ChamomilleCame
Avid Member
Hi!! So I just made a caresheet for jacksons because this summer, Im not gonna be home for 6 weeks because im gonna be at camp, so I made a caresheet for my dad and my sis (and the forums I guess 
) So I need you guys to tell me what to add or if something is wrong
*plese note that this is general knowledge for newbies, so dont put anything complicated
How to take care of the fabulous Jackson’s Chameleon
What is the humidity the cage should have?
It should be around 60-80% humid.
What temps are recommended?
Jackson’s need about 85 degrees for basking during the day. If the chameleon is opening its mouth, shut down the light. The bulb appropriate in PR is a 25 watt common household bulb, either frosted or clear. At night, a drop of around 65-70 degrees is recommended. If it is really hot, turn on the A/C or put a few ice cubes AWAY from where the chameleon is sleeping.
Tell me about the UVB bulb.
It should be a 5.0 UVB bulb. It comes in spiral or tube. Any is fine, but tube is recommended because it takes more space of the cage. Again, the spiral is OK. It should be replaced every 6 months.
How much time should the lights be on?
12 hours. Preferably from 7am-7pm. A timer can be set for this.
Drainage?
The tray/ drainage system should be emptied out EVERY DAY. Even if the drainage is on the bottom, I don’t want bacteria or mold coming near the cage.
Door?
ALWAYS MAKE SURE IT IS CLOSED!!!! Do NOT leave it open!!
If he manages to escape, look behind the TV, wherever there are cables, curtains, under sofas, shelves, etc.
What are the safe plants?
There are many. In the case that one of them dies, there is a safe plant list at flchams.com.
I personally use schefflera abricola as my main plant.
It is important to check if it is safe because chams are known to eat some plants.
How should the poop look like?
It should be two parts: the brown part (feces) and white part (urine). The feces should be like drops. They should also be (sort of) hard. The urine should be white (it’s not going to be pearly white always, keep that in mind), but if it gets yellow or orange spotting, that means it’s dehydrated.
How do I get it to drink water?
Personally, my boy likes a nice stream from a cup (top of cage, obviously). Many people mist and the water that drips from the plants it their water source. Misting can be by hand or by an automatic mister. A dripper can be used. I use a plastic cup with a hole made bya a tack on the bottom.
What are appropriate insects for a Jackson’s?
This goes for any chameleon, basically. Crickets and roaches are good staple meal. Roaches are healthiest, making crickets OK. You can find a list of roaches on the internet, but some popular ones are: Discoid roaches, Dubias, Fusca roaches, Lateralis, Banana, and so on. They also eat worms, like butter worms, super worms, horn worms, silk worms. These can turn into moths and can be fed also. Flies are one of Jackson’s favorite foods. They are small, so can be fed to babies. Mantises are great feeders and chams love them. Flies and baby crickets are fed to mantis nymphs.
What do feeders eat? What is this called?
Feeders should eat a variety of fruits and vegetables because what you feed to your insects will end up in the chameleon, affecting it in a good or bad way. This is called gutloading. It’s a long list of what they can eat, but I’ll shorten it. They should eat any of these: oranges (GREAT for hydrating them), apples (also good for hydration), carrots, strawberries, mangoes, bananas, alfalfa, mustard greens, raspberries, squash and many more.
AVOID animal food. It is high in animal protein and fat.
Change the insects’ food bowl every three days. It will start to mold after that... They will eat each other or their poop.
Insect containers?
They should be cleaned once every week and a half. It starts to stink. It should also be pretty ventilated. Crickets and roaches need egg cartons to climb on that instead of climbing on each other. These can be bought online, but make sure they aren’t foam. Take out the cartons each time you clean the bin as well.
What do I do with the feeders?
You can cup feed them (put all the feeders in a small bin and put it in the cage) or dump out all the feeders inside the cage. I would do a mix of these because leaving in feeders that the cham won’t eat is bad. They can chew on the cham at night because they don’t have another food source. So if you see any in at night I would take them out right away. You could hand feed, but make sure you know how to do it. It is also more time consuming.
How do I supplement a Jackson’s?
They need less supplements. They need to be supplemented with plain calcium 2x a week. Calcium with D3 1x a month To dust the crickets or roaches, get a plastic bowl with a lid. Put a pinch of the supplement into the bowl. Put the insects in the bowl and shake it to get a thin coat of calcium on the insect. DO NOT over supplement. Put the insects in the feeder cup in the cage so that way the supplements don’t dust off so easily.
How much time should I take him outside?
As long as you want, as long as you are with him THE WHOLE TIME. Never leave the cham alone, unless it is protected under screen or something hard (even then, I would take him in for a second). Any animal from outside can scoop it up and eat it, or just bother it.
How do I handle a chameleon?
Put your hand gently under the chameleon. If it starts to walk, lift him slowly. Put him back gently as well.
He’s shedding. What do I do?
All you have to do is leave him alone. They shed better with more humidity, too. When they shed, they are usually grumpy and itchy, so they might not eat for a while. Don’t pull anything off. This can damage their skin. Let them do their work.
What size cage should I have?
Jackson’s are not the biggest species. Some sites say (LxWxH) 18x18x36. This can work, but you can go wild and build bigger.
) So I need you guys to tell me what to add or if something is wrong*plese note that this is general knowledge for newbies, so dont put anything complicated
How to take care of the fabulous Jackson’s Chameleon
What is the humidity the cage should have?
It should be around 60-80% humid.
What temps are recommended?
Jackson’s need about 85 degrees for basking during the day. If the chameleon is opening its mouth, shut down the light. The bulb appropriate in PR is a 25 watt common household bulb, either frosted or clear. At night, a drop of around 65-70 degrees is recommended. If it is really hot, turn on the A/C or put a few ice cubes AWAY from where the chameleon is sleeping.
Tell me about the UVB bulb.
It should be a 5.0 UVB bulb. It comes in spiral or tube. Any is fine, but tube is recommended because it takes more space of the cage. Again, the spiral is OK. It should be replaced every 6 months.
How much time should the lights be on?
12 hours. Preferably from 7am-7pm. A timer can be set for this.
Drainage?
The tray/ drainage system should be emptied out EVERY DAY. Even if the drainage is on the bottom, I don’t want bacteria or mold coming near the cage.
Door?
ALWAYS MAKE SURE IT IS CLOSED!!!! Do NOT leave it open!!
If he manages to escape, look behind the TV, wherever there are cables, curtains, under sofas, shelves, etc.
What are the safe plants?
There are many. In the case that one of them dies, there is a safe plant list at flchams.com.
I personally use schefflera abricola as my main plant.
It is important to check if it is safe because chams are known to eat some plants.
How should the poop look like?
It should be two parts: the brown part (feces) and white part (urine). The feces should be like drops. They should also be (sort of) hard. The urine should be white (it’s not going to be pearly white always, keep that in mind), but if it gets yellow or orange spotting, that means it’s dehydrated.
How do I get it to drink water?
Personally, my boy likes a nice stream from a cup (top of cage, obviously). Many people mist and the water that drips from the plants it their water source. Misting can be by hand or by an automatic mister. A dripper can be used. I use a plastic cup with a hole made bya a tack on the bottom.
What are appropriate insects for a Jackson’s?
This goes for any chameleon, basically. Crickets and roaches are good staple meal. Roaches are healthiest, making crickets OK. You can find a list of roaches on the internet, but some popular ones are: Discoid roaches, Dubias, Fusca roaches, Lateralis, Banana, and so on. They also eat worms, like butter worms, super worms, horn worms, silk worms. These can turn into moths and can be fed also. Flies are one of Jackson’s favorite foods. They are small, so can be fed to babies. Mantises are great feeders and chams love them. Flies and baby crickets are fed to mantis nymphs.
What do feeders eat? What is this called?
Feeders should eat a variety of fruits and vegetables because what you feed to your insects will end up in the chameleon, affecting it in a good or bad way. This is called gutloading. It’s a long list of what they can eat, but I’ll shorten it. They should eat any of these: oranges (GREAT for hydrating them), apples (also good for hydration), carrots, strawberries, mangoes, bananas, alfalfa, mustard greens, raspberries, squash and many more.
AVOID animal food. It is high in animal protein and fat.
Change the insects’ food bowl every three days. It will start to mold after that... They will eat each other or their poop.
Insect containers?
They should be cleaned once every week and a half. It starts to stink. It should also be pretty ventilated. Crickets and roaches need egg cartons to climb on that instead of climbing on each other. These can be bought online, but make sure they aren’t foam. Take out the cartons each time you clean the bin as well.
What do I do with the feeders?
You can cup feed them (put all the feeders in a small bin and put it in the cage) or dump out all the feeders inside the cage. I would do a mix of these because leaving in feeders that the cham won’t eat is bad. They can chew on the cham at night because they don’t have another food source. So if you see any in at night I would take them out right away. You could hand feed, but make sure you know how to do it. It is also more time consuming.
How do I supplement a Jackson’s?
They need less supplements. They need to be supplemented with plain calcium 2x a week. Calcium with D3 1x a month To dust the crickets or roaches, get a plastic bowl with a lid. Put a pinch of the supplement into the bowl. Put the insects in the bowl and shake it to get a thin coat of calcium on the insect. DO NOT over supplement. Put the insects in the feeder cup in the cage so that way the supplements don’t dust off so easily.
How much time should I take him outside?
As long as you want, as long as you are with him THE WHOLE TIME. Never leave the cham alone, unless it is protected under screen or something hard (even then, I would take him in for a second). Any animal from outside can scoop it up and eat it, or just bother it.
How do I handle a chameleon?
Put your hand gently under the chameleon. If it starts to walk, lift him slowly. Put him back gently as well.
He’s shedding. What do I do?
All you have to do is leave him alone. They shed better with more humidity, too. When they shed, they are usually grumpy and itchy, so they might not eat for a while. Don’t pull anything off. This can damage their skin. Let them do their work.
What size cage should I have?
Jackson’s are not the biggest species. Some sites say (LxWxH) 18x18x36. This can work, but you can go wild and build bigger.
