Hatchling Rainbow Jackson’s

[Clementine]

Hi all,

New member and poster, so please be patient with me. I agreed to take a hatchling Rainbow Jackson’s from a coworker who had a surprise litter. I have read all the things I can find, but I’m having trouble figuring out what I need differently for a young cham setup vs the things I’ve already purchased for an adult setup.

The cham is around 7 weeks. I don’t have it yet - pics are from coworker.

Can I use the lights I already bought suspended above the 16x16x30 enclosure? Or should I get smaller/weaker ones and use the bigger ones when I move the cham to a 24x24x48?

What else am I missing?

Things I’ve Bought:
- Arcadia 24” 6% UVB + setup
- Arcadia 23” Jungle Dawn LED bar
- Exo-Terra 50w daylight basking bulbs
- Fluker’s 8.5” lamp with dimmer
- MistKing Starter Kit
- GoVee temp and humidity meters
- ReptiBreeze 16x16x30 open air cage with 18x18 substrate try to sit it in for drainage tray
- Manzanita branches of various sizes
- Fluker’s mini dripper
- Repashy Calcium + LoD
- Arcadia Earth Pro-A
- Cultures of both species of flightless fruit flies.
- I have loads of plants that I can put in the enclosure as well.

I want to do right by this cham. I had a veiled and a beardie growing up, for which I was obviously not the primary caretaker. I have lots of practice with retrofitting ikea cabinets to temp and humidity control for plants, if that’s helpful at all.

TIA!

 

[Paradalis]

I do not now much about Jackson’s and especially not babies, I care for panthers. Just wanted pop in and say welcome to the forum! Hope everything goes well. Keep us posted! Good luck

 

[Clementine]

I do not now much about Jackson’s and especially not babies, I care for panthers. Just wanted pop in and say welcome to the forum! Hope everything goes well. Keep us posted! Good luck

Thank you!

 

[SteveH]

Here are a few podcasts from the Chameleon Academy that you should find useful ...
Check out "Ep 2: Surprise! Chameleon Babies!! Yay!...Yikes!!" via web:

Check out "Ep 67: Housing Baby Chameleons" via web:

Check out "Chameleons in Baby Cages" via web:

 

[SteveH]

Along with the great help you can receive here another place is Jacksons Chameleon Community on FB.

 

[jannb]

@JacksJill raises Rainbow Jackson’s. She will be able to help you.

 

[Clementine]

Here are a few podcasts from the Chameleon Academy that you should find useful ...
Check out "Ep 2: Surprise! Chameleon Babies!! Yay!...Yikes!!" via web:

Check out "Ep 67: Housing Baby Chameleons" via web:

Check out "Chameleons in Baby Cages" via web:

Thank you!

 

[Clementine]

@JacksJill raises Rainbow Jackson’s. She will be able to help you.

Thank you! I’ll follow her!

 

[MissSkittles]

What a cutie! Congrats in advance and welcome to the forum. I only know a few things about babies and Jackson’s. You’ll want your temps to be no higher than around 78. Very often a basking light isn’t even needed for babies. You may want to think about keeping baby in a bin at first so you can better monitor. @jannb could you please post some pics of your baby set up? Jackson’s are more sensitive to supplements and would get the Repashy LoD just once a month. I’ve no clue about supplement needs of babies though. @JacksJill is the best one to offer advice.

 

[jannb]

Here’s my baby bins.

 

[Sonny13]

Congrats with the little cutie. Like @MissSkittles said, Jackson’s are sensitive for supplementation and multivitamin is only needed max once per month. In the beginning you don’t need a heat light and Jackson’s are more thirsty than veiled’s or panthers. When older you can setup the heat light for a few hours in the morning (mine turns on for 3 hours). Most important is getting your nighttime low, not above 65. Here’s some great information from @JacksJill https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/individual-baby-cages-or-caging-during-the-time-of-covid.2465/

 

[Sonny13]

Another one https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/my-jacksons-supplement-schedule.2463/

 

[Clementine]

Thank you all so much! I’m going to read through and listen to the podcasts tomorrow!

 

[GrannyK]

Welcome to the group! You’ve landed in a great community!!! Sharing pics is kind of mandatory here so get your camera ready!! Look forward to seeing your little one. Looks like you’re off to a great start and getting some great advice.

 

[JacksJill]

I find vented glass cages work best for Jackson's babies under 4 months. When I couldn't find those during the pandemic I made my own.

These cages were used by Merujack a member here. Each one has plants and branches and houses one baby.

Individual Baby Cages or Caging during the time of Covid This link to my blog post has instructions on how to build them.

 

[elizaann2]

Oh my gosh what a little love!!! I am so excited for you. Jackson's chameleons are the best!! One thing I am not sure has been mentioned is Jackson's require a pretty drastic temp drop at night. You want his enclosure to be 65 degrees at night or colder if you can manage. Even in the 50s would be awesome. Most of us accomplish this by getting a small AC unit and/or putting our chams in the basement if thats an option.

Hope you stick around! I'd love to see this little one grow up!

 

[Clementine]

Welcome to the group! You’ve landed in a great community!!! Sharing pics is kind of mandatory here so get your camera ready!! Look forward to seeing your little one. Looks like you’re off to a great start and getting some great advice.

I'm actually a wildlife photographer by hobby, so there will be many cham photos to come! Some of my bird photos in the meantime.

 

[Clementine]

I find vented glass cages work best for Jackson's babies under 4 months. When I couldn't find those during the pandemic I made my own.
View attachment 352724

These cages were used by Merujack a member here. Each one has plants and branches and houses one baby.

View attachment 352725
Individual Baby Cages or Caging during the time of Covid This link to my blog post has instructions on how to build them.

Thank you so much! Can I ask what your hydration and lighting setup is for the babies?

 

[Clementine]

Oh my gosh what a little love!!! I am so excited for you. Jackson's chameleons are the best!! One thing I am not sure has been mentioned is Jackson's require a pretty drastic temp drop at night. You want his enclosure to be 65 degrees at night or colder if you can manage. Even in the 50s would be awesome. Most of us accomplish this by getting a small AC unit and/or putting our chams in the basement if thats an option.

Hope you stick around! I'd love to see this little one grow up!

Thank you! I'll stick around for sure - you guys have been wonderful! This should be a happy cham, as I'm an OR nurse and keep the house at 68 at night to start. The enclosure will be in our loft AKA my plant room. It's separately weather sealed from the house, but still connected to the HVAC. We have a separate AC/heat pump set up to climate control the loft colder and warmer than the rest of the house. I tend to keep it pretty cold up there at night (~60 F) for the cacti.

 

[Clementine]

Here’s my baby bins.

View attachment 352721View attachment 352722

Can I ask what your little stick situation is? Those are cool!