Considering a jackson cham

[Tetsuo]

My girlfriend and I were considering on getting a pair of Jackson chams (Male and female) and I know very little to nothing about jacksons. I was wondering what their requirements for them would be, housing (I'm guessing they can't be in the same enclosure), humidity, basking temperatures, cage temps, how much more difficult they are to take care of compared to veileds and panthers.

 

[nasi8one]

My girlfriend and I were considering on getting a pair of Jackson chams (Male and female) and I know very little to nothing about jacksons. I was wondering what their requirements for them would be, housing (I'm guessing they can't be in the same enclosure), humidity, basking temperatures, cage temps, how much more difficult they are to take care of compared to veileds and panthers.

I have a female jacksons cham. Have had her for about a month now and she is doing great. the basking spot should be around the low 80s' (should never go beyond 85). Ambient temps should be 65f(bottom on enclosure)- 75f ( below basking). That way they can climb to were they feel comfortable. Give them plenty of hiding spots and lots of vines to climb. The enclosure itself should be all screen. Jacksons need a higher humidity level (65-75 and 80-100 when misting)which is harder to maintain. I had trouble with humidity so I zip tied a shower curtain on the back, and 1 side of the cage. This also helps keep water from wetting your walls when misting. You can also use live plants to up your humidity. I rigged a cool mist humidifier to some vinyl tubing which runs the entire day. Not only does it boost humidity levels but it looks cool having the enclosure full of fog. I have not owned a male, but i have read the male will stress a female so yes separate enclosures are needed. I wouldnt see a problem with this if they are still babies though. Something you can think about is putting up a removable wall in your enclosure so they both live in the same cage but dont see each other. I personally think jacksons are much more difficult to maintain due to the humidity levels and the temperatures, but once you have everything set you should be ready to go

here is a great video by j dawg (forum member) you should watch. http://youtu.be/lKTbUaOQ0aA

 

[Psychobunny]

They like it WET!! and they need LOTS of room.
I have a humidifier going into Noogies cage to help keep the RH up.
I also have the MistKing set to go off every 2 hours for 3 minutes.

So, we're talking GALLONS of water per week, plus, you need good drainage or things will start to mold and stink!!!

They also need to get out and move around for exercise (outdoors weather permitting).
Noogie likes to climb my carpeted attic steps and loves to roam the free range.

A bored and inactive jax will not eat and drink properly and may develop health problems.

Before you buy a jax, ask yourself if you can maintain this every day

 

[ZPavDesign]

They like it WET!! and they need LOTS of room.
I have a humidifier going into Noogies cage to help keep the RH up.
I also have the MistKing set to go off every 2 hours for 3 minutes.

So, we're talking GALLONS of water per week, plus, you need good drainage or things will start to mold and stink!!!

They also need to get out and move around for exercise (outdoors weather permitting).
Noogie likes to climb my carpeted attic steps and loves to roam the free range.

A bored and inactive jax will not eat and drink properly and may develop health problems.

Before you buy a jax, ask yourself if you can maintain this every day

Your not kidding.

I love my Female Jackson Ren, but she's defiantly a hand full. I've had her for 6 months and finally have everything perfect for her. Shes picky but is a lover. Never has hissed or tried to bite me. She loves her enclosure wet. I mist for 1-2 mins 4-5 times a day. And run the repti fogger 10 mins after every misting.

They are great chams. But not ideal for beginners. I found out the hard way . But It'll be easier now if I ever decide to get another cham (which I do )

 

[Tetsuo]

Well there is always a first time for everything right?

 

[deadhd5]

I don't think Jacksons are any harder as long as you do your research, set up the enclosure with proper conditions prior to purchase, and buy a sub-adult.

Many perfectly healthy Jacksons seems to die around the 4-5 month mark inexplicably, so if you are relatively new to chams, go for one 6 months or older.

 

[Carlton]

Well there is always a first time for everything right?

There certainly is. There's nothing wrong with taking that first step with a jax...as long as you are ready to tackle the learning curve! And you are doing it by finding the forum. We just want to save you grief and your cham some suffering.

 

[Tetsuo]

There certainly is. There's nothing wrong with taking that first step with a jax...as long as you are ready to tackle the learning curve! And you are doing it by finding the forum. We just want to save you grief and your cham some suffering.

It isn't the first step I've had a baby veiled before but she wasvery young and sick when I got her and so she ended up passing away.

 

[pigglett79]

Our first chameleon was a Jackson. Just do your research and set up a nice big screen cage with good drainage. We use a mistking that we added some rain drippers to, a fogger made from a Walgreens cool mist humidifier, and a dripper. The mistking goes off 3-4 times a day for 5 minutes. They require a little less supplementation so be sure to gutload your feeders well and offer a wide variety. Ours gets bored of feeders real fast so we try to have at least 5 feeder types at a time. Temps are lower than a veiled or panther. Our Jackson is such a character and so fun to watch.

 

[Lovereps]

All good advice that I've seen so far.
Plan on a 24"x24"x48" cage for each one of them.

deadhd5 is absolutely right with advising you to "set up the enclosure with proper conditions prior to purchase, and buy a sub-adult".

Two things that many people don't expect or plan for is the need for vet care and the fact that chams are not social creatures, so they typically find handling very stressful, according to many.

 

[Tetsuo]

This pair I'm getting each one is about a year old. Do I just use a 5.0 UVB? What kind of feeders do you recommend?

 

[pigglett79]

That UVB is fine. I personally prefer the Arcadia T5 high out put because my cage is large and heavily planted. We use regular house bulbs for basking lights, 60 watt, just need to watch the temp. Move the light up or down to get a basking spot of about 82 degrees.

 

[Tetsuo]

That UVB is fine. I personally prefer the Arcadia T5 high out put because my cage is large and heavily planted. We use regular house bulbs for basking lights, 60 watt, just need to watch the temp. Move the light up or down to get a basking spot of about 82 degrees.

Okay, how much are the Arcadias?

 

[pigglett79]

We feed ours crickets, dubia roaches, silk worms, horn worms, butter worms, and his new favorite is blue bottle flies, he goes nuts for them. He has had praying mantis is the past, but those eat too much so I gave up on them.

 

[pigglett79]

Okay, how much are the Arcadias?

We got ours from Todd at light your reptiles, he is a site sponsor. They are a bit pricey, but worth it in my opinion. They last for a year, where the others tend to only be good for 6 months. They also put out much more UVB than the others do, this helps with penetration in large and heavily planted cages. Todd is always a great resource for lighting questions.

 

[Tetsuo]

We feed ours crickets, dubia roaches, silk worms, horn worms, butter worms, and his new favorite is blue bottle flies, he goes nuts for them. He has had praying mantis is the past, but those eat too much so I gave up on them.

We got ours from Todd at light your reptiles, he is a site sponsor. They are a bit pricey, but worth it in my opinion. They last for a year, where the others tend to only be good for 6 months. They also put out much more UVB than the others do, this helps with penetration in large and heavily planted cages. Todd is always a great resource for lighting questions.

Do you order these online or from a locale shop, I've never seen any of these (Other than the obvious wax worms, crickets, and roaches.)
I don't have a lot of money to work with so I don't know if I could get one of those unless I found a decent deal.

 

[Tetsuo]

Those re really expensive there's no way I could afford one of those.

 

[pigglett79]

You can try breeding the roaches, silk worms and horn worms, that's what I do in order to keep a constant supply. You can get blue bottle flies pretty cheap from mantispets.com and butter worms from elliottsbutterworms. You can also check the forum classifieds, sometimes members have extra and sell them there.

 

[Tetsuo]

I'll probably buy in bulk from online stores. Is there any alternatives you'd suggest for the lighting that is under $90?

 

[pigglett79]

I'll probably buy in bulk from online stores. Is there any alternatives you'd suggest for the lighting that is under $90?

You would be fine with a 5.0 reptisun linear. Just be sure to change it about every 6 months.