Jackson Chameleon Care

Roger.bowen

Roger.bowen

Established Member
I might be buying a Jackson chameleon (Chamaeleo jacksonii) this summer and was wondering the best way to take care of them, currently I have a veiled chameleon and he is doing pretty well.

Do they have similar care?
Should I use a glass or cage enclosure?
Basking Temps?
Dusting Schedule?
 
I'm learning all about Jacksonii as I'm the proud owner of one for about 3 months now!
I don't have a Veiled but I have read up on them because I was considering them in the past.

1. No not the same, Jacksonii lives cooler and 'requires' a big temp drop (to ~60F) at night...
I've put required in '' because some people keep them warmer but in any case it should be under 70F. Younger ones do better in the higher temps, adults will probably require closer to 60F...
Just shine a light in his eye at night, if he wakes up after a couple of seconds he's not resting properly and it's probably to warm. If he stays asleep your OK. (I use the LED flashlight of my phone for this.)

2. Cage enclosure, it's demand for ventilation is also greater than that of a Veiled.

3. Baskin temps, I keep mine at around 80F under it's basking spot. Room temp in the lower regions of the cage is fine. I use a 50Watt basking lamp and a 26W spiral UVB lamp

4. Dusting I think is the same as veiled.
6x week calcium 1x vitamins, 2x a month calcium with D3.
(I'm not doing the D3, it's a choice and a matter of opinion)

5. It needs to be kept more humid as a Veiled too. 50%-70% at average. For mine I keep the whole room at 50% with a humidifier and he gets sprayed 3x a day automatically and sometimes I spray him myself with hand-warm water because he enjoys it so much... You can also put it in the shower sometimes (I will once I find a big enough Ficus tree)

6. Read care sheets, even tho they seem to differ in opinion quite often you can pick out the useful stuff... :D
 
Remkon said:
I'm learning all about Jacksonii as I'm the proud owner of one for about 3 months now!
I don't have a Veiled but I have read up on them because I was considering them in the past.

1. No not the same, Jacksonii lives cooler and 'requires' a big temp drop (to ~60F) at night...
I've put required in '' because some people keep them warmer but in any case it should be under 70F. Younger ones do better in the higher temps, adults will probably require closer to 60F...
Just shine a light in his eye at night, if he wakes up after a couple of seconds he's not resting properly and it's probably to warm. If he stays asleep your OK. (I use the LED flashlight of my phone for this.)

2. Cage enclosure, it's demand for ventilation is also greater than that of a Veiled.

3. Baskin temps, I keep mine at around 80F under it's basking spot. Room temp in the lower regions of the cage is fine. I use a 50Watt basking lamp and a 26W spiral UVB lamp

4. Dusting I think is the same as veiled.
6x week calcium 1x vitamins, 2x a month calcium with D3.
(I'm not doing the D3, it's a choice and a matter of opinion)

5. It needs to be kept more humid as a Veiled too. 50%-70% at average. For mine I keep the whole room at 50% with a humidifier and he gets sprayed 3x a day automatically and sometimes I spray him myself with hand-warm water because he enjoys it so much... You can also put it in the shower sometimes (I will once I find a big enough Ficus tree)

6. Read care sheets, even tho they seem to differ in opinion quite often you can pick out the useful stuff... :D
Click to expand...
Why do some people keep them in glass?
Is it to maintain humidity? Since I'm in the basement my humidity is always 50-70
 
is that an American breeder? If so, what are the costs of bringing it over the boarder? Only reason I am asking is that I have been looking (nothing serious) but haven't found any in Canada. Besides the odd rough looking one on kijiji...
 
KapitalJ said:
is that an American breeder? If so, what are the costs of bringing it over the boarder? Only reason I am asking is that I have been looking (nothing serious) but haven't found any in Canada. Besides the odd rough looking one on kijiji...
Click to expand...

Shipping is going to be close to 35usd or like 50 cad. I'm not sure how much fees would cost at the border, that's what worries me. It is becoming impossible to find a good Canadian breeder that doesn't charge 3x times the amount for a reptile
 
You better look into the fees first. I have a feeling you may be in for a big surprise, not the good kind :confused:

Does anyone have a rough idea of the import fees to bring a cham from US to Can?

Thanks.
 
KapitalJ said:
You better look into the fees first. I have a feeling you may be in for a big surprise, not the good kind :confused:

Does anyone have a rough idea of the import fees to bring a cham from US to Can?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
I'm trying to figure out how much it would be. If it is going to cost me a fortune I might look for a Canadian breeder that sells reptiles
 
Roger.bowen said:
Why do some people keep them in glass?
Is it to maintain humidity? Since I'm in the basement my humidity is always 50-70
Click to expand...

Yes, it's to maintain humidity...
It's basically a trade-off... If you put in glass you get higher humidity but lower ventilation. Because you add heat to the enclosure the humidity will be lower than the surroundings, don't worry to much about that.

You can keep them in glass but you will need good ventilation from the top and front.
As their demand for ventilation is more important than high humidity I would keep them in a cage, at least as adult, younger Jacksonii seem to do better in glass from what I read.

Good ventilation is essential since they are sensitive for airway infections.
 
I'd say 24" x 18" x 37" is advised for a male Jacksonii Xantholophus and as a female veiled is about as big as a Jacksonii Xantolophus I'd say that's a good size.
A female is smaller so you can go 18"x18x37" I think.
Jacksonii Jacksonii is also smaller than J. Xantolophus so you can also consider that...
There's also merumonthalus which is even smaller but is a more demanding cham.
 
I like the wet/dry section of his care-video... I will use that probably....
Tho under the basking spot it should get dry pretty fast anyways you can use less water to still achieve a humid environment.

I will also build in some drainage once my Jack is going over to his screen enclosure permanently..
Ill use the bucket for the spray system as drainage bucket and just use some aquarium filters material to keep out any dirt.

I was all looking forward to hearing all about the PVC piping being some kind of smart cooling system for the night... I was disapoint :(
 
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