Anybody know lizards?

[4twentE]

I got a veiled chameleon that's not really eating. He kinda likes being hand fed live grubs and roaches and stuff. But I *^&%*(&^%)&^)*&%^)_(^) hate bugs. I hold cups of grubs in front of him but he seems to get distracted a lot by anything but his food. So I was wondering if any of you guys might have any feeding techniques you might use for your reptile or whathaveyou. He's getting in pretty bad shape so suggestions would be very much appreciated.

[Gazella]

it probably won't eat because chameleons stress a lot, require a place to camuflage and feel comfortable ..and when it ocurres it will feed alone.. it is distracted because he might feel in danger because he isn't in his habitat
sorry for my eanglish..:s

[NightProwler]

with my waterdragon, i put his bugs in a shallow dish that the cant get out of but he can reeach his head into easily and he picks'em off

[Not Enough Herb]

lol u dont wanna hand feed ur lizard????!!!!!1 thats one of the most fun things to do and it will establish a good relationship between pet and owner.

try getting some plastic tweezers and hold bugs infront of his head so he can strike them with his tongue.

i hope ur chameleon recovers

[4twentE]

^That's a cool ass avatar. Funny ass hell too. Makes me think of that Family Guy episode where Brian does the PB & J dance.

Thanx guys. I'm slowly working on the hand feeding. I took him to the vet. She gave him some fluids and me some more advice. He's doing much better. Think I'll try dish thing for a couple days along with growing some balls to hand feed him.

[xmk]

i wouldnt really suggest hand feeding a chemelion, that might work for tammer lizards like bearded dragons or water dragons but chemelions usually are pretty jumpy around humans and generally dont take handeling well, their more of a display lizard, my suggestion is to get some fruit flies or flightless fruitflies and put them in his tank or watever and leave the room, he might relax a bit and start eating, could also be an environmental thing... i dont know what you keep him in but mesh tanks are best for chemelions, they need lots of air flow and a lot of humidity and if those things arnt there they can stress and not eat, i dont have any experience with chemelions personally but they can be very hard to keep happy especially if its wild caught, im a vet tech and work in an exotic practice and we see it all the time, especially when their first settling in to a new home. another thing i would suggest is visiting this site www.reptilerooms.com its just like this message board but for reptiles, theres people on there that actually have hands on experience with chemelions and can probably give you better advice then i ever could. Good luck, let us know how its doing.

P.S. props on actually bringing it in to the vet, most people wont even do that much for these little guys.

[4twentE]

He's doing better now. Still not as fat as I'd like him to be. But he shows energy and strength. I'm getting better with handling the bugs since I had to force feed him for a day or three. I got him some Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches in the mail the other day. No way in hell I'll touch them though. Will feed him one tomorrow. That's gonna be so damn cool.

[twoguysupnorth]

i dont own a chamelion, but i almost did. they are supposedly stressed by too much handling. at least thats what the pet store told us. if yours likes hand feeding, go for it. try letting it eat on its own? i guess they are kind of picky(i was trying for finnecy but couldnt spell it)

[Celeste]

yes, chameleons stress very easily. when you first get one, you should give it seven days to become comfortable in it's new environment. then, try feeding, but introduce insects into the animal's enclosure.

after a few months of moderate handling, your lizard will become more and more use to the idea of being handled. at that point, you can try hand feeding. you shouldn't do so before then. if they get too stressed, they will die.

[TX Girl]

I'm so glad you took your chameleon to the vet and got some advice, I hope he is doing much better now! :)

I used to have some chameleons- they are extremely picky, can be labor intensive to care for and unfortunately it took me a few of the little guys to get the hang of it. We had a Senegal cham (he lasted about 6 months, died after getting a tail wound he couldn't quite recover from) a Carpet cham (I think we had him for about 3 months, couldn't get his living conditions just right and he bit it) and then a Parson's cham (he was sick when we got him and died within a week, those bastards).

Then I got a 3 week old Panther cham and raised him from about an inch long to a robust healthy 10 or 12" (plus tail). I still think of him as one of my greatest achievements
He loved to eat anoles (small lizards, I just let it go in the cage and let him hunt it) pinky mice and lots of crickets.

do you have a good drip system to get him water?
Dust his food w the supplements?


good luck with him, post some pics :)