Help please.

[Leo The Legend]

i finally got my jackson chameleon, skeeter. I was told he was about 5 or 6 months old. He ate the first two days i got him, then the third day i dusted his crickets with "Chameleon Calcium Plus." As soon as he stuck the cricket and had it in his mouth, he was like what the F is this and would not chew it, kept it in his mouth for about a min and finally chewed it. But since then he has not ate its been about 3 days. I have read many threads on here that Jacksons are picky eaters, and really don't do well with supplementation. I have also read that when they are in a new environment they may not eat until he gets used to his new home, do i have anything to worry about?

His basking spot is 81 degrees. and i try to keep the humidity at around 60% during the day and at night try to raise it to 70-80%. He has pooped the 2 days he was eating, and even when he was not eating he pooped twice, once each day except for today he has not pooped yet.

Thank you,
Leo

 

[sandrachameleon]

Jackson do seem to need and do better with Less supplementation that other chams.

How heavily was the offending cricket dusted? Maybe too heavily such that it tasted like chalk?

Are you using a coiled CFL as your UVB source?

 

[Leo The Legend]

yes i am using a coil, i found a date on here that they should be made after and i made sure it was past that to ensure he would be ok. can they still effect the chameleon even if they are suppose to be "ok and not hurt my chameleon?"

 

[Leo The Legend]

i had a bowl that i put some of the supplement in, then i let the cricket walk around then i took the cricket out, the cricket didn't look like a "ghost" but it could of been too much i wasn't really paying very much attention. should i try to feed him something else? what would you recommend?

 

[OOOst16]

Chameleons love super worms.....but do not consistanly give them because there fatty....but use one as a starter for him to eat....try meal worms or butter worms aswell...or roaches....there allot of different options....check ojut the site sponser mullbery farms. Get the coil uvb out of there.....even if its safe....I wouldn't trust it.....use a house hold incandesant and a tube reptisun 5.0....or a reptiglo 5.0. Ur set up and cham looks nice though....just get rid of that coil....I don trust em.

 

[joopasaur]

I suggest you get rid of that coil bulb.

Gorgeous little man. As a gut loader you use something with calcium in it instead of dusting them. They are extremely picky. I can't dust the crickets i feed my Jackson's or he wont eat them.

 

[samthecham]

Give him a super worm or a horn worm, no mealworms, they have a hard, non-nutritious shell covering most of their body.

 

[pssh]

He may just be aclimating, if he doesn't eat in a few more days check back. What brand is the UVB bulb? Only reptisun 5.0 or 10.0 coils are 'safe,' though I prefer the linear tubes as the UVB is more evenly distributed.

 

[Cainschams]

All of these 4-5 month old jacksonii around here lately Yours looks much younger than the other one I have seen but I would suspect older than what you were told. My first chameleon was a way too young jacksonii. He was definitely much smaller than the two I have seen lately around the time I suspected he was 5 months old. However I could be wrong this was a while back. Where did you get him from? Was he claimed to be captive born?

His basking spot is a good temperature and humidity is ok. I would try for around 70 daytime and 90 to 100% night time. Of course you do not want the air to be stagnant. I use a fan in my chameleon room to keep the air fresher and spread the humidity around from a very nice ultrasonic humidifier. It is also good for him to get a good cool down period at night. Anything below 60 degrees would be ideal.

Some people feed WC insects and some do not practice this method. It is up to you really. Personally I do from a pesticide free area. Although not at this time of year. I feed grasshoppers, moths, spiders etc. I can still find some spiders running around the house here and there They are also known to like snails. However at this time you could use blue bottle flies which all of my animals go insane for! You can get them at mantisplace.com for a great price and great customer service. Those will get even the pickiest eaters to go insane!

He is also probably just acclimating also. Give him tons of water and peace for a while. Gut loading is key along with a light supplementation regimen with montane species and low lands but. As you said they are more more prone to over supplementation issues.

I would also ditch the compact. They are deemed safe after a certain time but the linear tubes have been an adequate and safe light for some time.

Good luck! Your boy looks great!

 

[jojackson]

Ive had other lizard species that wouldnt touch insects dusted with suppliment. A workaround is to heavily dust your gutload produce instead, particularly with roaches, but works just as well with crickets and the like.
Ofcourse ensure you feed off the insects after they've had a good meal of it, and dont do it constantly.
As always, as much natural light as possible.

 

[Leo The Legend]

My uvb bulb is a zilla 20 watt, are those considered safe? I tried looking online about them but could not find anything about those lights being safe or not. I am going to go buy super worms tomorrow so hopefully he will eat those, is it normal for a chameleon to go days without eating? I also finally got a humidifier that helps me keep the humidity up alot more during the day.

Thank you everyone for the help i hope he will start eating soon
Leo

 

[JaxyGirl]

I've had my jackson's for a year now and he doesn't like the heavily dusted crickets either.
I got pretty much the same reaction as you did when I gave him his first dusted cricket.
Now I very lightly dust the crickets just enough so there is just a hint of supplementation. And he doesn't seem to mind it as much. Crickets don't have to be dusted white to provide calcium or D3. Also, from what I've read the montane species don't need as much supplementation as other species so I don't dust his food every day. It's more like every other day. So it pretty much breaks up the routine so he's not expecting chalk all the time. Also, he gets other types of feeders and in the summer I do give him moths and other bugs that I find around my outdoor light and the occasional house spider in the winter

 

[JaxyGirl]

"Triton" has never gone days without eating. He's always eaten at least something every day. I do know when I first got him that he wasn't very consistent when he was acclimating. Just keep your guy watered really well and I'm sure he'll start eating again soon. I have noticed that since it's gotten colder up here in Maine that his eating is a little more variable. For instance he ate 4 crickets yesterday but only ate one today. But today it was only 13 degrees all day and it's colder tonight. It's been freezing!! But, he does drink the same amount every day. I would also change to a UVB bar light and not the spiral bulb type. Pretty much everyone here on the forum thinks they just aren't any good and I'm no expert but most of them are. That's what I have and "Triton" is doing great. Good luck with all

 

[jojackson]

Also, from what I've read the montane species don't need as much supplementation as other species so I don't dust his food every day

Out of curiosity, why would that be?

 

[JaxyGirl]

Also, from what I've read the montane species don't need as much supplementation as other species so I don't dust his food every day

Out of curiosity, why would that be?

I've wondered that myself?? But, there used to be a really great site called GeoCities.com (the site is no longer for some reason) that dealt with the care and husbandry of just Jackson's chameleons and they said the same thing. Along with other info I've read. There doesn't seem to be that much information out there.
I'm not sure if it is because the rain forests that they come from are a higher altitude with more leaf coverage across the canopy. And because of this it doesn't allow for as much sun light penetration and therefore the montane species don't require the same amount of vitamin D and calcium as other cham species? I think the research is still out all I've heard is that over supplementing them can be just as adverse as not supplementing.

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."from what I've read the montane species don't need as much supplementation as other species so I don't dust his food every day"...I have dusted the insects for the fischers, dwarf jacksons, etc. (so-called montanes) the same way I have for veileds and panthers. Since the montanes are eating less (insects) per feeding than the larger veileds and panthers, they should be ingesting less supplement because of that.

Here is an article that talks a bit about the calcium part of it...
http://chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=96
"Chameleons use calcium according to their metabolic rate. Thus lowland species tend to require more calcium than montane species because they are maintained at warmer temperatures and have higher metabolic rates. Faster growing chameleons need more calcium than slow growers. Females with larger egg mass require more calcium than barren females or low producers.

Because of calcium's dependence upon energy, requirements are based on calories: xyz mg calcium per calorie of metabolizable energy, abbreviated as xyz mg Ca/kcal. As calorie intakes increase, so should calcium intakes. "

 

[JaxyGirl]

Thanks for the info. That's really interesting that calcium intake has to do with metabolism.
Is there a website where I can read about it because I can't find anyting about it?

True mountain rainforests such as found in Kenya, Africa have a temp range from 15-50 degrees celsius 59-122 F and the temps vary continuously throughout the year and the week www.kenyaforestservice.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=94&Itemid=126 The difference between a mountain rain forest and a low land rain forest is the huge amount of rainfall and lack of light. There is so much vegetation in a mountain rain forest that is above the canopy floor that very little direct sunlight makes it to the forest floor. Therefore, from what I've read the mountain species don't have the same need for sunlight as other low land species of chams and because of this they don't have the same supplement requirements. It could be a combination of both... a difference in metabolism and light requirements but either way from what I've read and there is unfortunately very little litterateur about Jackson's chameleons..that they don't have the same supplement requirements and can easily be over supplemented leading to other problems. There isn't enough research on this species to know for sure. So because of this I've hit the middle ground and don't supplement every day and my guy is doing great.

 

[kinyonga]

I'm sorry..I forgot to put the link in. I corrected it now.

 

[Leo The Legend]

Skeeter has still not eating, i noticed today that his pee has a kinda orange tint to it. Could dehydration cause him not to eat, as soon as i noticed this i misted him with warm water for about 10 minutes. Also could the coil light cause him not to eat, and how much time do i have before he could go blind? could 5 days cause him to go blind that fast?


Thanks,
Leo

 

[jojackson]

It wont go blind in 5 days, but if its causing harm, it will be unconfortable, and yes, may cause it not to eat. Ditch the coil bulb right away, leave just your heat bulb until you can get a more suitable UV lamp type.
It may take longer to acclimate, try not to disturb it as much as possible.
You could try installing a dripper, this can be as simple as a water bottle with a pin hole.
Be patient 5 days isnt long, it may be another week before it settles. Did you try a variety of different feeders?