Lathargic Jackson

djfunkshowkid

djfunkshowkid

New Member
Hey all,

I took in a Jackson from a friend to try to get him (?) back to good health. I believe that he/she is only 3-4 months old (about 4-5in from head to tip of tail). He doesn't move around all that often, and just sits there with his eyes closed. I know she CAN open her eyes, because after a shower he opened both of his eyes wide and walked around for about 10 seconds, then found a place to perch and closed eyes again. Here is the information about him from the OLD place...and MY place.

OLD HOME:
Your Chameleon - Jackson Chameleon - Female (I think) - 1 day
Handling - (more often then should be I think)
Feeding - Baby crickets (with calcium)
Supplements - Not sure
Watering - An effing water bowl!!! But did have a dripper and mistings
Fecal Description - Not sure
History - Pet Store

OLD CAGE:
Cage Type - Glass 12x12x12
Lighting - 1 UVB - 1 Incadecent
Temperature - 80-85* ambient
Humidity - 50 %
Plants - Fake plants I believe, with a couple fake vines
Placement - High traffic
Location - Ohio

NEW CAGE:
Cage Type - Full screen 16x16x20
Lighting - 1 UVB - 1 Full spectrium plant light
Temperature - 70-75* ambient
Humidity - 60/65 %
Plants - Spanish Moss (bottom) - Angel moss (lower) - Ficus (majority)
Placement - Medium traffic
Location - Ohio

I have a monsoon misting system that covers 75* of the cage when misting for about 10min every 2hrs.

Again...I've only just had him for a day...but curious what could be the cause of this so I could get the lil bugger back into shape to live a long, happy life.
 

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its a she for sure and its not good that she is sleeping in the day she needs a bigger cage soon preferably18\18\36 go to lllreptile and you can get a mesh one for 30 bucks also leave her alone for at least 5 days just put food in and leave
 
She?

How can you tell that it is a she at only 3-4mo old? I thought females show NO horns at all. In this photo, you can clearly see 3 small ones.

Also....right now, the cage is 16x16x20...which I would think would be plenty large enough for right now while she is only a few inches long. Or were you meaning in a few months....
 

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females have very small horns like that i might be wrong but i think im right i would say you kneed a new cage in 4 months
 
Oh...learn something new every day. I didn't think females had the upper horns at ALL....But...handling is off limits, misting system is set every hour, and putting 4 small crickets in daily for the next week. Let's hope for the best.
 
You are right, females do not have the upper horns, but can have a small nose horn in certain species. Therefore, I would say you have a male there. Here is a good caresheet for you to read and see if there is anything you can do to improve on your set up. You should have a basking light. The plant lights do not give off heat if I am not mistaken.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/jacksons/
 
Right, the plant light is just to add more spectrum of lighting and to add a bit of UV-A. The UV-B is a 100w UVB/UVA/Heat bulb for basking.

Of course, now that I think about it....should the UVB and basking be seperate so he could get out of the UVB rays and just get warm? Hmmmmmmm
 
Alright, so I re-arranged a few things, and now I have his humidity around 75% and ambient temp 75-80*. Everything is on timers (including the misting machine)...so everything it completely quarantined and off limits!
 
Yes, that is the best way to do it with two separate lights. Some people do use a basking/uvb combo, but most go with the tube style uvb and then a basking bulb in a dome. You can just use an ordinary white housebulb. Your wattage will depend upon what basking temp you attempting to achieve. You will just have to play around with different wattages. I know they do not require super hot basking temps. The caresheet I gave you tells you the ideal temps to use.
 
Wow dude, what an epic video! That gave me so much useful information that I didn't know about Jacksons, and a few things to change.

However, would you suggest such a wet/dry environment right now while he/she is so young?

Mine is moving around a bit, specially this morning. The eyes are still closed...maybe a tight squint at best. Mainly just staying in one part of the enclosure (probably because he/she can't see where it's going)...but proping it's head up, and re-adjusting its posture quite a bit.

This morning while watching, I noticed that it buldged it's eyes a bit like it would while shedding (maybe a split second each time)...and would move its turrets around like it was looking around, yet still with closed eyes. I hope this is a good sign that it's at least exercising its eye muscles and still moving them to maybe start opening its eyes here soon.

I have still yet to see it drink / eat at all....

Please everyone, give me as much possible advice as you can!!!

Thank you all so much for following this post and help with suggestions.

Also, is this normal "PJ's" for Jacksons at night (sorry its blurry)?
 

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djfunkshowkid said:
Wow dude, what an epic video! That gave me so much useful information that I didn't know about Jacksons, and a few things to change.

However, would you suggest such a wet/dry environment right now while he/she is so young?

Mine is moving around a bit, specially this morning. The eyes are still closed...maybe a tight squint at best. Mainly just staying in one part of the enclosure (probably because he/she can't see where it's going)...but proping it's head up, and re-adjusting its posture quite a bit.

This morning while watching, I noticed that it buldged it's eyes a bit like it would while shedding (maybe a split second each time)...and would move its turrets around like it was looking around, yet still with closed eyes. I hope this is a good sign that it's at least exercising its eye muscles and still moving them to maybe start opening its eyes here soon.

I have still yet to see it drink / eat at all....

Please everyone, give me as much possible advice as you can!!!

Thank you all so much for following this post and help with suggestions.

Also, is this normal "PJ's" for Jacksons at night (sorry its blurry)?
Click to expand...

forgot to tell you, can you post a picture of how the light are setted? if they are too strong or to close to the cage with too litle shade in the cage it will irritate their eyes, eyes closet are never good, and yes, a humid emviromet is natural for then at all ages, although never sacrify airflow for humidity it can be fatal, if you dont have a good airflow then just mist 2-3 time a day
 
Ok, just bought a "Reptisun 5.0 UVB" for her, and a cool mist humidifier. I have the humidifier on the lowest setting and it still seems a little too "foggy" in there.

Ambient temp is now a cool 70-75*
Basking area is 80-85*
Humidity is at a consistent 75%

Once I get to my computer I'll post photos... but does it matter if I think it's too foggy?
 
I would drop the humidity to around 50% with higher spikes provided by the misting. Too high and you run the risk of promoting an upper respiratory infection. It is a bad sign that his eyes are closed tho... I would recommend a vet visit. What do his urates look like? Bright white or yellow/orange?

The stripes are crabby PJs. He's adjusting to a new environment and obviously doesn't feel well. He looks like he is either very ill or was dehydrated.

He's an absolute doll with those nubbly horns. I really hope he pulls through. Please keep us posted.
 
I would think there's something going on with the eyes but I would also recommend you check the mouth for mouth rot....not sure if I see some signs of it along the edge of the lips in a couple of places.
 
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