Jackson’s Chameleon scratching at glass & climbing on roof

[dethspawnn]

Hey there! I recently within the past 1 1- 1/2 months picked up a Jackson’s chameleon! I’ve been having a good time with him until recently where he just doesn’t stop digging at the bottom and pawing at the glass at the bottom and on his branches. He sometimes will be doing it alone but sometimes will only start when I enter the room and see him. He also won’t stay off of the roof at times. Below I’m attaching photos with details of cage food etc. Please help asap! Constructive criticism welcome, just no a holes.

Machakos Hills Jackson’s Chameleon Trioceros jacksonii jacksonii
Age : 8ish mo old

Cage Setup: 18X18X36 Glass enclosure. 14” UVB T5 5.0 Bulb, Heatbulb & Dome, Dripper & Reptisafe (with frequent cleanings to prevent mouth rot) misting 2-3x a day. 30-50% humidity during day 50-70 at night.

Supplements: Calcium without Vitamin D every day, with also Calium with Vitamin D & A/other supplements mixed once a week-two. This due to crappy previous breeder and heavily Vitamin A deficient when bought.

Food given: Hornworms, Dubia Roaches, Crickets, super worms (rarer then not), on a constant rotation which are gut loaded with Kale, Carrots, Alfafa and green beans rarely.

Cage temps: Basking spot is 75- 85 depending on branch with main cage being between 70-75 during daytime & drops to 60’s at night.

Foliage: Ficus plant, 4 pieces of wood varying in shape and size, 6 fake plants with outdoor free roam.

Weird fluctuations noticed: Like to climb on the top of the cage. Not always super vibrant, but more dulled out overall. Rarley gets fully black BESIDES when basking sometimes, and scratching at glass (sometimes.) then will go back to dulled out colors. Rarely see full bright colors. When scratching and going black the second he’s handled he goes insanely vibrant. I keep handing to a minimum but sometimes he seems as if he will hurt himself. Eating is normal and never fluctuated. Depending on sizes of food listed above. Usually eats 2-4 dubia roaches a day at the medium and 1-2 larges. Same with horn worms.

(Hanging wire is for basking spot temp check)

 

[Beman]

Hey there welcome to the forum. What you are describing is common when they are not happy with their environment. This could be an issue of temp/humidity/air/ fake plants/reflection in the glass/size of enclosure/UVB levels not at a 3UVI due to distance of fixture or bulb strength etc. The cage is a bit too small for an adult. Also fake plants could be swapped out for real plants. Looks like you have soil in the bottom but I am not sure if it is just soil or if it was done fully bioactive with drainage layer and clean up crew. If it is just soil then this has to be redone... Not having the drainage layer with clean up isopods and springtails essentially turns the soil into a bacteria growing zone. Which can cause health issues for the cham and create very stagnant air.

One big issue is your over supplementing with D3 and A. Jacksons do not handle high levels of these fat soluble vitamins. They should be put on a regular schedule getting something like repashy calcium plus LoD version once a month. Then at all other feedings you would use a phosphorus free calcium without D3.
They can easily go into D3 and A toxicity because these vitamins store in the tissues and do not flush from their system like water soluble vitamins.

Here are some accurate resources for you. https://chameleonacademy.com/the-jacksons-chameleon-trioceros-jacksonii/
https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/

 

[elizaann2]

Hello and warmest welcomes to you and your Jack-jack!! Can you share photos of your cham? The sub-species you have the females can also have horns and are often confused with being a male.

I agree with everything Beman shared above. She is an excellent keeper and you are in great hands with her. Another thing I would add is be careful with your temps, Jacksons's can get temporal gland infections with too high ambient temps and because they are a montaine species, do not do well with high basking temps and can quickly get sick or die if exposed to too high temps. You'll want your basking temp to be no higher than 80 degrees, I have a dimmer installed on my heat lamp to help ensure temps do not get hotter than 80. I also have a hygrometer on my boy's basking branch right by the basking bulb as an extra precaution to know where temps are. Ambient temps should be 70-76 degrees, at 77 degrees we find that Jackson's can develop those temporal gland infections I mentioned earlier. Having a second hygrometer in the middle of the enclosure to ensure temps are correct will help with that. I use the Govee hygrometers for my boy, I especially like them because you can set an alarm to go off on your phone if temps get too high. Lastly, nighttime temps. Again, this is a montaine species and they do require a pretty drastic temperature drop at night in order to get a good nights sleep. You'll need to get your baby to 65 degrees or even into the 50s at night would be even better if you can manage that. Without the temp drops it will shorten his lifespan quite a bit. I have my boy in my basement where it is drastically cooler than the rest of my house AND I have a room AC unit in the room my boy is in to assist me with getting temps below 65 degrees.

Let us know what other questions you have!! Happy to help any time!

 

[dethspawnn]

Oh wow thank you for all this info!

I knew his cage was going to be an issue and I’ve been looking for a minimum 24x24x48 glass cage just having kind of hard luck lately. I’ve been debating going to mesh but my climate is of concern for temps and humidity. I live in Colorado where elevation is high, things are dry and air is thin.
His temps never exceed 80 during the day besides on basking branch. Which usually is around 80-85. The rage of the cage is 71-75 usually. I want to swap out the fake plants just haven’t been sure how to hang real plants in the air on a glass cage kinda pushing me to mesh aswell(maybe any tips or tricks??)
I surround his cage sometimes with things to block the glass and an outside view
His 5.0 bulb sits around 4-6 inches from cage hosted by coasters to avoid burn but I was just about to go and buy a 10.0 T5 for the extra heat and UVB. Would you recommended?
The cage DID get a clean up crew about a week or two ago. The soil is normal potting soil. I was just about to do my second today actually because I was worried the soil would have mold and that’s breeding in the air causing unhappiness.
For drainage I have a hole in the back corner which allows me to connect my shop vac to suck up water from the hydroballs separated by mesh 4ish inches under

Thank you so much for the Calcium & vitamin help aswell. The reptile store said 1-2 times a week to bring the deficiency back would be a okay. So once a month is a lot a lot less. I feel so terrible .

I do have this to ask. I’m missing a Reptibreeze and a Fogger in the setup which has been stressing me out. Would you recommend one over the other? Are they kinda useful a necessity? I’ll also probably pick up a bigger hood and redo a lot so my lil guy can be happy. Thank you again!

 

[dethspawnn]

Hello and warmest welcomes to you and your Jack-jack!! Can you share photos of your cham? The sub-species you have the females can also have horns and are often confused with being a male.

I agree with everything Beman shared above. She is an excellent keeper and you are in great hands with her. Another thing I would add is be careful with your temps, Jacksons's can get temporal gland infections with too high ambient temps and because they are a montaine species, do not do well with high basking temps and can quickly get sick or die if exposed to too high temps. You'll want your basking temp to be no higher than 80 degrees, I have a dimmer installed on my heat lamp to help ensure temps do not get hotter than 80. I also have a hygrometer on my boy's basking branch right by the basking bulb as an extra precaution to know where temps are. Ambient temps should be 70-76 degrees, at 77 degrees we find that Jackson's can develop those temporal gland infections I mentioned earlier. Having a second hygrometer in the middle of the enclosure to ensure temps are correct will help with that. I use the Govee hygrometers for my boy, I especially like them because you can set an alarm to go off on your phone if temps get too high. Lastly, nighttime temps. Again, this is a montaine species and they do require a pretty drastic temperature drop at night in order to get a good nights sleep. You'll need to get your baby to 65 degrees or even into the 50s at night would be even better if you can manage that. Without the temp drops it will shorten his lifespan quite a bit. I have my boy in my basement where it is drastically cooler than the rest of my house AND I have a room AC unit in the room my boy is in to assist me with getting temps below 65 degrees.

Let us know what other questions you have!! Happy to help any time!

Thank you for your response and all your help!

I’ll def be looking into a bigger cage, cut back on supplements, etc! I just read through and replied to that one!

I will make sure to pick some of those up to read temps and such better than what I have! I’ll make sure to get the heat down a bit in all areas! I can get his nighttime temps into from 50-65 no worries! I just worried 55 and lower would be to cold (reading a bunch of crappy articles probably.)

I’m thankfully off of work because of a surgery so he will get put in his little free roam for a few while I adjust temps and make it sustainable with this info until I can get everything together

 

[elizaann2]

I'll jump in here . See my answers in bold

Oh wow thank you for all this info!

I knew his cage was going to be an issue and I’ve been looking for a minimum 24x24x48 glass cage just having kind of hard luck lately. Unfortunatly a glass enclosure that size would be very heavy and I'm afraid hard to find. Knowing you are in CO (I live in a nearby state with similar conditions), I would suggest you actually look into a hybrid enclosure for your baby. Some great ones are Dragon Strand and Tamura Designs. If those are a bit too pricy for you, you could get a ReptiBreeze XL 24x24x48 enclosure and attach corrugated plastic to the 3 sides. If you need further help in humidity levels you can get the winter window cling stuff from Home Depot and cover the door of his enclosure with that, just be sure to leave the top of the enclosure and the service panel open for airflow. I’ve been debating going to mesh but my climate is of concern for temps and humidity. I live in Colorado where elevation is high, things are dry and air is thin.
His temps never exceed 80 during the day besides on basking branch. Which usually is around 80-85. Great, just keep an eye on that basking branch, you do not want it to go above 80 degrees. The rage of the cage is 71-75 usually. Perfect I want to swap out the fake plants just haven’t been sure how to hang real plants in the air on a glass cage kinda pushing me to mesh aswell(maybe any tips or tricks??). Glass is tricky too I actually don't know how you would do that, if you get a mesh ensclosure and wrap it with corrugated plastic, that will create stronger surface areas for you to attach branches and plants. You can also purchase Dragon Strand Ledges to help with this as well, however with the corrugated plastic, it is not necessary. Ive seen other people use those white garden trellis things or you could attach stronger branches in the corners of the enclosure to be the base for holding weight with plants/sticks.
His 5.0 bulb sits around 4-6 inches from cage hosted by coasters to avoid burn but I was just about to go and buy a 10.0 T5 for the extra heat and UVB. Would you recommended? Nope, what you ahve right now is perfect. I find my Jacksons often basks at a UVI reading of 3 or he seems to prefer to bask at a 4. the 10.0 UVB is not necessary
The cage DID get a clean up crew about a week or two ago. The soil is normal potting soil. I was just about to do my second today actually because I was worried the soil would have mold and that’s breeding in the air causing unhappiness. What kind of potting soil? There can be fertilizer balls and a bunch of other stuff your baby should not be eating if he zaps at a bug down in the dirt.
For drainage I have a hole in the back corner which allows me to connect my shop vac to suck up water from the hydroballs separated by mesh 4ish inches under great!

Thank you so much for the Calcium & vitamin help aswell. The reptile store said 1-2 times a week to bring the deficiency back would be a okay. So once a month is a lot a lot less. I feel so terrible . Don't feel terrible, chameleons have very unique care requirements and you are new, you will not automatically know everything and there is a big learning curve to these guys. Give yourself patience and grace. You are in a good place to learn best about how to care for your little guy and that is a wonderful wonderful start. I do agree with Beman on supplementation. Follow what she says

I do have this to ask. I’m missing a Reptibreeze and a Fogger in the setup which has been stressing me out. Would you recommend one over the other? Are they kinda useful a necessity? I’ll also probably pick up a bigger hood and redo a lot so my lil guy can be happy. Thank you again! The fogger will actually hydrate your baby at night. In the wild chameleons get their hydration in the early morning when fog banks roll in. We try to mimic this with our fog machines. Its not necessary to keeping chameleons but if you can get temps below 68 degrees at night, it is helpful in keeping your little one hydrated. The Reptibreeze you'll need just because you do need a bigger enclosure, however it doesnt have to be a ReptiBreeze . You have many options

 

[elizaann2]

Thank you for your response and all your help!

I’ll def be looking into a bigger cage, cut back on supplements, etc! I just read through and replied to that one!

I will make sure to pick some of those up to read temps and such better than what I have! I’ll make sure to get the heat down a bit in all areas! I can get his nighttime temps into from 50-65 no worries! I just worried 55 and lower would be to cold (reading a bunch of crappy articles probably.)

I’m thankfully off of work because of a surgery so he will get put in his little free roam for a few while I adjust temps and make it sustainable with this info until I can get everything together

Wonderful! I am so happy to hear you can get those temp drops at night! Thats one of the biggest killers of Jacksons.

Jacksons are also very passive communicators. People often miss their body language and think they are ok with handling when in reality its very stressful to them. My boy for example has never gaped at me like a panther or veiled would. His color pattern does change and he will start to close his eyes ever so slightly. He doesnt seem to have the 'fight or flight' in him but more so just hunkers down and waits to be eaten type of response so just be very careful. I would suggest knowing he is new to just let him settle in his new home/environment for at least a month before handling him. During this time I would dig into as much reading on Jacksons as you possibly can to learn about their body language so you can understand what your little guy is saying to you. Great resources are the Chameleon Academy Website and podcast. There are quite a few episodes on Jacksons that I found very helpful to me.

 

[dethspawnn]

Hello and warmest welcomes to you and your Jack-jack!! Can you share photos of your cham? The sub-species you have the females can also have horns and are often confused with being a male.

I agree with everything Beman shared above. She is an excellent keeper and you are in great hands with her. Another thing I would add is be careful with your temps, Jacksons's can get temporal gland infections with too high ambient temps and because they are a montaine species, do not do well with high basking temps and can quickly get sick or die if exposed to too high temps. You'll want your basking temp to be no higher than 80 degrees, I have a dimmer installed on my heat lamp to help ensure temps do not get hotter than 80. I also have a hygrometer on my boy's basking branch right by the basking bulb as an extra precaution to know where temps are. Ambient temps should be 70-76 degrees, at 77 degrees we find that Jackson's can develop those temporal gland infections I mentioned earlier. Having a second hygrometer in the middle of the enclosure to ensure temps are correct will help with that. I use the Govee hygrometers for my boy, I especially like them because you can set an alarm to go off on your phone if temps get too high. Lastly, nighttime temps. Again, this is a montaine species and they do require a pretty drastic temperature drop at night in order to get a good nights sleep. You'll need to get your baby to 65 degrees or even into the 50s at night would be even better if you can manage that. Without the temp drops it will shorten his lifespan quite a bit. I have my boy in my basement where it is drastically cooler than the rest of my house AND I have a room AC unit in the room my boy is in to assist me with getting temps below 65 degrees.

Let us know what other questions you have!! Happy to help any time!

Here is a photo!

 

[dethspawnn]

I'll jump in here . See my answers in bold

Oh wow thank you for all this info!

I knew his cage was going to be an issue and I’ve been looking for a minimum 24x24x48 glass cage just having kind of hard luck lately. Unfortunatly a glass enclosure that size would be very heavy and I'm afraid hard to find. Knowing you are in CO (I live in a nearby state with similar conditions), I would suggest you actually look into a hybrid enclosure for your baby. Some great ones are Dragon Strand and Tamura Designs. If those are a bit too pricy for you, you could get a ReptiBreeze XL 24x24x48 enclosure and attach corrugated plastic to the 3 sides. If you need further help in humidity levels you can get the winter window cling stuff from Home Depot and cover the door of his enclosure with that, just be sure to leave the top of the enclosure and the service panel open for airflow. I’ve been debating going to mesh but my climate is of concern for temps and humidity. I live in Colorado where elevation is high, things are dry and air is thin.
His temps never exceed 80 during the day besides on basking branch. Which usually is around 80-85. Great, just keep an eye on that basking branch, you do not want it to go above 80 degrees. The rage of the cage is 71-75 usually. Perfect I want to swap out the fake plants just haven’t been sure how to hang real plants in the air on a glass cage kinda pushing me to mesh aswell(maybe any tips or tricks??). Glass is tricky too I actually don't know how you would do that, if you get a mesh ensclosure and wrap it with corrugated plastic, that will create stronger surface areas for you to attach branches and plants. You can also purchase Dragon Strand Ledges to help with this as well, however with the corrugated plastic, it is not necessary. Ive seen other people use those white garden trellis things or you could attach stronger branches in the corners of the enclosure to be the base for holding weight with plants/sticks.
His 5.0 bulb sits around 4-6 inches from cage hosted by coasters to avoid burn but I was just about to go and buy a 10.0 T5 for the extra heat and UVB. Would you recommended? Nope, what you ahve right now is perfect. I find my Jacksons often basks at a UVI reading of 3 or he seems to prefer to bask at a 4. the 10.0 UVB is not necessary
The cage DID get a clean up crew about a week or two ago. The soil is normal potting soil. I was just about to do my second today actually because I was worried the soil would have mold and that’s breeding in the air causing unhappiness. What kind of potting soil? There can be fertilizer balls and a bunch of other stuff your baby should not be eating if he zaps at a bug down in the dirt.
For drainage I have a hole in the back corner which allows me to connect my shop vac to suck up water from the hydroballs separated by mesh 4ish inches under great!

Thank you so much for the Calcium & vitamin help aswell. The reptile store said 1-2 times a week to bring the deficiency back would be a okay. So once a month is a lot a lot less. I feel so terrible . Don't feel terrible, chameleons have very unique care requirements and you are new, you will not automatically know everything and there is a big learning curve to these guys. Give yourself patience and grace. You are in a good place to learn best about how to care for your little guy and that is a wonderful wonderful start. I do agree with Beman on supplementation. Follow what she says

I do have this to ask. I’m missing a Reptibreeze and a Fogger in the setup which has been stressing me out. Would you recommend one over the other? Are they kinda useful a necessity? I’ll also probably pick up a bigger hood and redo a lot so my lil guy can be happy. Thank you again! The fogger will actually hydrate your baby at night. In the wild chameleons get their hydration in the early morning when fog banks roll in. We try to mimic this with our fog machines. Its not necessary to keeping chameleons but if you can get temps below 68 degrees at night, it is helpful in keeping your little one hydrated. The Reptibreeze you'll need just because you do need a bigger enclosure, however it doesnt have to be a ReptiBreeze . You have many options

I just got a 24x24x48 mesh cage set in my cart with some corrugated plastic and a fogger!

I just took his bulb and raised it by another few inches from his cage to help with his temps! I set my reader and it said basking was at 78.4 on the basking spot but I know they’re not the most accurate but it is at least down for now!

But now he’s dark and on the ceiling between the UVB bulb and heat lamp. He does this often.

 

[elizaann2]

Here is a photo!

View attachment 359681

Oh my gosh he is a cutie! Ya that looks like a male to me. The females often have 1 horn I believe.

 

[elizaann2]

I just got a 24x24x48 mesh cage set in my cart with some corrugated plastic and a fogger!

I just took his bulb and raised it by another few inches from his cage to help with his temps! I set my reader and it said basking was at 78.4 on the basking spot but I know they’re not the most accurate but it is at least down for now!

But now he’s dark and on the ceiling between the UVB bulb and heat lamp. He does this often.

What is your ambient temp right now?

 

[dethspawnn]

What is your ambient temp right now?

Ambient temp is 74, should I just try and turn the heat bulb off as a whole for the time being to see if it does much?

 

[dethspawnn]

Ambient temp is 74, should I just try and turn the heat bulb off as a whole for the time being to see if it does much?

Correction- 68 lower levels, 71.3 top level

 

[Beman]

Just gonna toss in here you want a total of 8-9 inches from the bottom of the fixture to the branches right below it. This puts the cham in the 3 UVI level. So with the fixture being raised you have to account for that distance and add it to the distance of screen to branch. If you are more than 8-9 inches total then the fixture is too far away and you want to adjust it.

 

[elizaann2]

Ambient temp is 74, should I just try and turn the heat bulb off as a whole for the time being to see if it does much?

You can try it and see how he reacts. Just keep an eye on temps. My boy seems to be the most comfortable at 75/76 degrees. Maybe that will help?

 

[elizaann2]

Just gonna toss in here you want a total of 8-9 inches from the bottom of the fixture to the branches right below it. This puts the cham in the 3 UVI level. So with the fixture being raised you have to account for that distance and add it to the distance of screen to branch. If you are more than 8-9 inches total then the fixture is too far away and you want to adjust it.

Thank you Beman for catching that!

 

[JacksJill]

I don't use a basking bulb constantly in any of my jackson's enclosures. I don't use basking at all for the juveniles. When I have a basking lamp it is only 40-50 watts and elevated above the screen at an angle to further limit the heat. I only have the bulbs on for 20-30 minute increments.

I try to keep my ambient temps at 72F.