HELP gravid true jackson not acting normal

Chameleophlaged

Avid Member
I have a gravid True Jackson cham. she is normally very active, even as late as this afternoon. Usually when I open the cage door to put food in she turns and hides immediately moving very fast. She is now clamped onto a Schefflera stalk, eyes closed and not moving. I can open the door and touch her, which is definitely not normal. She looks like a tennis ball with a face, curly tail and four little paws, her eyes are closed. Is this her readying to give birth or should I be REALLY worried?
 
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Chameleon Info:
  • My Chameleon - True Jackson Female, Farm Raised in Tanzania, purchased gravid June 1.
  • Handling - Never, I clean the cage with her in it.
  • Feeding - Hornworms, Dubia, Crickets, occasional superworm. At least one hornworm a day (2 inch), I free range Dubia and crickets (5 or so of each 3/4 inch) every day, and maybe 3 or 4 superworms a week. All are gutloaded with Sticky Tongue Farms Miner-All
  • Supplements - All feeders are dusted with Sticky Tongue Farms Vita-All (every other feeding) and supplemented with Rep-Cal Herptivite once a week.
  • Watering -Mist King system in cage 3 times a day (first light, midday, 4pm) 7 minutes per. 64 Mist king mist heads 10 feet off ground under lattice set to mist entire area around cages when humidity drops below 50% (often here in SoCal
  • Fecal Description - Dark brown egg shaped with white end, a slight bit of yellow all in a clear casing
  • History - As stated purchased gravid, Tanzanian farm raised

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - 2X2X4 Jungle Hobbies screen enclosure
  • Lighting - Natural unfiltered sunlight (under lattice) outside 24 hours a day
  • Temperature - Center of cage 75 degrees, basking spot 85 degrees
  • Humidity -Humidity around 60 - 70 %, maintained by misting a 30 by 30 foot covered patio when humidity is below 50% until reaching 60%, raising to 70 or so as the water on the patio evaporates.
  • Plants -Live plants, Plumeria, Schefflera, Aralia, Philodendron. Cage is densely vegitatated from bottom to 2/3 way up, top 1/3 open air for basking on numerous levels.
  • Placement -Cage is outside on Patio, on a table 34 inches high, top of cage is 7 feet above ground. Very little traffic.
  • Location - San Gabriel Valley Southern California

Current Problem - Eyes closed not moving. As a side note I have two Xantho Jacksons, both have given birth in the last 5 days (14 for one 11 for the other), they were skinny compared to the jacksonii (as stated she looks like a tennis ball)
PLEASE HELP
 
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That's the type of pose I would expect from a very gravid Jacksons...was it her normal sleeping time when she started this?
Her size concerns me a bit....however I haven't had Jacksons for years. I hope someone who has will pipe up.
 
Normally she sleeps horizontally, and as I said she is HUGE compared to the other two gravid Jacksons and it was little early for her sleep time, but not by more than an hour
 
When there are more babies inside or the chameleon is getting close to the date I think she has more trouble breathing because the lungs are becoming squished so having the body vertical likely relieves some of the pressure on the lungs and she can breath better. Just my opinion.
 
That sounds logical to me, my concern is that I can actually touch her, I have never been able to do that before, but in truth I never try, and I usually don't go near the cages in the dark, so I don't know if I could have touched her as she sleeps.
 
Hey,

Sorry to say, but she died about a week and a half later. I think she had a problem when I originally posted this, but seemed to be fine the next day. I did notice that she was getting thinner.
 
True, hopefully the 6 I have now fare much better. With a lot of inner searching, I have concluded that I stressed her. I had her in a place convenient for me, not good for her. It was in my front patio, too much light and nighttime noise (street lamp and traffic), I moved her cage 3 days before she died. All my chameleons are now in total dark at night, buffered from noise and where they will live the rest of their lives.

As the old saying goes........Live AND Learn.
 
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