# My Yemen Chameleon isn't eating



## jondavis30 (Apr 25, 2011)

Hi guys, 

New to chameleon's. 

Done a lot of research etc into looking after chameleons. 

My Set up: 

-30 Degrees Celcius basking temp 
-20 Degrees Celcius Ambient temp
-UVB 5.0 (soon to be a UVB 12.0) 

He hasn't eaten for 2 days now and I'm getting worried about him. He is only 6 months old and I've been putting the crickets in wild, but he doesn't seem to touch them. 

I then tried pot feeding him them, which worked for a while (1 day) where he only eat 3 and then left the rest. 

I've since put half in the pot and half wild, I've come back at the end of yesterday and the day before and they were all still there (apart from 1 or 2). 

I keep the viv humid (80% or above). 

I really don't know what else to do and I really need him to eat, I don't want him starving himself to death or something. 

I'm getting quite upset now because it's so frustrating not knowing where I'm going wrong ( if at all).


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## le0pardgecko (Nov 2, 2011)

jondavis30 said:


> Hi guys,
> 
> New to chameleon's.
> 
> ...


Think your humidity would be too high if its 80 or above? also its the winter season they dont tend to eat as much ..


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## jondavis30 (Apr 25, 2011)

le0pardgecko said:


> Think your humidity would be too high if its 80 or above? also its the winter season they dont tend to eat as much ..


The pet store I got him from said he was eating about 10 crickets a day.... can he just go on hunger strike for a period of time then re start his apetite? at first i thought it was him adjusting to a new environment, but its been nearly a week since I've had him and he's never eaten 10 crickets in a day since I've had him. 

How much should a 6 month old cham be eating? 

Thanks


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## le0pardgecko (Nov 2, 2011)

jondavis30 said:


> The pet store I got him from said he was eating about 10 crickets a day.... can he just go on hunger strike for a period of time then re start his apetite? at first i thought it was him adjusting to a new environment, but its been nearly a week since I've had him and he's never eaten 10 crickets in a day since I've had him.
> 
> How much should a 6 month old cham be eating?
> 
> Thanks


Oh i didnt realise you just got him, in that case just leave him and dont go near the vivarium and let him adjust should be fine. took like 2 weeks for my chinese water dragon to start eating! haha


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## TeamCockroach (Nov 22, 2010)

Humidity should be 60-70% most of the time, if you've just got it then don't worry, all reptiles take time to settle into new enviroments, your yemen is probably just still settling and getting used to its new surroundings. Give it a week and I'm sure it'll be eating.

With regards to the UV, I'm guessing the pet shop gave you an exo terra canopy with the bulbs that fit into the sockets in it? These really aren't good for chameleons as the UV lamps are damaging to their eyes and just generally aren't great. You really want the arcadia T5 12% tube, arcadia also do a canopy it fits in that will fit an exo terra terrarium.


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## jondavis30 (Apr 25, 2011)

TeamCockroach said:


> Humidity should be 60-70% most of the time, if you've just got it then don't worry, all reptiles take time to settle into new enviroments, your yemen is probably just still settling and getting used to its new surroundings. Give it a week and I'm sure it'll be eating.
> 
> With regards to the UV, I'm guessing the pet shop gave you an exo terra canopy with the bulbs that fit into the sockets in it? These really aren't good for chameleons as the UV lamps are damaging to their eyes and just generally aren't great. You really want the arcadia T5 12% tube, arcadia also do a canopy it fits in that will fit an exo terra terrarium.



I have an Exo Terra tube that I have 1/3 of the way down the back of the viv, no canopy / sockets. 

I am going to replace the UVB 5.0 with the Arcadia 12.0 when the 6 months on this tube is up (i've been advised its not that much of a problem, but the 12.0 is preferential). 

It's just strange how he ate 3 crickets the other day, the day after i got him home, and now he's eating none - I can't force feed him or pot feed him with me holding the pot as he runs away whenever i go near him (as they're suppsoed to do lol). 

Will he starve himself or will he actually get to a point where he starts eating again?


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## TeamCockroach (Nov 22, 2010)

He shouldn't starve himself. Mine used to be the same when I first got her but now when I opn the terrarium doors she rushes to the front to be fed and is actually very friendly for a yemen, will happily walk onto my hand to get to a roach.

I take it the UV tube isn't anywhere where the cham can reach it? if so then everything sems fine:2thumb:


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## jondavis30 (Apr 25, 2011)

TeamCockroach said:


> He shouldn't starve himself. Mine used to be the same when I first got her but now when I opn the terrarium doors she rushes to the front to be fed and is actually very friendly for a yemen, will happily walk onto my hand to get to a roach.
> 
> I take it the UV tube isn't anywhere where the cham can reach it? if so then everything sems fine:2thumb:


He can climb on the cables, and sit on the rubber black thing that holds the tube up, but he's never tried sitting on it (I watched him carefully for a bit because that's what I was worried about, but he just uses it to climb on mostly as it goes right to the top of the viv (the wires do). 

He rarely climbs the foliage I put in, mainly climbs the wires that are in there for the thermostat and temp gauge, which is quite comical to see, but I'm just worried because surely he's meant to eat ? 

Should I starve him for a day or two and see if that brings his apetite into play ? 

All i want him to do is eat! and the shop said that they just throw the crickets in and he gets through them (i.e. hunts them wild) but i've not seen him do that, he just ignores the crickets on the ground of the viv when he's walking down there. Ive tried putting crickets in a pot near the basking area, but figured that just fries them! so put them in a pot at the bottom (only 4). 

Only problem is, theres about 7-8 who are roaming who have been in there for about 2-3 days and they've still not been eaten, Im putting 3-4 in a pot per day and then about 4 hours before lights out, taking them back out (and he's not eaten any today so far since 9am) 

Is there anything i could try to get him to eat or am I just over-worrying. I've already read how difficult they can be to keep and look after, I don't want to be one of those people that leaves him to it and then he just dies on me or something... 

THanks for all your help by the way. It really means a lot.


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## TeamCockroach (Nov 22, 2010)

Don't worry! If hes new then he'll still be settling in, his appatite will kick in sooner or later. I'd remove the loose crixs in there as they may be stressing him out if he's still settling in.

He shouldn't be able to sit on the UV, theres a risk of burning him if he decides to sleep on it and it will hurt his eyes that low. It should be on the ceiling so the light all comes from above, just the same as natural sunlight in the wild. If the UV tube is that low then he'll be forced to look at it which will damage his eyes.


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## jondavis30 (Apr 25, 2011)

TeamCockroach said:


> Don't worry! If hes new then he'll still be settling in, his appatite will kick in sooner or later. I'd remove the loose crixs in there as they may be stressing him out if he's still settling in.
> 
> He shouldn't be able to sit on the UV, theres a risk of burning him if he decides to sleep on it and it will hurt his eyes that low. It should be on the ceiling so the light all comes from above, just the same as natural sunlight in the wild. If the UV tube is that low then he'll be forced to look at it which will damage his eyes.


I don't really have a way of getting the crickets out - They run away whenever I go to grab one of them. 

Am i best to pot feed him i.e. put crickets in a pot and leave him to eat what he wants if that's the case ? I will give the viv a good clean out the weekend if they're likely to distress him out. 

where do you recommend putting the crickets ? in a pot near the basking spot or in a pot on the floor ? or letting them loose ?


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## TeamCockroach (Nov 22, 2010)

If there are crickets running about then don't feed it any more until it eats the ones in the viv. I hand feed mine, just open the doors and hold a cockroach out and she rushes over to take it. I'd reccomend this, it's a great way to get the chameleon to be less grumpy towards you and if it doesent want to eat it then you just put it back and theres no food running about the viv.


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## jondavis30 (Apr 25, 2011)

TeamCockroach said:


> If there are crickets running about then don't feed it any more until it eats the ones in the viv. I hand feed mine, just open the doors and hold a cockroach out and she rushes over to take it. I'd reccomend this, it's a great way to get the chameleon to be less grumpy towards you and if it doesent want to eat it then you just put it back and theres no food running about the viv.



I'm a bit squeamish when it comes to bugs.... i don't mind them, but the idea of holding them is something that I can't bring myself around to do. 

Is it best for me to hold a cup into the viv and let him come and get the food and if he doesn't after a bit, leave him and come back? 

Or am i best to carry on putting the crickets in a pot and leaving the pot in the viv ? 

I've put bits of cucumber / potato / carrot in the viv on the floor for the crickets to chomp on so they don't distress him too much too.... I've also placed a piece of cucumber for him to eat himself and see if that disappears overnight etc.... i've put it under the basking spot. 

I have lights on at 7am and off 7pm.


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## Bradley (Aug 26, 2009)

As others have said let him settle a littl more. humidity should be around 50% and go to about 80% a few times a day. many people think chameleons need constant high humidity but they need peaks in humidity throughout the day. With regards to the uv the uv tube needs to be above the cage coming down on the chameleon. if not the chameleon can have bad eye problems. Also are you supplementing with calcim, calcium with d3 and multiviatmns? I would use a 12% aswell.


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## remzy (Jul 20, 2009)

If your bit sqwemish when it come to crickets try locust I prefer to feed my cams on them for the same reason lol plus they don't really bite you reptiles as crickets have a reputation of doing lol he should be fine just let him settle in and find his way around the viv ect a 6 month old Yemen should be pretty hardy If the uv light is inside the viv your better off with a 5-6% uv bulb outside the viv should be 10% as a 12% is for desert animals and will. Be well to strong inside the viv I don't really pay to much attention to humidity as most. Cam owners breeders I know use reptibreeze vivs which is extremely hard to keep humiditys up in unless your whole room is kept humid just make sure u mist at least 3 times daily giving them plenty of oppurtunitys to drink plenty of hiding holes ect he should be fine


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