Jackson subspecies id

[teen]

Hi just recently picked up a pair of Jackson chameleons. I was told they were purchased with the intent of the owner breeding the pair.

At first the guy I was buying from said they were mt. Meru but then he tried showing me a pic of the mt .meru type and that did not appear to be correct. The male has 3 horns. The female has 1.

Any help is appreciated. I can get better pictures if needed. This was within hours of them being first introduced to their new setup.

 

[JacksJill]

Those are True Jackson's Chameleons or Trioceros jacksonii Jacksonii like my avatar. Congratulations!

 

[JacksJill]

They will need to be housed separately except for brief introductions for breeding.

 

[teen]

The are housed separately. I built one big enclosure thinking I was going to get a panther chameleon but this pair was more appealing so I ended up splitting the enclosure. Although they can probably see each other and don't seem to have any issues right now I plan on putting up some burlap on the screen that's splitting them so there's no issues in the future.

Is this a more common type of chameleon? I seem to be running into a lot of contradicting info on the web. Are these guys a Hawaiian variety or Kenyan?

 

[JacksJill]

They are Kenyan and not very common. Some of the xanths (Yellow Crested Jackson's) are feral in Hawaii. Xanths are the most common larger species.
T.j.j.'s like yours are mostly imported and very few are bred here. Your pair looks wild caught and your female is probably pregnant with retained sperm. They may or may not be from your male. She will be much happier when she can't see him. She looks a bit dark in that picture. She will brighten up when she has more privacy.
The care sheet has good info on how to keep them. https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/jacksons/ and this as well Jackson's In Captivity, by Kent Manchen incase you haven't seen them.
I'm always happy to help a Jackson's owner especially T.j.j.

 

[teen]

both good reads.i am working on separating the two from view of each other. as for the female possibly being pregnant the guy i bought her from did mention that and she did seem way larger in the stomach area than the male did so i guess ill see what happens.

 

[JacksJill]

This might be of help in that case. https://www.chameleonbreeder.com/podcast/episode-002-surprise-chameleon-babies-yay-yikes/

 

[teen]

im at 75.2F and 85% humidity and thats maybe 6" away from their basking spot. seems like when i mist both male and female tend to shy away from it. ive had them since sunday and i havent seen them drink any water (i have seen them both eat multiple crickets). i did a search on warming the reservoir with an aquarium heater and it seems like some ppl do and some dont. the water is at room temp so idk maybe low 60s? everything ive read makes it seem like chameleons love water but so far im not seeing that out of these two. any thoughts?

 

[JacksJill]

I don't heat my water natural rain isn't heated usually just the opposite. They don't like the initial contact with the water, something is touching them. I get them wet then stop until they settle then start again. They may drink then. Some won't drink in front of a predator so make sure their leaves have droplets on them and they will drink when they feel safer. Keep an eye on the white portion (urates) of the poop to check their hydration. It should be all or mostly white.
Your heater money would be better spent on an ultrasonic cool mist humidifier to mist them at night and keep them hydrated that way. In the wild their overnight humidity levels are 80-90% you may not need it with what you are getting.

 

[teen]

I actually just ordered a mist humidifier last night lol. Should be here tmrw. Thanks for all the help

 

[leedragon]

they should not see eachother. that can bring stress. she looks pregnad thou.