Got My First Jackson's Chameleon!

[ilikechlorophyll]

I got him today at the Cin City Reptile Expo. I named him Hoja (leaf in Spanish) since it's Cinco de Mayo today!
I hope I'm doing everything right, so I filled out the help sheet (please tell me if I'm doing something wrong!!)

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? - Jackson's Chameleon, Male, about 6-9 months, I've had him for a day.
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? - He's very friendly but I didn't get him out much because he was stressed since he was moving to a new place.
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? - I'm feeding him crickets and calci-worms, with hornworms as treats since he loves them. He gets 6 crickets every other day w/ some calci-worms. I'm using carrots to gutload them.
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I have zoo-med calcium without d-3 twice a week, zoo-med calcium with d-3 once a month, and reptivite once a month.
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I have a dripper and a starter MistKing. I mist several times throughout the day, but I have long mistings in the morning and at night. I've only seen him drinking once when we first got him and I dripped water in his carrying cage.
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? - I haven't seen any. I don't know if he's been tested, but I can e-mail the person I got him from.
  
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. - No clue!

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? - Screen cage that's 18x18x36in
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? - I have reptisun tube uvb light on in the day, and a 40 watt basking light that works very well.
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? - high 80's to low 70's, overnight has been mid 60's but i'm trying to get it lowered to 60 degrees. I have thermometers in the cage.
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? - Humidity has been in the 60's in the day, and 70's at night, but I just got a cool mist humidifer so they should be higher. I have a mister and a humidifier. I have a hygrometer in the middle of the cage.
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? - Weeping fig.
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? - it's sort of by a fan, and it's on an entertainment stand.
• Location - Where are you geographically located? - midwest

 

[katy32]

Congratulations on your new guy! And welcome to another Cincinnatian

 

[JacksJill]

You are off to a great start. Hoja is going to be a happy boy.
My advise is to lower his day time temperature closer to 70-78 degrees F max. until he is over a year or more old. To get the lower over night temps you want you can add an ultrasonic cool mist humidifier and some cold packs from the freezer placed on top of his cage at night. I know it's only been a day but your will want to add more variety to your gut load like mustard greens, dandelion greens see the gut load list in the food and nutrition section for more options.
I'd bet he'd like some more plants when you get a chance. Pothos is a good cage filler.

 

[ilikechlorophyll]

@katy32 yup!

 

[ilikechlorophyll]

@JacksJill Ok, thank you for telling me, so should I keep off his basking light? It gets high 80's but the thermometer is right under it and he loves to be up there. Thank you for telling me about how to lower the temperature, I will try those things. I will also start using apples and kale for the crickets. The only reason I didn't get pothos was because I heard it can be poisonous in high amounts, so I got a weeping fig, and 2 little fake hanging plants for hiding. Thank you for telling me this stuff!!

 

[JacksJill]

You can raise your basking light up or use a lower wattage to produce less heat. Some people have theirs on a dimmer or a thermostat to control the temps.
They tend to love more heat than is good for them. They would rarely ever see any thing that high in the wild.

 

[ilikechlorophyll]

@JacksJill okay thanks! i'm suprisingly using a 40 watt right now, so is that weird? I have a 50 watt at first but it was wayyyyyy too hot. Also, if I turn the basking light off it stays in the 70's so would I need to buy a new one?

 

[JacksJill]

40 watt is as low as you can go just lift it off the top of the screen some how. I use 40 watt bulbs and I have to raise them up during the summer I use them to warm things up in the morning and then just have them come on for short periods in the early afternoon. They get the UVB light all day.

 

[ilikechlorophyll]

@JacksJill alright, good to know. thank you for your help