Jackson not eating as much now
- Thread starter mhfan305
- Start date
Carlton
Chameleon Enthusiast
Well, we are going to need a lot more information to figure out whether there's a problem or not. There are too many possibilities right now. Please go to the "Health Clinic" subforum and look for the sticky message at the top titled "How to ask for Help". The questions in that post are designed to help us help you. Please post the answers in as much detail as you can (because the devil is in the details). We can usually figure out if lack of appetite is a normal part of your cham's age or whether there is a health problem brewing.
mhfan305
New Member
Thank you, here it is...
Chameleon Info:
Jacksonii Jacksonii, male, 3 months in my care
Handling - once a week to clean cage, he always bites at me when I take him out.
Feeding - Crickets and hron worms. 8 circkets per day, 2 horn worms per week.? Cricket crack montane gut load.
Supplements -
Rep cal cal without d3
Repcal cal with d3
zoo med multivite without d3
Watering - 2 min cycles 5 times a day, spread 3 hours apart. I rarely see him drink.
Fecal Description - I do not see him poop as often now, but the previous poops were not runny, and urine was off white. No I have not tested for parasites.
History - Long term captive.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen, 16x16x30
Lighting - 15 watt exo terra daylight bulb, 5.0 zoo med uvb bulb.
Temperature - 85F @ basking, lowest point of cage is @ 75F. Ambient is 77. I use a temp gun, and a digital thermometer at the basking only.
Humidity - Humidty is at 50%, spikes to 70-80% once misted.
Plants - 1 ficus tree, 1 pothos vine.
Placement - Cage is located in a bedroom, not near any vents, and is 3 feet off the ground.
Location - Miami florida USA
Current Problem - First, when the jackson is in a darker lite part of the cage he is a dark green color with a dark yellow stripe. Under UVB he is brighter colors, when basking he is very dark.
Second, when I first got him he was eating 8 crickets a day and 2 hornworms twice a week. Now he is down to 3-4 crickets every other day. He will he once day, skip a day, maybe 2 im not sure, then eat the rest of the crickets that were left inside the cage.
Chameleon Info:
Jacksonii Jacksonii, male, 3 months in my care
Handling - once a week to clean cage, he always bites at me when I take him out.
Feeding - Crickets and hron worms. 8 circkets per day, 2 horn worms per week.? Cricket crack montane gut load.
Supplements -
Rep cal cal without d3
Repcal cal with d3
zoo med multivite without d3
Watering - 2 min cycles 5 times a day, spread 3 hours apart. I rarely see him drink.
Fecal Description - I do not see him poop as often now, but the previous poops were not runny, and urine was off white. No I have not tested for parasites.
History - Long term captive.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen, 16x16x30
Lighting - 15 watt exo terra daylight bulb, 5.0 zoo med uvb bulb.
Temperature - 85F @ basking, lowest point of cage is @ 75F. Ambient is 77. I use a temp gun, and a digital thermometer at the basking only.
Humidity - Humidty is at 50%, spikes to 70-80% once misted.
Plants - 1 ficus tree, 1 pothos vine.
Placement - Cage is located in a bedroom, not near any vents, and is 3 feet off the ground.
Location - Miami florida USA
Current Problem - First, when the jackson is in a darker lite part of the cage he is a dark green color with a dark yellow stripe. Under UVB he is brighter colors, when basking he is very dark.
Second, when I first got him he was eating 8 crickets a day and 2 hornworms twice a week. Now he is down to 3-4 crickets every other day. He will he once day, skip a day, maybe 2 im not sure, then eat the rest of the crickets that were left inside the cage.
leedragon
Chameleon Enthusiast
"Feeding - Crickets and hron worms. 8 circkets per day, 2 horn worms per week.? Cricket crack montane gut load."
thats not goint to cut it, specieally if he is wild caught, you are going to need atleast 5 different foods insects to switch in between, all my willigensis got tired of the same food in the laps of a week, try p nivea, green walking sticks, dubias, house flies, they love flying insects..
your temps are way too hot for him, the basking sport should stay at 80.7 tops, how are the temps at night? they should be around 60.8.
how often do you use those supplements?
"Cricket crack montane gut load" I personally don´t trust any pre-made gutloadnigs, it is pretty much as trying to replace gutloadning wiht dusting or suplements.
here watch this, it should be about the same for willigensis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKTbUaOQ0aA
ChameLIonLover
Member
Your problem is that he is darker in the light part of the cage? Does that mean when he is under his basking light he turns a darker green color? To my understanding, this is normal because they turn darker and become flatter (to increase surface area) so as to absorb more of the heat.
You said your Jacksons chameleon has been in your care for 3 months, but did not specify his actual age. As long as he is eating every other day at least, I wouldn't be concerned, but we'll see what the more experienced keepers have to say.
You said your Jacksons chameleon has been in your care for 3 months, but did not specify his actual age. As long as he is eating every other day at least, I wouldn't be concerned, but we'll see what the more experienced keepers have to say.
Carlton
Chameleon Enthusiast
Chameleon Info:
Jacksonii Jacksonii, male, 3 months in my care
Age of the cham? Adult? Juvenile? Hatchling? Typically, once a cham reaches adulthood their growth rate slows down a lot and they don't need to eat as much.
Handling - once a week to clean cage, he always bites at me when I take him out.
Feeding - Crickets and hron worms. 8 circkets per day, 2 horn worms per week.? Cricket crack montane gut load.
Supplements -
Rep cal cal without d3
Repcal cal with d3
zoo med multivite without d3
Watering - 2 min cycles 5 times a day, spread 3 hours apart. I rarely see him drink.
Fecal Description - I do not see him poop as often now, but the previous poops were not runny, and urine was off white. No I have not tested for parasites.
Eating less means pooping less.
History - Long term captive.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen, 16x16x30
Lighting - 15 watt exo terra daylight bulb, 5.0 zoo med uvb bulb.
Temperature - 85F @ basking, lowest point of cage is @ 75F. Ambient is 77. I use a temp gun, and a digital thermometer at the basking only.
Much too hot as mentioned.
Humidity - Humidty is at 50%, spikes to 70-80% once misted.
Plants - 1 ficus tree, 1 pothos vine.
Placement - Cage is located in a bedroom, not near any vents, and is 3 feet off the ground.
Location - Miami florida USA
Current Problem - First, when the jackson is in a darker lite part of the cage he is a dark green color with a dark yellow stripe. Under UVB he is brighter colors, when basking he is very dark.
The dark color with a yellow or whitish diamond pattern on his side is a stress or display coloration. If he's just warming up he will tend to be more solid dark to help absorb heat, but with less of the lighter pattern.
Second, when I first got him he was eating 8 crickets a day and 2 hornworms twice a week. Now he is down to 3-4 crickets every other day. He will he once day, skip a day, maybe 2 im not sure, then eat the rest of the crickets that were left inside the cage.
He might have been a bit starved before you got him (due to shipping stress, dehydration, or less than great care), so was rebuilding his reserves. If he's well hydrated and stabilized he may well eat less. If he's now an adult he doesn't need to eat every day anyway.
If you are leaving your feeder insects loose in the cage and don't have any gutload for them they are not very nutritious even a few hours after you dump them in there. Gutloading is just that...and what went in goes out fairly quickly. They also lose their supplement dusting pretty fast. You should remove the uneaten feeders at the end of the day and let them fill up on gutload themselves before offering them again.
Jacksonii Jacksonii, male, 3 months in my care
Age of the cham? Adult? Juvenile? Hatchling? Typically, once a cham reaches adulthood their growth rate slows down a lot and they don't need to eat as much.
Handling - once a week to clean cage, he always bites at me when I take him out.
Feeding - Crickets and hron worms. 8 circkets per day, 2 horn worms per week.? Cricket crack montane gut load.
Supplements -
Rep cal cal without d3
Repcal cal with d3
zoo med multivite without d3
Watering - 2 min cycles 5 times a day, spread 3 hours apart. I rarely see him drink.
Fecal Description - I do not see him poop as often now, but the previous poops were not runny, and urine was off white. No I have not tested for parasites.
Eating less means pooping less.
History - Long term captive.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen, 16x16x30
Lighting - 15 watt exo terra daylight bulb, 5.0 zoo med uvb bulb.
Temperature - 85F @ basking, lowest point of cage is @ 75F. Ambient is 77. I use a temp gun, and a digital thermometer at the basking only.
Much too hot as mentioned.
Humidity - Humidty is at 50%, spikes to 70-80% once misted.
Plants - 1 ficus tree, 1 pothos vine.
Placement - Cage is located in a bedroom, not near any vents, and is 3 feet off the ground.
Location - Miami florida USA
Current Problem - First, when the jackson is in a darker lite part of the cage he is a dark green color with a dark yellow stripe. Under UVB he is brighter colors, when basking he is very dark.
The dark color with a yellow or whitish diamond pattern on his side is a stress or display coloration. If he's just warming up he will tend to be more solid dark to help absorb heat, but with less of the lighter pattern.
Second, when I first got him he was eating 8 crickets a day and 2 hornworms twice a week. Now he is down to 3-4 crickets every other day. He will he once day, skip a day, maybe 2 im not sure, then eat the rest of the crickets that were left inside the cage.
He might have been a bit starved before you got him (due to shipping stress, dehydration, or less than great care), so was rebuilding his reserves. If he's well hydrated and stabilized he may well eat less. If he's now an adult he doesn't need to eat every day anyway.
If you are leaving your feeder insects loose in the cage and don't have any gutload for them they are not very nutritious even a few hours after you dump them in there. Gutloading is just that...and what went in goes out fairly quickly. They also lose their supplement dusting pretty fast. You should remove the uneaten feeders at the end of the day and let them fill up on gutload themselves before offering them again.
Bush baby
Avid Member
How often are you offering each supplement powder; you don't say?
You should be giving him the Calcium WITHOUT D3 everyday; the calcuim WITHOUT D3 once - twice a month, and the same with the multisite.
As other's have said, your cage is too hot. It should not go over 80. The basking spot should be about '80' and the cage should range from about 70-78 degrees. They like it cool. The night temps should drop into the 60's.
You live in Florida. Take him outside for some natural sunlight, and at least one hour a day/twice a week, and you won't have to worry about the D3 supplementation...
You should be giving him the Calcium WITHOUT D3 everyday; the calcuim WITHOUT D3 once - twice a month, and the same with the multisite.
As other's have said, your cage is too hot. It should not go over 80. The basking spot should be about '80' and the cage should range from about 70-78 degrees. They like it cool. The night temps should drop into the 60's.
You live in Florida. Take him outside for some natural sunlight, and at least one hour a day/twice a week, and you won't have to worry about the D3 supplementation...
leedragon
Chameleon Enthusiast
dpnt do it due when is too hot outside, and dont leave him in the direct sunlight, just in the morgnins ang evning should be fine
mhfan305
New Member
He is an adult, maybe 1-2 years old. I dust with calcium twice a week, d3 once per month, and vit once per month. Im going by the jackson chameleon caresheet here on the site, they do not do well with over supplementation. He isnt a black color, he is just a dark green, with his yellow stripe that he always has had being darker as well. I just figured he was in a neutral, relaxed coloration but wasnt sure. The caresheet also says for adults have the basking spot 82-85F. I see him use it all the time so I dont think its a problem, plus he has plenty chances to drink throughout the day. And yes I keep plenty of gutload in the cage for the feeders, I see them eat it all the time. So no worries there. He just isnt as bright as he used to be. But I did put 4 crickets in his cage today and 3 are gone. Tell me what you guys think? Im going by the jackson caresheet on this site because he is a jackson. So I figured its right.
When I clean his cage this Monday, I will take a picture of him and post it here.
When I clean his cage this Monday, I will take a picture of him and post it here.
mhfan305
New Member
That was at 4 pm, the lights go off at 6. He is a darker green color all over most of the day. So maybe that wasnt such a good photo. I will upload another sometime soon.
