My baby girl sleeping during the day

[memknock6699]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Female Jack 6 months (1 month in my care)
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? Only twice but would love to handle more but I heard they are not the handling type of cham
Feeding - Gut loaded crikets 2-3ea twice a day morning and night
Supplements - Reptocal includes calcium and vitamin D3 2 crikets per week
Watering - I mist 2-3 times per day. I have a little dipper water. I've only seen her drink water from my hand maybe 8 times since I had her
Fecal Description - Just yesturday she went...white with hard nugget and urine regular color
History - I was never told there was any received as a gift on my bday

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen cage 16x16x20x
Lighting - 12on/12off Zilla 13watt tropical 25
UVB light, 60watt daylight blue
Temperature -70-75 degrees through the day 65 on average at night taken with digital
Humidity - 70-80% by misting, live plants and and keeping a cup of water in the cage. It does go down when I go to work
Plants - yes ficus
Placement - its 16inches from the ground on a pedestal
Location -Anchorage, Ak

Current Problem - She just started doing this maybe three days ago and stopped eatting it seems like last night, she was feed 2 crickets before I left this mornign and still there. She stays under the uvb light ALL the time, thats where she sleeps as well. She does move from that spot but not a lot and hasnt for the last 3 day. Even when I mist her she just closes her eyes and puffs up..and other info you need please ask I'll give you all the info I can. I tryed so hard to get her comfortable if you look at my last post about my setup you can see I will do all I can to fix this problem quickly. Shes also starting to shed alittle. The picks I got one she opened her eyes when I was getting ready to take the pic the other is where she spends her time

 

[cmrush88]

I'm not really sure, but I have heard that sometimes lights can hurt their eyes. Can we see a pic of your new screen cage since you got rid of the glass one??? maybe that will help everyone visualize.

 

[carol5208]

Get rid of that Zilla light pronto! Not a good light for chams. Get a Reptisun or Reptiglo 5.o linear tube light.

 

[cmrush88]

okay sweet! I can't really tell how you are supplementing by your description, but I know a lot of ppl on here do the calcium WITHOUT d3 at every feeding, the calcium WITH d3 twice a month and a multivitamin twice a month. I hope she starts feeling better soon!

 

[carol5208]

I believe your basking temp is too low. Someone familiar with Jackson's please chime in please and also guide him/her on the supplementation schedule!!! You need a plain calcium without d3 and a multivitamin also. Also, you are not feeding near enough crickets. A 6 month old should be getting atleast 10 crickets a day!

 

[Julirs]

I agree-ditch the Zilla light-your cham will be fine without UVB for a few days. Hopefully you have a digital thermometer that you are measuring temps with-get your basking spot to about 80. 2 crickets is not enough. Supplementing 2 crickets is not enough. I would still be feeding daily and lightly dusting all the crickets per feeding every other day with a calcium without D3.

 

[memknock6699]

Ok i'm gonna ditch the light and get the Reptisun or Reptiglo 5.o linear tube light on Friday, she does eat 6-8 crickets a day, what brand of calcium should I get WITHOUT D3??

 

[cmrush88]

here are the supplements you need

calcium WITHOUT d3 (every feeding)
http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog...um-and-vitamins/-/rep-cal-calcium-without-d3/

multivitamin (twice a month)
http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog...-and-vitamins/-/repcal-herptivite-supplement/

Calcium WITH d3 (twice a month)
http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog...vitamins/-/repcal-ultra-fine-calcium-with-d3/

 

[memknock6699]

thank you I will look for these Friday as well I hope she is gonna be alright

 

[ataraxia]

from experience that 60 watt is producing way to much heat for her. even a 40 watt will be iffy sitting directly on the cage. for basking i would recommend a 25 watt or adjust a 40 watt approx 14 inches + from the basking sight. jax are a montane species that like it cool and high humidity. your supplement schedule needs to change as everyone has mentioned.


IMPORTANT!!!!!!! if she is wild caught take her to the vet ASAP with a fresh stool sample.. ive delt with many many w/c jacksons if you do not treat for parasites she will more than likely parish.

 

[Cainschams]

http://chameleonnews.com/10JulManchen.html

Here is a link with some good info.

As others said, ditch the light. For my montane chams I give them a basking site of around mid low to mid 80s. I do not agree with everyone who says you should be dusting with D3 two times a month or a multivitamin 2 times a month. I dont know how many times I have gone into a thread to mention that montane species are susceptible to over supplementation yet it just keeps getting spouted out as if no one reads my posts But hey, you guys can keep pumping your montane species, if you have any at all, with D3 two times a month and multivitamin two times a month. Dont be surprised when your species like a jacksonii dies at 2-4 years old (they have a much higher life expectancy) because of internal problems from over supplementing.

Ill throw it out how I do things, again. I use phosphorus and D3 FREE calcium at about every feeding. I LIGHTLY, very very lightly dust the insects with this calcium.

I do not use multivitamins at all for my montane species. What you want to strive for is having a well balanced gut load to provide the necessary vitamins.

You are in Alaska so D3 may need to be used more than I use it. I house my animals outside 6 to 9 months out of the year. Natural sunshine helps the animal produce its own D3. I use D3 probably only twice a year and this is in the winter months when my animals get no sunshine. If my animals were housed indoors constantly I would still use D3 once every month to two months for a montane species.

This is what works for me. Maybe I am wrong and the animals need pumped full of these vitamins and D3 but I feel strongly they do not. My experience is with multiple species of montane chams. I do end up selling off a lot of my chams but the the species I have kept the longest (2 years) have been completely fine with not receiving any multivitamins and very low levels of D3 when inside. One also must consider the amount of D3 in the brand you use. Repcal has a ton of it in it while other brands do not.

 

[Carlton]

http://chameleonnews.com/10JulManchen.html

Here is a link with some good info.

I do not agree with everyone who says you should be dusting with D3 two times a month or a multivitamin 2 times a month. Ill throw it out how I do things, again. I use phosphorus and D3 FREE calcium at about every feeding. I LIGHTLY, very very lightly dust the insects with this calcium.

I do not use multivitamins at all for my montane species. What you want to strive for is having a well balanced gut load to provide the necessary vitamins.

You are in Alaska so D3 may need to be used more than I use it. I house my animals outside 6 to 9 months out of the year. Natural sunshine helps the animal produce its own D3. I use D3 probably only twice a year and this is in the winter months when my animals get no sunshine. If my animals were housed indoors constantly I would still use D3 once every month to two months for a montane species.

Having lost a couple of montane chams to complicated organ damage in the past, I think you are probably right about this. Part of the problem is, most members responding to questions about supplements are passing on their "default" knowledge they use for lowland species (veiled and panther).

IMHO, the PRIMARY source of vitamins and minerals should be feeder gutloads, not dusts. So I use the best researched feeder diets I can get, and enhance them with fresh ingredients. Calcium dusting is very very light and skipping days here and there isn't a big issue. Vitamins I hardly use, and consider them a "gap filler" just in case the gutloads are missing something.

Even in AK where our chams hardly ever get much time outdoors the correct lighting is key. I do not use anything other than good, new, ReptiSun 5.0s for montane species. An ordinary house lightbulb for basking. But, because your chams do get out in true sunlight so often, the actual supplement balance you need is probably lower than many other members' chams. Your particular balance of nutrients may be significantly different.

 

[ataraxia]

cainscham: have you owned a jacksons from birth or 1 yr< to death? if so, how long? also was it a w/c?

carlton: same question as cain and organ failure was caused from what supplement?

 

[laurie]

I guess I am the most conservative one of us. I only use plain calcium and only once a week. I will admit I have some of the best gutloaded feeders around, but even without that, i just don't think montanes need or can handle much supplementation.

I do agree that this is the sort of thread where people just repeating what they have heard and don't understand can cause injury to a chameleon. They need to understand that montanes have much different habitat and supplement issues from panthers & veileds. The cookie cutter reply's are not so good here. jmo

 

[cmrush88]

good to know that the supplementing is different for jacksons. I had no idea. I'm glad that you experts chimed in! THANK YOU!!!

 

[summoner12]

ditch the blue heat lamp. use a normal household lamp. and get rid of the rzilla lamp. grab a zoo med linear reptisun 5.0.

i am going to bet money your issue is with the zilla lamp.

 

[Lovereps]

Montanes can't handle as much of the supplements as Panthers/Veileds can

Too many people think that a good thing is good no matter what.
They don't realize that too much is fatal and many Velied/Panther keepers don't know that montane care is very different.
I supplement sparingly with my montanes--2 to 3x monthly with plain calcium, 1x month vitamin, 1x calcium w/D3 and my feeders are always gutloaded.
As for D3 2x a month, it might not shorten the lifespan of a montane who lives exclusively indoors, but I think more knowledge of cham nutrition needs to be gained before that will be known for sure.
It has recently been said that people in northern latitudes become ill during the winter due to D3 deficiency.
How many billions or trillions of dollars have been spent researching human nutrtion and human nutrition is still full of unknown?
The most wonderful thing about this forum is that so many people share what works for their chams--and we all benefit from the information that is shared!

 

[memknock6699]

Im apperciating everyones advice it will all change tommorrow payday, I'm taking everyones advice and reading ALL postes adn links that are given to me. And what watts for the house hold light summoner12?? I will keep everyone posted on her situation

 

[ataraxia]

will someone please give me some supporting links to jacksons wild nutrition and supplements. it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[summoner12]

Im apperciating everyones advice it will all change tommorrow payday, I'm taking everyones advice and reading ALL postes adn links that are given to me. And what watts for the house hold light summoner12?? I will keep everyone posted on her situation

that depends on the type of lamp.. spot, flood, halogen flood or sport...

Personally I like to use a PAR20 50w FLOOD.... it must be a flood. It is a halogen lamp so if you get the spot version, it will burn your chameleon. for any lamp it is a good idea to angle the heat lamp so the light can hit the chameleon's side, not straight down on top of their basking spot. it is also important to be sure you angle this type of lamp because it does make a fair amount of heat... but won't cause any issue if you do it right. When a lamp is angled the chameleon has more control over the heat it receives because he can move along his vine to get father or closer... when the lamp is straight down the distance to the lamp is pretty much a fixed distance.