beginner in need of help with baby jacksons

[Wally37]

So ive aquired my second chameleon ever last week st the reptile expo. He looked healthy when i bought him and he still does but .there are a few things im concerned about. First i have him in a screen cage about 2 1/2 ft tall and a foot and a half wide with plenty of foliage, a heat source and uvb lighting. I mist him 3 times a day.

Now his behavior is whats worrying me. He spends all his time on the bottom of the cagealmost never climbing upward. It looks like hes hunting but im not sure. Problem is all the crickets stay at the top of the cage near the heat source which he stays away from. I figured it miggt just be to warm in thr cage but if i turn the heat lamp off he stills walks around on the bottom. So i fear he isnt eating, ive only seen him eat once in the 2 weeks ive had him. Also he is akways dark brown and looks all stressed out. I raised my baby veil in a 10 gal aquarium(switched to a screen cage when he got bigger) and he did much better then this jacksons seems to be doing. Any help is greatly appreciated thanks.

 

[Miss Lily]

Congrats on your new baby Jackson! Firstly, they need cooler themps tha Veileds - a baby Jackson should be kept with a basking spot of 80F. They also require higher humidity too between - 70 and 90%. They also require a drop in temps at night of at least 10 degrees. Do you have a good digital thermometer and hygrometer for measuring these factors? You also need to supplement a baby Jackson much less than a Veiled or Panther. Good luck with the little guy - they are such lovely little chameleons!

Check out the following links for more information:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/hoj/634-montane-chameleon-care-info.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/amanda509/581-basic-care-jacksons-chameleons.html
Finally, this video was made by another member who has successfully bred Jacksons chameleons.

 

[ReptileLove18]

Welcome to the forum!

as Miss Lilly said, jacksons care is slightly different then that of other species. the links she gave you are good, this jacksons caresheet is also great! all this information should help https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/jacksons/

i agree that it sounds like it may be too warm for him up at the top of the enclosure. he may also be just starting to settle into the new enclosure and hopefully will start climbing soon. i have never kept jacksons so this is all the advice i can offer!!

i hope the best for you and your new friend! keep us updated on how he is doing

 

[Wally37]

The temp is about 85 at the top and 60 at the bottom. I put some more foliage but he still rarely clunbs up and im pretty sure hes not eating. He never basks despite the perfect temp and very easily accesible basking branches. Is the cage to big? Shoukd i switch to a glass terrarium for now so the crickets cant hang out directly under the heat lamp? Someone please help me im completely at a loss of what to do.

 

[pssh]

The cage could be too big, though I don't know if that would make him want to stay towards the bottom. You can try turning the cage on it's side so that it is longer than tall to make sure he has access to the UVB if/when he needs it (and the heat lamp will only be on one side, so he can use UVB on the other side without any extra heat.) Have you tried lowering the temps to 80 to see if he changes his behavior? Even 85 degrees might be too hot for a baby.

 

[carol5208]

I would give him some more time to settle in. He could just be freaked out over his new environment.

 

[javsto]

So ive aquired my second chameleon ever last week st the reptile expo. He looked healthy when i bought him and he still does but .there are a few things im concerned about. First i have him in a screen cage about 2 1/2 ft tall and a foot and a half wide with plenty of foliage, a heat source and uvb lighting. I mist him 3 times a day.

Now his behavior is whats worrying me. He spends all his time on the bottom of the cagealmost never climbing upward. It looks like hes hunting but im not sure. Problem is all the crickets stay at the top of the cage near the heat source which he stays away from. I figured it miggt just be to warm in thr cage but if i turn the heat lamp off he stills walks around on the bottom. So i fear he isnt eating, ive only seen him eat once in the 2 weeks ive had him. Also he is akways dark brown and looks all stressed out. I raised my baby veil in a 10 gal aquarium(switched to a screen cage when he got bigger) and he did much better then this jacksons seems to be doing. Any help is greatly appreciated thanks.

How big is your cham and what size crickets are you feeding him? Also what is the wattage of your heat source? Also does he have any way to climb up high if necessary? any vines or twigs that can help him climb up? is he missing any claws on his feet that would prevent him frum climbing up the sides of the screen cage?

 

[Wally37]

His ability to climb is just fine, claws are intact. More often then not he climbs on the screen and he has a ton of sticks, foliage and a vine to climb on. His body is about 3 inches maybe a little less. I give him small crickets which ive seen him eat a couple. The heat bulb is big it might even be 150 watt but i have a dial on the lamp that lets me control the intensity of the bulb and i never leave it on full blast. Hope this helps

 

[Action Jackson]

Can you post some pictures of your set up?

 

[javsto]

His ability to climb is just fine, claws are intact. More often then not he climbs on the screen and he has a ton of sticks, foliage and a vine to climb on. His body is about 3 inches maybe a little less. I give him small crickets which ive seen him eat a couple. The heat bulb is big it might even be 150 watt but i have a dial on the lamp that lets me control the intensity of the bulb and i never leave it on full blast. Hope this helps

150watt Is wayyy to high for a basking, that could be why its hiding on the bottom of the cage, to cool off instead of being up near it. I use a 75watt bulb and my temps are around 80 degrees max and the 3 babies I have in the cage are always climbing up near the top as well as constantly crawling on the top part of the cage, activily hunting FF and any pinheads I throw in there. try lowering the wattage of your bulb and by that I mean changing it for a lower watt instead of relying on the adjustable lamp dial.

 

[Wally37]

So this is my setup. I have a uvb light 5.0 just turned it off for the pic. I added two potted plants 2 days ago and he is climbing more now. I misted him this mornibg and he drank which is a good sign. Hes always is dark brown however and i know hes capable of being prettier ive seen him once or twice not stressed and he looked great. Do babies aquire color as they grow ? Is this normal? Note taken on the heat bulb im getting a new one today

 

[Kaianuanu]

Possibly the lights are putting off too much heat as others have said.