Help with Jackson

[Reddogzz]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Jackson, 5 months old. I have had it for two weeks?
Handling - Each day for feeding (won't eat from cup/cage)?
Feeding - Crickets/Mealworms from the pet store.
Supplements - Calcium
Watering - He refuses to drink water, I have tried drip, and mist. He turns black during misting and hisses.
Fecal Description - Brown with orange and white.
History - Pet store had him in a birdcage and I asked if they had any UV bulbs for the reptiles and the owner asked me what a UV bulb was. (they do not use any lighting for their reptiles) They were drowning crickets that were gutloaded with chicken feed. and leaving those for him in the cage inside a milk cap. They had a dehumidifier running to keep the crickets.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Bird Cage as recommended by the pet store?
Lighting - Zoo Med ReptiSun 5.0 4 hours a day and natural sunlight.
Temperature - 80F, 27C, with a shaded spot that is 5 degrees cooler
Humidity - Naturally high tropical humidity 65% +
Plants - Hibiscus branches and leaves (but leaves recently died)
Placement - Cage is by an open window with lots of sunlight, not much noise.
Location - Hawaii


I just got a male Jackson, my best guess is 5 months old.

We live in Hawaii. I know the Jackson's survive here in the wild, so the humidity must be OK.

Here are the issues that I am running into:
When I purchase crickets, they die after a day because of the humidity and27 degrees c temperature (80 + degrees F). Furthermore, when I bring him fresh crickets he is only interested in eating one or two and ignores the rest.

He will only eat dead crickets when I blow on them to make it look like they are moving. Otherwise he is too slow to catch live ones, missing them with his tongue each time.

Roaches are super common in the islands and could be easy to raise if I didn't have to worry about them escaping every time I go to feed my Jackson. I read that the mold is a problem for roaches and I can't figure out how I would go about cleaning the mold out each day without getting our apartment infested.

I tried switching to meal worms, he will eat two of them and then refuses to eat the rest of the day. I was hoping to raise these mealworms but I am not sure how to gutload them with the vitamins that my Jackson needs. I also worry about the mold, it grows so quickly in the humid climate. He refuses to eat the mealworms that I put in his cage. He only eats when I have him out, I had 3-4 of them in his cage that he didn't touch for two days, in otherwords he was starving, when I took him out and put him on a green Tupperware lid with the same mealworms, he gulped two of them right up. My Jackson confuses me so much...

His ribs are showing a bit, so I think he is way too thin

I have also noticed that our Jackson is refusing to drink water, a week ago he let me spray into his mouth with a spray bottle, but not since. I use warm water when I mist his cage. The cage is starting to rust a bit from the spray. I think he gets really mad when I mist because he immediately turns black and starts hissing. The water is room temperature, but given our Jackson's dislike for the misting, I have only spent a few min each day misting. When the cage had natural leaves he did not drink off of them when I misted. He would climb to a corner and hide from the wet plants. I tried a drip system, but he ignores it.

I also noticed at times he will puff out the skin under his bottom jaw and open his mouth for a few seconds, I was wondering about respiratory infection, but I do not hear any wheezing, and he only does this for a few seconds, maybe 4-6 times per hour both during the night (under a light) and daytime (so I don't think its overheated.)

I have a UVB Bulb that he likes to bask under at night for a while, but during the day, I find he ignores the bulb and basks in the natural sunlight that comes through the open window.

I was going to get some fake leaves to go with the natural hibiscus branches that we have in his cage, but I don't want to change anything without knowing that it is safe for him. He turns black whenever I take him out of the cage, or put him in the cage. (He seems to react this way to change).

We also have 6 Mourning geckos that refuse to eat Repashy, even though the internet is filled with people saying that they do well on it. They like live crickets and roaches, perhaps they will eat the beetles that grow from the mealworms, but there again we have the gutloading problem and my mealworm colony is about 4 months away from producing new offspring/beetles.


What should I modify to keep our Jackson healthy?
What type of food should I raise?
How do I get him to drink water when he hides from it?
How can I get him to eat in his cage?
Why does he open his mouth so much? (no wheezing or extra saliva noticeable)
Why does my Jackson turn black so often, when my neighbor's wild Jackson doesn't turn black at all?

How can I get my mourning geckos to eat meal replacement since I cannot buy new crickets every day (they don't live longer than a day)?

Picture attached.

 

[ThatDigitalChameleon]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Jackson, 5 months old. I have had it for two weeks?
Handling - Each day for feeding (won't eat from cup/cage)?
Some chams won't eat in front of you, if you put them in a cup that they can't escape from and he can properly reach it from a nice perch he will most likely eat them, you'll just have to check on him every so often to make sure nothing bad happens.
Feeding - Crickets/Mealworms from the pet store.
Supplements - Calcium
This is kind of a half answer, there's calcium with d3 and calcium without d3. Calcium without d3 should be used almost every feeding and calcium with d3 should be every other week or so. there's also multivitamins to use every other week. (i don't know the specifics of d3 use if they're getting real sun exposure everyday, i live in ohio.)
Watering - He refuses to drink water, I have tried drip, and mist. He turns black during misting and hisses.
this kind of coincides with the food issue where chams sometimes won't drink in front of you either. When misting just mist over him to simulate rain and most likely he will try to catch some or go under a leaf and drink from that while it's "raining". you can attempt the same effet with a dripper, drip onto a set of leaves to simulate dew on them. I mist every 3-4 hours as needed for around 30-45 seconds each time. (Sometimes they come straight to me for the water, other times they'll get a bit lower and wait for it to stop and then drink off leaves when i'm done)
Fecal Description - Brown with orange and white.
The brown is good, depending if it's firm or loose.and the orange means he's dehydrated and needs more water.
History -
probably should gutload them yourself with fresh fruits and vegies from a safe gutload list under care resources on this site from now on. Keeping crickets in a tote with proper food and water will keep your cham MUCH MUCH healthier. and i don't mean a pool of water, they'll just drown and become useless.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Bird Cage as recommended by the pet store?
no link in response
Lighting - Zoo Med ReptiSun 5.0 4 hours a day and natural sunlight.
If he's getting natural unfiltered sunlight for at least 5-6 hours a day i don't think it's necessary to use a uvb bulb
Temperature - 80F, 27C, with a shaded spot that is 5 degrees cooler
85f basking and down to 70 at coolest
Humidity - Naturally high tropical humidity 65% +
i do believe this is fine
Plants - Hibiscus branches and leaves (but leaves recently died)
real live plants instead of just branches
Placement - Cage is by an open window with lots of sunlight, not much noise.
Location - Hawaii


Here are the issues that I am running into:
When I purchase crickets, they die after a day because of the humidity and27 degrees c temperature (80 + degrees F). Furthermore, when I bring him fresh crickets he is only interested in eating one or two and ignores the rest.
keep the crickets in a ventalated enclosure with proper food and water conditions, and cardboard egg cartons

He will only eat dead crickets when I blow on them to make it look like they are moving. Otherwise he is too slow to catch live ones, missing them with his tongue each time.
feeding him a dead cricket isn't really recommended unless it's recently deceased. after so long they don't relaly add nutrition. Missing them with his tongue could be from a calcium deficiency or something else, may want that looked at by a vet.

Roaches are super common in the islands and could be easy to raise if I didn't have to worry about them escaping every time I go to feed my Jackson.
In a proper enclosure the roaches shouldnt escape and you don't want them running around if he doesn't eat it after so long. Leaving bugs in the enclosure with the cham is unhealthy for him. They'll nibble on him and can do some mean things in there.

I tried switching to meal worms, he will eat two of them and then refuses to eat the rest of the day. I was hoping to raise these mealworms but I am not sure how to gutload them with the vitamins that my Jackson needs. I also worry about the mold, it grows so quickly in the humid climate. He refuses to eat the mealworms that I put in his cage. He only eats when I have him out, I had 3-4 of them in his cage that he didn't touch for two days, in otherwords he was starving, when I took him out and put him on a green Tupperware lid with the same mealworms, he gulped two of them right up. My Jackson confuses me so much...
While getting used to new surroundings and just adjusting in general chams can/will go on hunger strikes and eventually will eat out of need to survive. although you've had him 2 weeks i would imagine he's used to it. BUT his diet should consist of multiple things. feeding him just worms for a day isnt' the best solution to this though. i feed my larger cham crickets every day, but on ocasions he'll eat less crickets and then get some worms as well. seems to be doing great for him just as a change of pace.

His ribs are showing a bit, so I think he is way too thin
He may be underweight if he hasn't been eating properly

I have also noticed that our Jackson is refusing to drink water, a week ago he let me spray into his mouth with a spray bottle, but not since. I use warm water when I mist his cage. The cage is starting to rust a bit from the spray. I think he gets really mad when I mist because he immediately turns black and starts hissing. The water is room temperature, but given our Jackson's dislike for the misting, I have only spent a few min each day misting. When the cage had natural leaves he did not drink off of them when I misted. He would climb to a corner and hide from the wet plants. I tried a drip system, but he ignores it.
If the cage isn't rust resistant then there is no reason it should have been recommended or even used by the store for a cham. They're arboreal animals and climb all over, climbing rust is NOT a good thing. when misting, make sure you use a clean bottle, i clean mine every 3-4 days with antibacterial soap and scolding water then dry it out with a blow dryer. also only use purified water or spring water that hasn't been standing for too long this will help keep them healthier. When you get safe plants in there and properly clean them and have a better gradient and all that i'm sure he'll start drinking much more whether you're in the room or not. He'll be happier and healthier with what i listed way up on my corrections.

I also noticed at times he will puff out the skin under his bottom jaw and open his mouth for a few seconds, I was wondering about respiratory infection, but I do not hear any wheezing, and he only does this for a few seconds, maybe 4-6 times per hour both during the night (under a light) and daytime (so I don't think its overheated.)
Just puffing the gular region isn't a concern, it can be for defensive purposes(saying back off) or to shed(stretches and allows loose shed to come off with ease) or a few other things. As far as respiratory infections go, there may be excess saliva in the mouth, popping or wheezing, i think excess sneezing, and at night a kind of "snore". But you said theres a light on at night?... yea don't do that. Chameleons react to even the lightest glimmer of light and you can keep them from sleeping by doing this and it isn't great for them to not sleep, we all need sleep.

I have a UVB Bulb that he likes to bask under at night for a while, but during the day, I find he ignores the bulb and basks in the natural sunlight that comes through the open window.
basking is when they absorb heat to help digest food and keep themselves at comfortable temperatures. this should normally be done with a basking bulb and uvb bulb, unless you can offer unfiltered sunlight at appropriate temperatures throughout the day. He shouldn't be basking at night and it should have a moderate temperature throughout the night. i'd say between 60-70 but i believe can drop to 50 if it so happens... 60 is probably more comfortable at LOWEST though.
I was going to get some fake leaves to go with the natural hibiscus branches that we have in his cage, but I don't want to change anything without knowing that it is safe for him. He turns black whenever I take him out of the cage, or put him in the cage. (He seems to react this way to change).
I'd just recommend real plants like i stated before. keeps water on the leaves longer than fake plants and just overall can be healthier for your cham. As for him turning black, could be cold, could be mad as hell, could be extremely stressed. They don't like being handled, and should only be handled when absolutely necessary.

hopefully all this typing was worth it and doesn't come off as rude. my responses in blue for ya
just trying to help out

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/jacksons/
above is the link to the jacksons care sheet, which you should definitely checkout.

For cages btw, i really recommend the rust resistant full aluminum from DIY cages > http://www.diycages.com/ < not sure if they ship to hawaii, but they're really nice cages.
OR...
zoo med reptibreeze... they're cheaper than DIY but not near as nice. i got my reptibreeze from amazon for around 80 dollars.

 

[ThatDigitalChameleon]

anways... i had to delete some stuff because it was "too long" to post... hope that some good enough info for now. somebody else will probably chime in before too long. check out those cages and the resource link and i'm sure you'll be just fine.

 

[SMCNARY]

anways... i had to delete some stuff because it was "too long" to post... hope that some good enough info for now. somebody else will probably chime in before too long. check out those cages and the resource link and i'm sure you'll be just fine.

It was VERY good of you to have spent this much time to help another Cham keeper needing help!!!
Well done SIR!!!
Steve

 

[kinyonga]

Sorry your Jacksons isn't doing well.

One word of caution...don't spray water in its mouth...you could get water into its lungs and kill it. Drip water on its nose at the rate of about one drip per second.

You asked about mourning geckos....to the best of my knowledge they will only eat live insects although it wouldn't surprise me if they ate some (soft/pureed) fruit too.

 

[Zen Reptiles]

Location: Hawaii.

You should go catch one yourself! You'd be doing a service to the land & yourself by plucking a healthy jackson's off a tree


Otherwise...

Create an outdoor enclosure and many of your problems will be solved.

Having your cage by an open window with lots of sunlight will create too much heat IMO. Constant 75-80F is probably the source of your issues.....jackson's prefer cooler temperatures and like to bask in the morning and after they eat.

Some potted plants (either from a store or a garden) would benefit your cham.


Is the water you use filtered? Chameleons often require distilled or reverse osmosis water, and tap water / well water is an absolute no-no.

IMO he looks pretty good in the image. You might want to get him a bigger cage, plant it up, and keep the drip system going 24/7 (he will not drink when you watch him). Get him away from the window and add a basking light (or put him in a 50% shaded enclosure outside).....and try feeding him some moths, grasshoppers, caterpillars...just make sure you check online which are safe or not...or post here, there are people who can identify the insects for you.