting the tank a few times a day. Chams get dehydrated really quickly. Give him a couple of days to settle in and keep trying to feed him. What size tank do you have him in? He should be in a smaller cage while he is little, but he also needs a fresh air environment (screen on at least two sides). Check his temps in the cage, babies don't need it quite as hot as adults do. If you go to petreptiles.com the cham moderator breeds chams and can probably help a lot more. His name is Stitch, he just hatched out a bunch of jacksons. good luck!!!
     
  4. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  5. kristasjz

    kristasjz Embryo

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    the setup is a 38 gallon reptarium (which I know is a little big) with a basking lamp and a 160 watt mercury vapor. We have the lamps clipped to boards so that they don't overheat the cage. Inside there's a ficus tree that pretty much takes up the whole of the space. The temp is normally around 75-85 except for the basking spots which get a little warmer. We tend to move the lamp around to wherever we see him in the cage. We mist the cage up to 6 times a day (whenever it looks completely dry). We have also purchased a 175 gallon reptarium for when he outgrows this. Anyways, luckily for us, this morning he discovered the cup of dusted crickets that we secured in the tree and he ate until he was full. I know he's really small, but so far I think he'll be ok because now that I've seen him eat and drink I think he's adjusting fairly well.
     
  6. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  7. kristasjz

    kristasjz Embryo

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    Ok, so now I may have a new problem. Earlier I heard a thump and my chameleon was at the bottom of the cage, he seemed alright but now for the past couple of hours he's just been perched on the same branch with his eyes closed. If he hears something he'll look around then close his eyes again. My conclusion for the slip was that there wasn't at the time much to grab onto on the feeding dish. I fixed this by winding some yarn over the top. My question is if he's gonna be ok!
     
  8. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  9. cheriT3719

    cheriT3719 New Member

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    You really need to keep an eye on him. Watch his eating and moving around. If he's not moving around, I would take him to the vet to make sure he's ok. Mine fell once before too. I just watched him and he was ok.
     

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