Jackson’s Cham Dehydrated?

[wprazak]

My. Female Jackson’s I’m not sure if she’s ok or not. The other day she found a hole in her cage and tried to fit through it. I had to free her close to the neck. She’s mobile and everything’s fine from that but she don’t appear to be drinking unless I give her a dropper of water when her mouth is open. She seems to be sitting in the same spot all day nearly staring at the water dripping down leaves. When it’s lights out she walks to her sleeping spot. I have a fogger goin at night. The first hour it’s on continuous then every 30 minutes it goes for 5 minutes. Day temp basking spot is 80/82. I purchased a 36” T5 linear HO and I have 2 6500k lights in her old uvb fixtures. I dust her crickets daily with Arcadia Pro-Ca and no D3 due to prior incidents since then corrected. Night temps I’m having difficulty lowering her temp beyond 76. She rarely wants to come out of her cage since the hole incident. She has succulents, an Easter lily, an ivy, a palm tree, a scheffelera, and a pitcher plant in the bottom caging. Those I mist at lights out. What do y’all think?

 

[Mendez]

Edit: scratch what I just said; I didn't read your whole post. I'll respond in about an hour

 

[QuinnieLeeBlu]

Post pictures. And when you can fill this out!
Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

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Please Note:

1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
2. Photos can be very helpful.

 

[Mendez]

My. Female Jackson’s I’m not sure if she’s ok or not. The other day she found a hole in her cage and tried to fit through it. I had to free her close to the neck. She’s mobile and everything’s fine from that but she don’t appear to be drinking unless I give her a dropper of water when her mouth is open. She seems to be sitting in the same spot all day nearly staring at the water dripping down leaves. When it’s lights out she walks to her sleeping spot. I have a fogger goin at night. The first hour it’s on continuous then every 30 minutes it goes for 5 minutes. Day temp basking spot is 80/82. I purchased a 36” T5 linear HO and I have 2 6500k lights in her old uvb fixtures. I dust her crickets daily with Arcadia Pro-Ca and no D3 due to prior incidents since then corrected. Night temps I’m having difficulty lowering her temp beyond 76. She rarely wants to come out of her cage since the hole incident. She has succulents, an Easter lily, an ivy, a palm tree, a scheffelera, and a pitcher plant in the bottom caging. Those I mist at lights out. What do y’all think?

It sounds like you are making some excellent changes. I'm happy to hear that you have added more plants, grow lights, and changed up your supplement schedule. What are your current humidity levels during the day and night? If they are correct, I wouldn't worry about if she drinks or not. As long as you provide the option, she will get water when she wants. If you put water over her mouth, her natural instinct will be to drink the water, which may cause overhydration. How do her urates look? Do they have whites or oranges?

With all that said, she does need her nighttime temp drops. Have you looked into getting an AC unit of some kind? You can use a portable AC unit, window AC unit (best and cheapest option depending on if your homeowners association allows one), or the building AC. Whatever you choose should be fine as long as she can get temps 65F and below.

I'm happy to see that you are making changes, let me know if you have any more questions.

 

[wprazak]

Humidity during the day 80% and night 97% tonight

 

[wprazak]

The problem with the ac part is that I live with family and that’s in their control.

 

[Mendez]

Humidity during the day 80% and night 97% tonight

Humidity needs to drop during the day. Should be approximately between 30 and 50%. You are not misting or fogging during the day right?

Your nighttime humidity is perfect. But temps reaching 76 at night is going to cause problems. Is she pointing her nose towards the ceiling?

 

[Mendez]

The problem with the ac part is that I live with family and that’s in their control.

You dont have a room to yourself? Which is completely fine-- I'm not judging. But if you do have a room to yourself, can get a window or portable ac unit to cool down only the room. They need a nighttime drop. Not providing proper temp drops will only stress her out more and more over time.

76 degrees at night is quite hot for even the day. The daytime ambient should be around 70-75. 76 falls above this range. How hot is your room getting during the day? If you don't feel comfortable answering, that's fine. But you need to get an AC unit of some sort to cool the room asap!

 

[JoXie411]

A great night time drop idea is ice packs. I do this for my chameleon in the summer time, I get 110+ summers. Running a fogger with the ice packs will really help cool down the cages. Ice cubes work as well if you don’t want to do ice packs

https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/ice-pack-baby.176518/

 

[kinyonga]

Photos please!

Was she acting the same way before she got herself stuck in the hole (re drinking and sitting still)?

Have any of the insects ever nibbled on the Easter lily? Are any of the leaves damaged? Does she ever lick water off the leaves?

 

[QuinnieLeeBlu]

Photos please!

Was she acting the same way before she got herself stuck in the hole (re drinking and sitting still)?

Have any of the insects ever nibbled on the Easter lily? Are any of the leaves damaged? Does she ever lick water off the leaves?

Yes we need photos!

 

[wprazak]

Humidity needs to drop during the day. Should be approximately between 30 and 50%. You are not misting or fogging during the day right?

Your nighttime humidity is perfect. But temps reaching 76 at night is going to cause problems. Is she pointing her nose towards the ceiling?

No not misting or fogging in the day. Nose to the ceiling when, like when she is basking or? When she sleeps sometimes she puts her face in her hands so say

 

[JacksJill]

Easter Lilly pollen is toxic to cats I don't if it affects chameleons but I wouldn't use it.

 

[Mendez]

No not misting or fogging in the day. Nose to the ceiling when, like when she is basking or? When she sleeps sometimes she puts her face in her hands so say

With the high humidity, I was just double-checking for a respiratory infection. Signs of a respiratory infection include excessive gulping for air, gaping of the mouth, and ultimately pointing the nose up towards the ceiling and closing the eyes. If you haven't seen anything like this, I would focus on getting the humidity down during the day, as well as that nighttime temp drop.

If you have too much humidity in the room during the day, you can always reduce the mistings and fogging to a lower level, say at 75-80% humidity, to see if the daytime humidity decreases to a more manageable level.

 

[Mendez]

Image of Jackson's chameleon with respiratory infection (source: https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-medical-respiratory-infection/):

 

[wprazak]

She does that only when drinks from an eye dropper. But not very long. Lilly has been removed.

 

[Mendez]

She does that only when drinks from an eye dropper. But not very long. Lilly has been removed.

Okay, cool, sounds like she doesn't have signs of a respiratory infection.

 

[wprazak]

I may just be a worried father

 

[Mendez]

I may just be a worried father

Just make sure to lower the humidity during the day and also to get a temp drop at night. Additionally, cold air holds less water which means that you can input less water at night to get a higher humidity level, which will then fall as the day gets warmer since warmer air holds more water.

 

[wprazak]

Will do. Thank you all.