Jacksons chameleon still brown

[spockman]

my jacksons chameleon is still brown. I got him a week ago. Please help!

handling: only when cleaning.
feeding: 5 crickets a day at 3:00. pre gutloaded by petco.
supplements: calcium without d3 every day, with d3 twice a month, multivitamin twice a month.
water: misting and dripper. i do see him drinking sometimes.
fecal: nice brown poop. seems healthy.
cage type: dont lnow dimensions, but is pretty big. screen
lights: reptiglo 100 watt raised a couple inches above.
temps: 74-77. basking 83-85
humidity: i keep it at 70.sometimes but rarely drops to 40.
plants: mostly weepin fig ficuses
area: corner of my room. i keep all windows closed.
location: maine.

 

[JeffWheeler18]

What do you mean by pre gut loaded? Although the crickets may have been gut loaded when you bought them its still important to supply gut load all the way up until you feed them off. You should also be feeding him much more then 5, assuming he's pretty young since you just got him a week ago. Another thing is that that wattage is far to high for a jackson's, they would do just fine with a 75 watt house bulb for a basking light. You also don't mention having a uvb, they're essential for a healthy chameleon! I hope changing these few things will help you out! Congrats on your new chameleon!

 

[kplatvoet]

How old is he? How late do you keep the lights on ?

Young Jacksons are sort of brown they don't really get green until they get older My baby (4 months) is green when he's sleeping but not so much in the day when he's hunting - some are more reddish- a picture would help- Mine has also gotten greener since he shed -but browner when he sleeps- I wouldn't worry about color so much as long as he's active and eating-

I'm a newbie - I got my Jackson in an emergency situation with little or no information about it before hand - I thought that because I had a chameleon 30 years ago - in it's natural habitat I was ready for one-I wasn't - but there is a lot of information here and I continue to learn new things every day- It's hard to fill out the "how to ask for help" when your worried - I'm assuming you didn't put in a UVB light and have one - from your info it looks like you did your homework - your temps are good - but you should be feeding him in the first 1/2 of the day (his day) so he has a chance to digest his food - If he's eating and exploring I wouldn't worry too much about the his color - maybe add some more cover - if you don't already have it - my jackson likes a lot of place to hide and climb - hiding being the key word - He'll be less stressed and it does take them a while to relax in a new cage -
My Jackson gets board with his food- he mostly likes fruit flies and staple flies - phoenix worms - but he eats better and is more active when I switch them up one day he'll be crazy for pinheads the next he ignores the cup and goes for the fruit flies- Jacksons like things that fly- I get mine staple flies from mantisplace.com he's small. The blue bottle ones they have there last longer and my panther loves them- He had a problem adjusting to me when I first got him (he hated the site of me) but he forgets he hates me and turns on his color when he has a cage full of flies in his outside cage - if you pop them in the fridge they you can slow them down for inside use -
Be careful with supplementing and Jackson's some supplements have D3 in them - and Jackson's require less- I'm still not sure what the "right" amount is when it comes to that - when I've been here 10 years maybe I can let you know.

 

[junglefries]

?

Young ones are brown. It may take a while to turn green if he is older. UVB and humidity is a necessity with jax. They are very much different than veils or panthers. Watch Rawg277201 videos on youtube. This will give you a good idea of what you've gotten yourself into.

 

[spockman]

thanks for the info but i do have a uvb light. also why do i need to lower the watts? i keep the temp at 85