Just got my first chameleon(s)-Jackson

[Sladeighty5]

I've had my enclosure set up for 2 weeks now and today I finally got a chameleon. I ended up getting a male and female Jackson. The guy at the reptile show talked me into believing they would be great together and easily breed. Once I got home I searched a little and found out I would likely have a lot of babies ( which I wouldn't know what to do with) and it wouldn't be good for the female. I ended up putting them in separate cages. Both instantly drank water and ate at first feeding. I have a few questions:

1. Am I correct not to house them together?
2. Is it OK to have the cages side by side? They seem to get close to each others cage. Kinda sad looking.
3. Is there a size guide to tell how old they are? The guy thought 6-9 months.
4. Mister system or fogger for Jacksons?
5. Anything special to know about Jacksons?

Thanks in advance!!!!

 

[ShaneXD45]

I would house them separate unless you are breeding them. I have a 6 month old Jackson and he is still really small. I have a misting system but I mist by hand. That way I can wipe up excess water on the floor of his cage in between mistings.

 

[Jdean300]

1) Yes, it'll just cause them each a lot of stress. If they are very young it can be acceptable, but not for too long unless you have a massive cage.

2) Ideally, you should block their view of one another. Just seeing each other can be stressful for one or both of them. Or you can place their cages across the room for one another if that is doable.

3) I'd like to know this too, I have no idea with my Jackson

4) I use a mister with my Jackson and it seems to work great. I've never used a fogger though so I don't know how well they work.

5) I don't have anything specific for this question

 

[fluxlizard]

They seem to get close to each others cage. Kinda sad looking.

Be careful about how you interpret your lizard's behavior.

Maybe they are close to each other's cage because they want to be together.

Then again, maybe they are trying to claim their respective territories and are trying to intimidate each other in a subtle way.

Things can be subtle with lizards. Sometimes the only clue intimidation is going on might be one lizard having first go at the food and warmth, and the other lizard only feeding and basking when the other lizard is not interested in doing so...

 

[leedragon]

Be careful about how you interpret your lizard's behavior.

Maybe they are close to each other's cage because they want to be together.

Then again, maybe they are trying to claim their respective territories and are trying to intimidate each other in a subtle way.

Things can be subtle with lizards. Sometimes the only clue intimidation is going on might be one lizard having first go at the food and warmth, and the other lizard only feeding and basking when the other lizard is not interested in doing so...

+1 to that.
better to use a mister system, better if they don't see each other, put something between the cages
and look at this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKTbUaOQ0aA&list=PL4HFX9PBYVY2eIWT0v3ZgYSk-r76SEujI&index=1

 

[Sladeighty5]

Thanks for the input. I have separated them and used aquarium background so they can't see each other. Thanks for the link too!

 

[kplatvoet]

Jacksons are pretty slow at growing -
This might help to give you an idea of how old they are
https://www.chameleonforums.com/monty-jackson-first-year-photos-93405/

 

[Carlton]

I've had my enclosure set up for 2 weeks now and today I finally got a chameleon. I ended up getting a male and female Jackson. The guy at the reptile show talked me into believing they would be great together and easily breed. Once I got home I searched a little and found out I would likely have a lot of babies ( which I wouldn't know what to do with) and it wouldn't be good for the female. I ended up putting them in separate cages. Both instantly drank water and ate at first feeding. I have a few questions:

1. Am I correct not to house them together?
2. Is it OK to have the cages side by side? They seem to get close to each others cage. Kinda sad looking.
3. Is there a size guide to tell how old they are? The guy thought 6-9 months.
4. Mister system or fogger for Jacksons?
5. Anything special to know about Jacksons?

Thanks in advance!!!!

That reptile show vendor drew you in..and made a second sale. Really irresponsible but we see it all the time. Thanks for doing your own research! Keep them visually separated. Even if they don't seem to object to each other now, they need their own territories. The time any pair would choose to share space is minimal...just when the female happens to be receptive to breeding and nothing else. Sure, cages side by side is fine...you can share lighting and misting systems that way. No, they are not "sad" at being separated unless they happen to be tiny hatchlings that are used to being in a small group. They would separate soon enough.

Depending on the climate in your area and the temps and humidity in your house, a combination of misters or ultrasonic foggers can work for jax very well. Just a clarification...a mister produces larger droplets of water that collect on the cage plants fairly quickly. A fogger will produce room temp fog (very fine water droplets) that can help maintain higher cage humidity without needing as much cage drainage, but using a fogger alone won't necessarily produce enough droplets for active drinking. I often end up using a combination of a timer-controlled mister and a timer-controlled fogger that cycle on and off throughout the day. An accurate humidity gauge is a MUST.

Jax are more sensitive to heat, so watch your room temps in summer. They need to cool off at night as well. They are more sensitive to fat-soluable vitamins, so you will want to use multivitamin dusts less often than you would for a panther or veiled.

 

[greyshadow77]

housing

You could keep them together with the right size cage and enough hiding place basking areas. But you would have cons to it. they breed which means babies. and one of the main con is not only stress but instead of one sick chameleon you could have two sick chameleons.

 

[greyshadow77]

I forgot to say Congrats on the new Chameleons.

 

[chinesestyle1]

How can you keep the temperature low enough. At night. Use air conditioner?

 

[ShaneXD45]

Jacksons are pretty slow at growing -
This might help to give you an idea of how old they are
https://www.chameleonforums.com/monty-jackson-first-year-photos-93405/

This is interesting. My little guy is still very small and he is 6 months and 1 day old.

 

[Sladeighty5]

That reptile show vendor drew you in..and made a second sale. Really irresponsible but we see it all the time. Thanks for doing your own research! Keep them visually separated. Even if they don't seem to object to each other now, they need their own territories. The time any pair would choose to share space is minimal...just when the female happens to be receptive to breeding and nothing else. Sure, cages side by side is fine...you can share lighting and misting systems that way. No, they are not "sad" at being separated unless they happen to be tiny hatchlings that are used to being in a small group. They would separate soon enough.

Depending on the climate in your area and the temps and humidity in your house, a combination of misters or ultrasonic foggers can work for jax very well. Just a clarification...a mister produces larger droplets of water that collect on the cage plants fairly quickly. A fogger will produce room temp fog (very fine water droplets) that can help maintain higher cage humidity without needing as much cage drainage, but using a fogger alone won't necessarily produce enough droplets for active drinking. I often end up using a combination of a timer-controlled mister and a timer-controlled fogger that cycle on and off throughout the day. An accurate humidity gauge is a MUST.

Jax are more sensitive to heat, so watch your room temps in summer. They need to cool off at night as well. They are more sensitive to fat-soluable vitamins, so you will want to use multivitamin dusts less often than you would for a panther or veiled.

Ya I think he was just trying to make a sale. I have suspicion that he also lied about them being captive bred and their age. I guess you have to watch who you trust.

To touch on you comment about a hydrometer. I have 2, the basic plastic kind and a acurite that I read good reviews on. Both are never close to each other. Idk which one to believe. I calibrated the plastic one. Not sure which to believe.

 

[Miss Lily]

https://www.chameleonforums.com/monty-jackson-first-year-photos-93405/

Awwww, that's my boy's first year growth thread! I miss that l'il green dude. I have a new baby Jackson now - he's 10 months old now. Yes, Jacksons grow very slowly compared to Veileds and Panthers. The other thing to watch with Jackson's is they require a different supplement schedule. Here's a link to a good care sheet written by members of the forum: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/jacksons/