new jacksons cham owner

[rdhawkflying]

hey there chameleon forums world....new to owning a reptile, and my first choice was a jackson's chameleon. i have a buddy who has extensive experience with reptiles and he is helping me, but I wanted to join this community having heard what an awesome resource it is from various people.

my first question as a new cham owner is...my jackson's cham is often a dark hue, which I have read is associated with stress. is this always the case? or could he just be adapting to his new home and is a little uneasy? Guess I'm just concerned that he could be overly stressed....he has PLENTY of foliage, a water drip, a basking area and alot of climbing space, and his cage is the recommended kind (wire) and size. He is often just chillin on a branch but always darker than lighter in hue. I've had him two days. Should I be worried?

Thnx for bearing with the newbie...

 

[Carlton]

my first question as a new cham owner is...my jackson's cham is often a dark hue, which I have read is associated with stress. is this always the case? or could he just be adapting to his new home and is a little uneasy? Guess I'm just concerned that he could be overly stressed....he has PLENTY of foliage, a water drip, a basking area and alot of climbing space, and his cage is the recommended kind (wire) and size. He is often just chillin on a branch but always darker than lighter in hue. I've had him two days. Should I be worried?

Thnx for bearing with the newbie...

Is he a completely solid dark blackish green or does he have some lighter diamond shaped areas along his sides? Is he spending all his time right under his cage light? When he's asleep at night is his color lighter? For most chams it is.

A stress pattern for jax includes the lighter diamonds. They also tend to puff themselves up with air, open their mouths in a bluff display.

A cold cham will stay dark (no other lighter pattern). The dark color helps speed up heat absorbtion.

We can help you more if you could answer the questions listed in the "how to ask for help" sticky message at the top of the forum. We can check your lighting, supplementation, temps and humidity levels, etc. to prevent any other problems.

 

[rdhawkflying]

He is doing better now. Bright emerald green and chilling in the cooler section. Temp. is 70-72 consistently in the room, humidity around 40, he is eating regularly. I think he just gets stressed when I'm around...? Will he get used to my presence?

 

[Tiny]

We are new Jackson Cham owners as well (arent they wonderful!).
Ours (a male) stayed a dark shade for about 2 days. Now he seems to really enjoy his cage (we still need more foliage), 7 days today!! He didn't move much the first couple of days and now seems to pace in the evenings when we have the light on him (we do this only for about an hour or two at night, he gets natural light for most of the day).

Hopefully he will get use to you. I read that you shouldn't handle much in the first couple of days. My bf has a hard time with this, but our Jackson seems to favor him...

Hope this helps.