New Jackson

[RFD]

Hello,

I am new to Chameleons. I have had Bearded Dragons and Gecko's in the past -- but after going to the Reptile Expo- my children loved the Chameleon.

So I did some reading and the Panther was expensive and the Veiled seemed a little temperamental. So I found a small juvenile male Jackson with a screened cage for practical nothing.

My Kid named it BO Jackson-- of course for the football/baseball player. It was either that or Tito Jackson from the Jackson Five.

It already had plant life and branches a very nice set up. It came with lighting and a Humidifier.

I did not like the lighting set up so I went and purchased a Zoo Med Mini Deep Dome dual fixture. I am using EXO 60W for heat and a EXO 13W UVB 100. I also added an Zoo Med 60W Red Night Light.

I placed the Screen cage in an interior room that gets about 5 hours sunlight year round and is not acrid.

So I have a few questions if you don't mind.

A. How long should the daylight lamps run?

B. I plan on feed BO a diet of calcium fortified crickets, meal worms and some one mentioned a roach high in protein. What is the name of the roach?

C. I read that you should simulate a rain storm periodically for 30 minute every week to two weeks to clean the Chameleon. Does this work is this necessary? Also what temp of water is good for BO?

D. I plan on misting twice a day in addition to keeping the humidifier on? Does the humidifier need to run 24/7 or is it strictly based on the humidity level in the cage? Is that trial and error?

E. Is the feeding pattern Day 1. five medium cricket, Day 2 five Meal worms and then a day of no feeding adequate?

F. Is the Mister worth it? I found a few with multiple timers and would think it might be worth the investment if it keep BO healthy and happy. The EXO Monsoon is affordable. Any recommendations on a mister?

G. What is a good Website for supplies and products?

That is all I can think of for now so sorry for the long winded post.

Any and all suggestions welcome. If you are going to bash me please do it nicely. Don't mind positive and negative criticisms, thats the way we learn!

Thanks in advance for your help

 

[Devokid]

Welcome to the world of chameleons! I love jacksons and have raised them for many years. They are a little more fragile than Panthers and Veileds, but as long as their set up is good, they will live happy and healthy for many years. Here is what I would do:

I did not like the lighting set up so I went and purchased a Zoo Med Mini Deep Dome dual fixture. I am using EXO 60W for heat and a EXO 13W UVB 100. I also added an Zoo Med 60W Red Night Light.
Undo this. Jacksons don't need the heat (75 is a good max) and do need the temp to drop at night. Plus the red light can disrupt their sleep.
I placed the Screen cage in an interior room that gets about 5 hours sunlight year round and is not acrid.

So I have a few questions if you don't mind.

A. How long should the daylight lamps run?
10-12 hrs.
B. I plan on feed BO a diet of calcium fortified crickets, meal worms and some one mentioned a roach high in protein. What is the name of the roach?
Could be any number of roaches, but I bet Dubia. I would avoid the meal worms and add some silk worms, horn worms, and try to raise some snails. Don't use wild caught ones as the use of snail bait is pretty rampant.
C. I read that you should simulate a rain storm periodically for 30 minute every week to two weeks to clean the Chameleon. Does this work is this necessary? Also what temp of water is good for BO?
This isn't really necessary for cleaning, but I would use a rain simulator every day in order to provide drinking water. Jacksons need a lot of water compared to Panthers.

D. I plan on misting twice a day in addition to keeping the humidifier on? Does the humidifier need to run 24/7 or is it strictly based on the humidity level in the cage? Is that trial and error?

You probably need to mist more often depending on what else you do for water. If you have a dripper running most of the day, then the 2 times for 10 min or more will be fine. I am not a fan of humidifiers, so I wouldn't use it. I have had many more problems caused by them than they have solved. Access to drinking water for the majority of the day will solve most of your humidity issues on its own.

E. Is the feeding pattern Day 1. five medium cricket, Day 2 five Meal worms and then a day of no feeding adequate?
Nope. You should offer a variety of insects every other day or so. Make sure that your crickets are gut loaded, there are many posts on that on here. As stated earlier, I would avoid meal worms all together, but they can be an occasional treat. They should definitely not be 50% of his diet.

F. Is the Mister worth it? I found a few with multiple timers and would think it might be worth the investment if it keep BO healthy and happy. The EXO Monsoon is affordable. Any recommendations on a mister?

The mist king is probably the best, but if it is just for 1 cham, then the monsoon would be great. For me, the automation is worth it. I travel all the time, so it is nice to know that the chameleons will be just fine while I am gone.

G. What is a good Website for supplies and products?
There are many site sponsors, upper right corner, that carry any and everything that you will need.

That is all I can think of for now so sorry for the long winded post.

Any and all suggestions welcome. If you are going to bash me please do it nicely. Don't mind positive and negative criticisms, thats the way we learn!

Thanks in advance for your help

 

[RFD]

Thanks--

Just to clarify--

The 60W heat and the 13 W UVB are ok alone-10 to 12 hours per day- the temp is at 75 degrees so happy about that.

So ditch the Night light just a pretty light no need -- as long as temperature variance does not fall below 50 degrees.

Watering and humidity are confusing for me

The is a humidifier-- Just produces cool mist-?

Dripper-- Constant supply of slow drip water?

Mister - Spray bottle (Manual) or automatic (Monsoon) -- increases humidity?

Rain Simulator-- When is this required and for how long?

Dubia sounds right-- So Dubia, Gut loaded crickets, a few little silk worm some horned worms as my staples every other day and meal worms as a treat.

 

[RFD]

OH MAJOR QUESTION

Substrate -- Yes or no-- Some one told me they eat it -- other told me keeps water and adds to humidity?

 

[Devokid]

Thanks--

Just to clarify--

The 60W heat and the 13 W UVB are ok alone-10 to 12 hours per day- the temp is at 75 degrees so happy about that.
Yes, should be OK.

So ditch the Night light just a pretty light no need -- as long as temperature variance does not fall below 50 degrees.
Correct, except the temps can fall below 50 provided it warms up. Shouldn't be an issue if housed indoors.
Watering and humidity are confusing for me

The is a humidifier-- Just produces cool mist-?
The humidifier just increases the water content in the air

Dripper-- Constant supply of slow drip water?
Correct. You can put this on a timer and have it come on every 30 min for 30 min, or during all daylight hours. I have a blog post on how I set mine up. It's cheap.

Mister - Spray bottle (Manual) or automatic (Monsoon) -- increases humidity?
Yes and provides drinking water. They lick the droplets off the leaves.

Rain Simulator-- When is this required and for how long?
If you have a dripper and a mister, this is not required. This is usually used in lieu of those. It provides a more naturalistic way of providing water.

Dubia sounds right-- So Dubia, Gut loaded crickets, a few little silk worm some horned worms as my staples every other day and meal worms as a treat.Sounds good. The more different kinds of bugs the better, but it gets difficult. I'd hit up Nick Barta on here. I would probably offer a small meal on the off days, especially if it is on the younger side. Babies get as much as they want every day, but my adults often go 3-4 days without food. I've found that adults will go on hunger strikes if they are fed like the babies.

Substrate is an interesting issue, but for the sake of simplicity, do not use it.

I would use live plants, so obviously they need soil, but apart from the dirt they are planted in, don't add anything. The key with the dirt is to make sure it stays clean and is free from all harmful chemicals. Fully planted cages can be very neat, but they must have the proper drainage set up and the dirt must remain clean to prevent disease.

 

[RandyE]

A. How long should the daylight lamps run?

12 hours

B. I plan on feed BO a diet of calcium fortified crickets, meal worms and some one mentioned a roach high in protein. What is the name of the roach?

Drop the meal worms and get something else. They're mostly chitin which has no nutritional value. I tried wax worms but neither my chams like them, so I use super worms. They contain more nutrients.

C. I read that you should simulate a rain storm periodically for 30 minute every week to two weeks to clean the Chameleon. Does this work is this necessary? Also what temp of water is good for BO?

I bought 2 suction cups from Lowes or Wal Mart for like $4 and stuck them on my shower wall. I have 2 fake plant things hanging up and bring my chams in to shower with me once a week. It really helps them since I have trouble keeping humidity higher than 40-50% throughout the day. I live in upstate NY it is very dry, especially during the winter thanks to the heat.

D. I plan on misting twice a day in addition to keeping the humidifier on? Does the humidifier need to run 24/7 or is it strictly based on the humidity level in the cage? Is that trial and error?

I mist my jackson close to 5 times a day with a humidifier on. They need about 60-80% humidity. It is all trial and error, you just have to see what your cage needs.

E. Is the feeding pattern Day 1. five medium cricket, Day 2 five Meal worms and then a day of no feeding adequate?

how old is he? Babies/juvies shouldn't have an off day.


F. Is the Mister worth it? I found a few with multiple timers and would think it might be worth the investment if it keep BO healthy and happy. The EXO Monsoon is affordable. Any recommendations on a mister?

I can't wait until I can afford one soonish.

G. What is a good Website for supplies and products?

Any of the site sponsors are fine.



The way I do my watering is I have a dripper that I run in the morning and again in the evening. Its main purpose is to soak some leaves so the cham can drink. I have a humidifier running when I have the lights on. I mist about 5 times a day still. Granted you can kind of play around with everything and figure out exactly what to do. A lot of it is try something for a day or two, see how it works, but that is with anything related to the chams.

 

[RFD]

Thank you for the informstion - I just started a new post - Newbie under Equipment -since I purchased the Monsoon- I live in Wappinger falls NY - so understand the humidity issue.

It's trail and hopefully no error-- just try and get it right-- Its name is now Tito after the Jackson five-- posted a Pic