My Jackson keeps falling!

P

PascalBaelfire

New Member
I've had my cham for about 3 months now and he's almost a year old. Everything has been going pretty smooth since I got him, but today he's fallen from the top of his enclosure 3 or 4 times and I'm really worried. He doesn't appear to be injured and his appetite is fine but I want to know what's causing him to fall and if there is anything I should be doing differently. Right now he's in his travel case that I brought him home in initially because I don't know what else to do to protect him. His enclosure is only about 3 ft tall but he's been falling from the top branch almost every time.

As far as I know everything has been normal. I was out of town for a few days but I had a friend stopping by to feed him (she's very used to caring for exotic animals and I trust that she did a good job), she said he was fine the whole time. His humidity and temp are both good right now and I had her checking on it every time she came by and it was always normal. There's been no big change in anything that would stress him out so I can't understand why he's falling.

Reading some of the other posts on here is making me worry even more since some have had chams die after a big fall. Please help with any advice you have!
 
Jackson chameleon, male, about 1 year old, had him for about 3 months
I handle him about once a day, usually less.

He eats about 5-6 medium sized crickets a day (tried other things but he doesn't seem interested; will keep trying).

I used the zoo med reptile calcium on the crickets he eats. Usually I only sprinkle the crickets once when I get them (I buy about 35 crickets a week and dust them when I put them in the cricket keeper).

I have a Monsoon RS400 misting system. Right now it is set once an hour for 4 seconds. I also mist the enclosure by hand as needed. I see him drinking at least once every couple of days.

His droppings are orange and white, a little liquidy, sometimes they are dark brown and very solid, about the size of a small cricket. He has never been tested for parasites.

No previous history. I got him from the local pet store and as far as I know he lived a normal life before I got him.

I have the "Large ReptiBreeze" cage which is 3ft tall and about a foot and a half wide with screen walls all the way around.

The lighting system I use is the Zoomed Naturalistic Terrarium Hood with the combo UV and heat lamps. I turn it on before I leave the house in the morning around 7-8am and turn it off before I go to bed around 9pm. He also has natural light from a window across the room.

His cage is always between 60-75 degrees F. There is no floor basking spot. The lowest the temperature has ever been at night in his enclosure is 60 degrees. I have a Zoomed temp/humidity gage in his cage.

Humidity stays between 50-70% at all times. Frequent misting and the heat lamp keep the levels up.

No live plants, just plastic.Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?

Cage placement is located in an area of almost no traffic (my bedroom, only I go in and out). There is one vent in the room but it is covered for his protection. The cage is on a table making the top of it about 5ft from the room floor.

Geographically I live on the central coast of California, no extreme weather, no problems with altitude, etc.

Current Problem- My cham has fallen 4 times now from the top of his enclosure to the bottom of it (3ft) and I have no clue why. No injuries, appetite seems fine, doesn't appear to be dehydrated, no recent changes that would cause him to be more stressed, all cage functions (temp, humidity, water) are normal.

I was out of town for a few days but I had a friend stopping by to feed him (she's very used to caring for exotic animals and I trust that she did a good job), she said he was fine the whole time.
 
IMG_0279.jpg

IMG_0280.jpg
 
Well it could be MBD.<br/>

I'm not seeing Any signs of that. I don't see any bends in his arms.

Have you seen him grab onto his own legs before? that's also another sign of it.

Your supplementing is a little off. You need to have calcium w/o D3 about twice a week, and calcium with d3 one a month or so. They also need to be dusted right before feeding. I would find some links for you but I'm on my phone. Do some research about Jackson's supplementing. What temp is the basking spot? assuming the 65 to 70 is ambient temperature. I also would suggest less frequent, but longer misting. Several minutes a session, 3 or 4 times a day.

Overall you're doing pretty well. Just a few tweeks. :)
 
You should also start feeding him every other day since he is an adult now. Do you know if he is falling from climbing on the cage? My panther chameleon is 6 months and fell a couple of times before realizing he is no longer small enough to support his weight.
 
MBD I hope not! I'm glad the pictures don't show signs of that. He does sometimes grab his front legs with his back legs. I thought it was just for balance, though. I'll definitely keep an eye on that and do more research.

He has been falling from the screen part of his cage, so that would make sense if he's too big to support his own weight now. I'm looking into getting a better enclosure for him, the one I have is kind of a piece of crap. Any suggestions on brands/ places I should try?

Also he seems fine holding on to other things like his leaves and branches so I don't think it would be MBD.

Thank you for the advice on care everyone! :) He's my first cham and I'm still learning.
 
If he's falling from trying to climb the screen, you can try putting branches where he's wanting to go. Or you can buy plastic large square mesh to attach over the screen, to give him something else to grab on. If he keeps trying to climb the screen, he could break or rip out his claws.
 
My Cham has fallen from the screen one or two times now. Not from a considerable height but enough for me to take notice. I checked his nails and they've been worn down particularly on his back feet. I was watching him climbing the screen mesh and noticed that he was feeling around more for a good holding, so I'm thinking he's now getting too big to get a good footing in the mesh. He has loads of vines, but he just seems to like climbing the screen. As Melissa has suggested I've ordered some plastic hexagon garden mesh and will put these over the screen for him to grab onto.
 
MelissaB said:
If he's falling from trying to climb the screen, you can try putting branches where he's wanting to go. Or you can buy plastic large square mesh to attach over the screen, to give him something else to grab on. If he keeps trying to climb the screen, he could break or rip out his claws.
Click to expand...

Well he hasn't been trying to climb in the same direction the whole time. Every time he fell it seemed he was trying to get somewhere else but I will look into getting some other mesh that might be easier for him to grab onto. Thank you!
 
Rufi0 said:
My Cham has fallen from the screen one or two times now. Not from a considerable height but enough for me to take notice. I checked his nails and they've been worn down particularly on his back feet. I was watching him climbing the screen mesh and noticed that he was feeling around more for a good holding, so I'm thinking he's now getting too big to get a good footing in the mesh. He has loads of vines, but he just seems to like climbing the screen. As Melissa has suggested I've ordered some plastic hexagon garden mesh and will put these over the screen for him to grab onto.
Click to expand...

Thats the same with my cham! He has plenty of stuff to climb on but I've noticed when he catches his food and when he basks he just likes to hang out on the mesh part instead of hidden in his foliage or on any of his vines/ branches.
He seems better today, he hasn't tried to climb on it again since I posted yesterday but of course I'm going to keep an eye on him and check out the mesh you were talking about. Thanks
 
Well I mean Cuz he's keeps falling that's one of the signs of MBD his bones are too weak for him to actuall get a grip and support his own weight.
 
falling chameleons

Is your heat source on the top? Is it falling from the top when under the heat? Aluminum screen can get very hot and burn his feet! I have seen this many times.
 
Some chameleons like to climb the screen when they're smaller. When they get bigger they can't support the weight on the tips of their claws and they wear down their claws or break them on the screen. I bet that's what's going on.
I can't remember the person who posted about it, but one member used silk plants and attached them to the screen for better places for him to grab. I think it may have been piglett, but I can't remember. It's something else you can try if you can't find the plastic mesh.

I recall another poster using the folding bamboo trellises used in gardening to block screen climbing on side walls. That looked pretty cool and effective, too.
 
Got around to installing the mesh this weekend. Nosy was not happy about the layout change.

 
So I took a closer look at my cham's claws (he was not happy about it) and a couple of them are missing. I think that's what's causing him to fall not the bone disease.
Going to the pet store today to see if I can find some better plastic mesh. If they don't carry it I'll have to get it online and I'll just put plants along the sides until then.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Sailouchai
Sick panther chamelon
Replies
1
Views
152
MissSkittles
MissSkittles
Spikemomma
Spike
Replies
6
Views
311
elizaann2
elizaann2
Ventura
Aspiration/Syringe feeding
Replies
4
Views
200
Ventura
Ventura
cla2806
Rescue Veiled Behavior/RI&Treatment
Replies
7
Views
206
MissSkittles
MissSkittles
D
Rescued 6 week old Cham not doing well HELP
2
Replies
21
Views
1K
MzLaurie
M
Back
Top Bottom