Jacksons Cham Prep

[BKO Overdrive]

Okay so ive been on here for a few months and have learned a large amount of info on here, more than any one person could give me. I currently have one Female Veiled, shes doing great and she is because of this places wealth of knowledge and the members here. But back to the main question.....Is im reaching out to all members who have Jackson's. I have read the care sheets once...twice....then three times to understand everything. I know compared to my veiled they are different and require less supplementation, In my head i was going to do this. Calium without D3 tuesday and thursday.....With d3 sunday then the week after next doing vitamins. Sheet said Calcium without d3 twice a week and vit and W/d3 once a month. When Julia was little i had her in a medium cage and left all her old ropes and vines in there, i had a large plant dipper she would drink from that was to small to go to the XL cage I have a source of water vines and plants and a medum cage all setup. No my only concern was when i get her i got a dual lamp combo which wasnt bad for a veiled or lets say a panther, but since these guys like it cooler i figured a dual setup would not work, or could i get away with it? Unless i order it I dont have ready access to the linear tubes where I live just the compact florescent's I know its a sin to most but ive used them with no issues and changed them out when needed. When i got the larger cage I got a deep dome for the uvb and a separate heat lamp and i spread them out, shes been doing great, id guess i could do something similar unless the combo light isnt advised. I live in Louisiana so humidity is ALWAYS high, if its under 70% its most likely winter. So thats not an issue. I have a monsoon that works for me and I bought a different timer for it since i know those go out. I bought the expandable nozzle so i have a third nozzle ready that i can add on to the extra cage. Is it okay to have the same misting times as my veiled? I want to make sure im 100% good before I advance, last time i bought Julia and i was not ready, she never suffered but I could have done better. Shes doing great and i want to make sure that my new buddy is okay too.

I saw this Jackson at my local Petco, never in a million years would i think I would see one. I love having a chameleon so much that i knew my next one would be a nosey be or a jacksons. The manager gave me a price I cant refuse and honestly Im not trying to rescue animals but ive seen three panthers pass away at that shop due to lack of care, one had an eye infection and the other was dehydrated with MBD. Ive become the customer who walks in and annoys the workers to make sure they take care of there chameleons. Seeing both of them go threw this I see this Jackson and I know he will die too. So id love to obtain him

 

[Andee]

I recommend long mistings, like at least two minutes, I prefer 4 minutes, 4 times a day for my Jackson. His basking temp shouldn't be higher than 83. How big is the medium reptibreeze? An adult Jackson should have at least an 18x18x36 cage.

 

[BKO Overdrive]

@Andee I forgot to mention the Jackson they have at Petco is a baby, hes small, about the size of maybe a thumb and a half, looks to be 2-3 months old. figured when he got older I would put him in the XL cage and move my girl into a Large Cage. The medium is 16x16x30 the large is 18x18x36 so i can either put him in the large when i get it or the XL and move them around. Im prepared to get another cage in the future but for now hes a baby which i failed to mention. What do you think about lighting?

 

[Andee]

He will only need a 60 watt bulb most likely, and a 5.0 uvb. Lots of foliage, he will be hard to hand tame in the beginning most likely, Jackson chams can be really shy especially since they are usually wild caught when in petco and such. He may be closer to 4 months, not sure, you'd have to send a picture. They grow extremely slow and are a lot smaller than veiled chameleons. I would definitely teach him to cup feed to, it is safer for babies and makes sure you know they are eating. Definitely make sure he doesn't have mbd. I rescued a female Jackson from petco who has severe MBD because the petco I was at wasn't supposed to have Jackson chameleons and they weren't prepared to take care of her at all. She is a lot better now, but they easily get overdosed with vitamins so you gotta watch out for gular edema with Jackson chameleons and be prepared to treat it.

 

[BKO Overdrive]

@Andee thats why im trying to quickly get him out of there, I asked them if they knew exactly what that way and the "reptile employee" thats always there when i go said its "another chameleon" I mist him at the end of the day and in the morning. When i bent down to see him cause they have him at the very bottom, he crawled form the back to the front of the glass and just stared and looked at me, while i added the human emotion to it as him saying "GET ME OUT" lol. Could i get away with a dual lamp setup or should i get two separate lamp fixtures with there own bulbs? I have a 60wat ready to go and a uvb 5.0 Only problem im trying to think is the mistings. I give my veiled 1 min sessions 4 times a day

 

[Andee]

The problem with having Jackson chameleons in stores is they are very antisocial in the beginning and so don't do well with a lot of staring which happens in the pet stores. So any Jackson I have seen in stores, desperately try to hide. The dual fixture should be fine in my opinion. Though t5 is preferred, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[BKO Overdrive]

@Andee Okay thank you very much you have been a huge help, ill make sure to take pictures and tag you in it

 

[Andee]

He must be the cutest little doll, I love baby jacksons

 

[BKO Overdrive]

I was shocked how he walked right up to me when i got closer, he just looked and observed me, hopefully no one gets him and he doesnt get looked at to much, He really hiding and not to much in the open, he looks healthy from what i can tell and hes a bright beautiful green

 

[paulkaranik]

Jacksons are pretty easy to take care of. I have a 2 year old male and 5 month old female.

I follow a standard dusting schedule except I only dust every other feeding. (While still including d3 and multivitamin) I don't have a misting system but use a pump mist sprayer and mist them about 5-8 times a day. Of course that all depends on humidity. I live in Hawaii and don't use ac so it is pretty humid during the day (the are inside near a window)

Other than normal Uva & b the most important thing is to give them natural sunlight every week for at least an hour. I have found it increases their mood and " sense for adventure". Wild bugs every now and then also will do wonders!!!

Hope this helps

 

[BKO Overdrive]

Jacksons are pretty easy to take care of. I have a 2 year old male and 5 month old female.

I follow a standard dusting schedule except I only dust every other feeding. (While still including d3 and multivitamin) I don't have a misting system but use a pump mist sprayer and mist them about 5-8 times a day. Of course that all depends on humidity. I live in Hawaii and don't use ac so it is pretty humid during the day (the are inside near a window)

Other than normal Uva & b the most important thing is to give them natural sunlight every week for at least an hour. I have found it increases their mood and " sense for adventure". Wild bugs every now and then also will do wonders!!!

Hope this helps

This does help thank you very much for your info! Saturday is the day i go to get my buddy, ill make an external encloser, right now the weather is perfect for this because its just starting to get cooler

 

[RBCam]

Okay so ive been on here for a few months and have learned a large amount of info on here, more than any one person could give me. I currently have one Female Veiled, shes doing great and she is because of this places wealth of knowledge and the members here. But back to the main question.....Is im reaching out to all members who have Jackson's. I have read the care sheets once...twice....then three times to understand everything. I know compared to my veiled they are different and require less supplementation, In my head i was going to do this. Calium without D3 tuesday and thursday.....With d3 sunday then the week after next doing vitamins. Sheet said Calcium without d3 twice a week and vit and W/d3 once a month. When Julia was little i had her in a medium cage and left all her old ropes and vines in there, i had a large plant dipper she would drink from that was to small to go to the XL cage I have a source of water vines and plants and a medum cage all setup. No my only concern was when i get her i got a dual lamp combo which wasnt bad for a veiled or lets say a panther, but since these guys like it cooler i figured a dual setup would not work, or could i get away with it? Unless i order it I dont have ready access to the linear tubes where I live just the compact florescent's I know its a sin to most but ive used them with no issues and changed them out when needed. When i got the larger cage I got a deep dome for the uvb and a separate heat lamp and i spread them out, shes been doing great, id guess i could do something similar unless the combo light isnt advised. I live in Louisiana so humidity is ALWAYS high, if its under 70% its most likely winter. So thats not an issue. I have a monsoon that works for me and I bought a different timer for it since i know those go out. I bought the expandable nozzle so i have a third nozzle ready that i can add on to the extra cage. Is it okay to have the same misting times as my veiled? I want to make sure im 100% good before I advance, last time i bought Julia and i was not ready, she never suffered but I could have done better. Shes doing great and i want to make sure that my new buddy is okay too.

I saw this Jackson at my local Petco, never in a million years would i think I would see one. I love having a chameleon so much that i knew my next one would be a nosey be or a jacksons. The manager gave me a price I cant refuse and honestly Im not trying to rescue animals but ive seen three panthers pass away at that shop due to lack of care, one had an eye infection and the other was dehydrated with MBD. Ive become the customer who walks in and annoys the workers to make sure they take care of there chameleons. Seeing both of them go threw this I see this Jackson and I know he will die too. So id love to obtain him

BKO Good luck with your new Jackson. I have a female I got at Petco over a year ago she has always been healthy and is still doing great. I had a Male I purchased a few months later from Petco that came with a small fungal spot that I never could get better and he eventually died from it some months later. So make sure your animal is healthy to start with. I use a duel lamp set up and works fine just be careful that you do not run branches too close to the light and the basking area under the light does not get much above 80% I used to use a 60 watt bulb but now use a 40 watt just to be safe. I feed my feeder crickets and roaches, kale, squash and spirlina powder and dust them with with calcium without D3 and dust with a multi vitamin with D3 about every other week. I find I have to mist slowly and and long enough to allow them to drink if they want too. It takes them a few minuets for them to decided they are thirsty. Before I had the Mistking I would mist by hand mist the entire cage and the animal real good with a fine mist. Then leave the them alone for 5 minuets and come back and mist again this time with a gentle stream and spray the leaves directly above the animal for a few minuets until they started drinking from the stream. It takes some time and somedays they don't want to drink that much but you have to give them a chance. I would do that about 2 times day and would just lightly mist the cage about every time I walked by it. but at least 3 times a day. I have a mistking mister set for 1 minute first thing in the morning. Then for 5 minutes about 5 minuets later then for 1 minute every 3 hours until late afternoon when I do another 5 minute spray and about 1 hour before the lights go off I do another 1 minute spray to keep it humid during the night but do it 1 hour before the lights go off to give them a chance to warm up if they want before evening. Keep it wet and humid but also let things dry every so often and keep your poop cleaned up. The biggest thing I can tell you from my experience is to make sure your setup allows for good water drainage.
My male was friendly he loved to get out and check things out and was a lot of fun my female could care less and is happiest being left alone to eat and bask and enjoys lots of cover. So play it by ear and don't force them to much and stress them out but I think they are all different personalities. Good Luck and read and learn a lot about them and enjoy your new buddy.

 

[BKO Overdrive]

Thank you @RBCam for your advice, One thing I am currently working on is drainage right now, im noticing from everyone that it is key to keep them moist. As for the gutload, I love using cricket crack, however they have a special cricket crack for montane species so i ordered some of that, i think i saw they swap a few ingredients around specifically for them. I do have a dripper plant that was the perfect size for the medium cage until he grows up. My misting schedule for my Veiled is 1 min 4 times a day at 9am/11am/1pm/5pm then lights out at 730, the humidty down here in louisiana is so high so things take longer to dry out. But for this guy im thinking of building a cage holder made of PFC that the cage can sit in, then i can put a drain tray under it and drain it out daily. Spray the PVC Black to blend in with the cage a little. I saw it from a user here on youtube and he just made a little "roll cage" if you will that the main cage sits in. This will be in my house with carpet floors so i have to make sure everything drains correctly with a few trials run. Then only problem im seeing right now is mist times for my new guy and my female Veiled. Im trying to use the same system for both but Im starting to see that Jacksons require more mist and water than a veiled would? Or is that wrong? Would the same mistings work for my vieled?

 

[Fiona's Mom]

If you are sure you are going to get him and don't want him bought out from under you....you might go to the manager and offer a deposit to hold him until your enclosure is ready. Hate for you to go all out and the discover he has been sold.

 

[BKO Overdrive]

If you are sure you are going to get him and don't want him bought out from under you....you might go to the manager and offer a deposit to hold him until your enclosure is ready. Hate for you to go all out and the discover he has been sold.

Yeah thats a good idea, I was going to work on the PVC today but ill swing by today to see if i can do something like that, id like to get the drainage system worked out before anything.

 

[Andee]

Misting times for a Jackson work fine for a veiled, I do the same times for Jackson as I do for panther.

 

[BKO Overdrive]

Misting times for a Jackson work fine for a veiled, I do the same times for Jackson as I do for panther.

Ok thats perfect, thank everyone so much for helping me in this journey, I will take lots of pics and im sure he will be happy thanks to you guys