New Owner to a Male Jackson's Chameleon

[seattletrempe]

Hi everyone!
My name is Seattle and I recently bought a fourteen month old Jackson's Chameleon. I had my eye on him for a while and after three weeks of preparation I finally took him home. I have had him for about two and a half weeks. He is roughly 16 weeks old I am so in love with him and I want to do everything I can to make him happy and healthy. I am currently attending college and working on my bachelors degree in chemical engineering. I am home most of the day and I have his enclosure set up next to my desk so I can watch him.

Since I have had him I have had a few concerns. First, I have only gotten him to drink water three times. All three of these times he came to me and drank from the spray bottle that I was using to mist his enclosure. I have tried spraying him but he absolutely hates getting wet. His eyes appear to be bulgy and quite healthy as far as I can tell but his urate is half white and half orange. Additionally, I feel that his skin looks a little dry. I have an automatic mister but since he hates getting wet I have been hesitant to set it up. He is currently in a medium wide zoo med glass terrarium which I mist 3-4 times a day (I have him in a glass terrarium because it is VERY dry in Colorado and it would be nearly impossible to keep humidity up). I have been trying to fluctuate the humidity in order to prevent the growth of mold. Humidity ranges from 40% to 80% is being recorded via two digital readers. He also has a little dripper set up inside the enclosure.

The temperature in his enclosure ranges from 90 degrees in his basking spot to 70 degrees in the far corner at the bottom. I have a Zilla 100 watt "night black heat" incandescent bulb and 5.0 UVB light on him. The UVB is on an automatic 12 hour timer. I've been feeding him a variety of foods so that he always has something new. These include, wax worms which are pre-fed nutrients, crickets with calcium, and cockroaches. He has absolutely no problem with eating.

My second concern revolves around his incessant desire to come to me every time I go near the enclosure and ESPECIALLY when I open the enclosure. I never feed him when he comes out nor do I really do anything to or for him outside of the enclosure. However, when I open the door he runs (as fast as chameleons do) to my hand and proceeds to walk up my arm. When he is on me he turns a bright green and usually goes and sits on my shoulder. Often times he falls asleep on me. I have read numerous articles that say it is not good to handle chameleons but I simply can not get into his enclosure without him crawling on me. It is also really hard for me to get him to go back in and once I finally do, he crawls to the side closest to me and scratches on the glass. Could this maybe just be his personality? I don't think his enclosure is too small for him quite yet. I plan of moving him to a larger one terrarium with live plants once he gets a bit bigger.

Any tips or interesting information about Jackson's Chameleons or other peoples experiences is greatly appreciated! I don't known much about Jackson's and it's very hard to find good and reliable information here in Colorado. Everyone I talk to tells me something different and I don't want him to be uncomfortable even for a second!

 

[kinyonga]

He looks very healthy IMHO. I would remove the wood chips though because they are small enough to be ingested and lead to impaction.
I also wouldn't have the baking area quite so high in temperature.

You said...you have a "100 watt "night black heat" ...is the light on at night? What do you mean by black heat?

Regarding willingness to come out of the cage...I'd say that was amazing!

 

[JacksJill]

He's a cute lil guy.
I would equate his hating to be sprayed to people not liking to get into the pool. He will react to the spray at first, mine do, but once fully wet get used to it and enjoy it. After a minute or so they begin drinking and or cleaning their eyes. I try to give mine a few of these longer soaks a week so they can get good long drinks. Eye cleaning is disturbing to watch but is important for their eyes.
Try it and I think you will see an improvement in his urate color. It seems your lil guy is comfortable with you. That's great but I would be sure that his cage is not too hot or to low in height to the point that he would prefer to be anywhere else. Try adjusting your basking temp closer to 82-85F range and see if he isn't more content.
As Kinyonga stated wood chips are unnecessary and do come with the risk of accidental ingestion and impaction.
He doesn't need heat at night unless your home is less than 50˚F overnight. He shouldn't have any light not even black at night. It will mess up his sleep cycle and maybe causing him to sleep during the day. That can be a very bad sign in chameleons.

This is great info for jackson's I use it for mine. https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/jacksons/

 

[leedragon]

 

[seattletrempe]

He looks very healthy IMHO. I would remove the wood chips though because they are small enough to be ingested and lead to impaction.
I also wouldn't have the baking area quite so high in temperature.

You said...you have a "100 watt "night black heat" ...is the light on at night? What do you mean by black heat?

Regarding willingness to come out of the cage...I'd say that was amazing!

Okay awesome! I originally had a different ground covering in there but a lady at a reptile store recommended this. I read online that a lot of the little guys like to chew things so I was a bit tentative but she said it was best for keeping humidity. I will take it out tonight! The black light doesn't put out any light at all when on but since it is winter it gets really cold in my room. I am in a loft and there isn't heat besides a fire place which I don't like to keep on. I went through so many different bulbs. I started with a 60 watt, then a 75 watt, and now I have the 100 watt bulb. The previous two bulbs were not sufficient in getting the temperature up at any point in the day. I have tin foil covering the top though and I could remove that and elevate the light to decrease the temperature at his basking spot. I've just been so worried that he's going to get too cold!

 

[seattletrempe]

He's a cute lil guy.
I would equate his hating to be sprayed to people not liking to get into the pool. He will react to the spray at first, mine do, but once fully wet get used to it and enjoy it. After a minute or so they begin drinking and or cleaning their eyes. I try to give mine a few of these longer soaks a week so they can get good long drinks. Eye cleaning is disturbing to watch but is important for their eyes.
Try it and I think you will see an improvement in his urate color. It seems your lil guy is comfortable with you. That's great but I would be sure that his cage is not too hot or to low in height to the point that he would prefer to be anywhere else. Try adjusting your basking temp closer to 82-85F range and see if he isn't more content.
As Kinyonga stated wood chips are unnecessary and do come with the risk of accidental ingestion and impaction.
He doesn't need heat at night unless your home is less than 50˚F overnight. He shouldn't have any light not even black at night. It will mess up his sleep cycle and maybe causing him to sleep during the day. That can be a very bad sign in chameleons.

This is great info for jackson's I use it for mine. https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/jacksons/

Good to know and thank you for the website! Ive been so tentative to spray him because when he gets wet he turns black I didn't want to stress him out. I would much rather him get a little angry through if its going to help him stay healthy. I am going to remove the tin foil I have covering the top of the tank and that should lower the temperature so that the basking spot isn't so hot. He has been taking naps in the day so maybe that could be causing it. I'm going to experiment with turning the light off tonight and I'm going to watch the temperature. If he hasn't gotten great sleep the past two weeks do you think he will be okay? I got him from a Petco and they definitely do not turn off the lights at night there, maybe this is why he is so cranky in the mornings!

 

[JacksJill]

I don't think it is too late. Others have done it for longer and they survived.
I think you will see improvement in his day time activity fairly quickly.

 

[muellerb24]

My name is Seattle and I recently bought a fourteen month old Jackson's Chameleon. I had my eye on him for a while and after three weeks of preparation I finally took him home. I have had him for about two and a half weeks. He is roughly 16 weeks old

You say you got a 14 month old and then say he is 16 weeks... Which one is it?

 

[JacksJill]

I think months got switched with weeks.

 

[muellerb24]

I think months got switched with weeks.

I thought he looked way too big for a 4 month

 

[hopps31]

Congratulations on your new guy, he is adorable!

I would remove the foil, the screen top with the vents on the bottom helps the air circulate like a chimney affect. I would lower the temp like @kinyonga said they like it cooler, he looks like he is gaping in one of the pictures so it is definitely warm in there! Gaping is when their mouth is open, it is their way of letting heat out like we do when we sweat.

I am not sure if you are using the black light as his heat bulb but I would switch it to just a normal incandescent white bulb, and no lights at night, he needs his beauty sleep

I would limit the waxworms to a once or twice a month treat, they are really fatty and not the greatest feeder to use as a staple. Some other variety feeders are silkworms, hornwomrs, superwomrs, red runner roaches, black soldier fly larvae and blue bottle flies, they come as worms but you can pupate them and turn them into flies, my jackson goes crazy for anything that flies! These all need to be gut loaded, examples of gut load include endive, collard greens,mustard greens, turnip greens, squash, sweet potatoes etc. there is a great list on here if you search gut loads in the search bar. What supplements are you using? They need less supplements than other species, but it is still very important.

I use the Exo Terra enclosures for mine and I love it, it helps keep the humidity where it needs to be, we run a woodstove 8 months out of the year

Also I would look into getting a linear UVB bulb, they are great, it covers a wide area vs. a small concentrated area like the coil bulbs. I use Reptisun T5 HO 5.0.

Jacksons are great, have so much fun enjoying him

 

[hopps31]

I also forgot to mention, like others said the bark should be removed in case of impaction but I would also keep an eye on the moss vine. I have known a few cases that the moss accidentally got ingested when striking for bugs, it is not glued on there very well. Moss can cause impaction as well.

I would also set the mister up they are great!! He will be fine with the water, it is much better to have a hydrated guy, dehydration can cause a bunch of problems! His urates should be nice and white

 

[Action Jackson]

Nice looking Jackson's.

A couple of the biggest problems people make with Jackson's is keeping them too warm, especially at night and over feeding. Jacksons can easily handle temps into the 40's and below.

 

[seattletrempe]

You say you got a 14 month old and then say he is 16 weeks... Which one is it?

sorry I just realized that, he is 16 weeks.

 

[JacksJill]

Wow, he has a lot of horn for less than 4 mos. Xanths grow faster than what I'm used to. Any idea how long he is or how much he weighs?

 

[seattletrempe]

Congratulations on your new guy, he is adorable!

I would remove the foil, the screen top with the vents on the bottom helps the air circulate like a chimney affect. I would lower the temp like @kinyonga said they like it cooler, he looks like he is gaping in one of the pictures so it is definitely warm in there! Gaping is when their mouth is open, it is their way of letting heat out like we do when we sweat.

I am not sure if you are using the black light as his heat bulb but I would switch it to just a normal incandescent white bulb, and no lights at night, he needs his beauty sleep

I would limit the waxworms to a once or twice a month treat, they are really fatty and not the greatest feeder to use as a staple. Some other variety feeders are silkworms, hornwomrs, superwomrs, red runner roaches, black soldier fly larvae and blue bottle flies, they come as worms but you can pupate them and turn them into flies, my jackson goes crazy for anything that flies! These all need to be gut loaded, examples of gut load include endive, collard greens,mustard greens, turnip greens, squash, sweet potatoes etc. there is a great list on here if you search gut loads in the search bar. What supplements are you using? They need less supplements than other species, but it is still very important.

I use the Exo Terra enclosures for mine and I love it, it helps keep the humidity where it needs to be, we run a woodstove 8 months out of the year

Also I would look into getting a linear UVB bulb, they are great, it covers a wide area vs. a small concentrated area like the coil bulbs. I use Reptisun T5 HO 5.0.

Jacksons are great, have so much fun enjoying him

Thank you so much for the advice! When I first got him he was completely black, (most likely stressed from the transition) but since the temperature underneath the light was hovering around 70 degrees I assumed he must be too cold. I was absolutely terrified he was going to get too cold, fall asleep, and die. So I took all the precautions I could to avoid that. (I'm a tad bit of a worrier) I have a 100 watt incandescent white light that I can change out which might be a good idea considering one corner of his tanks tends to be a bit darker during the day and I don't want to encourage him to sleep during the day. I think I am going to take you up on that advice for getting a linear UVB light and fixture. I will go out tomorrow and buy that.

I originally bought the worms because I was worried about his urate and was frantically trying to figure out how to get more water in him. I bought a kind called "vita bugs" which have to be refrigerated and apparently they have a minimum of 12% crude protein, 16% crude fat, 35 iu/kg of vitamin E, and 0.55 mg/kg of zeaxanthin. They have a maximum of 2.0% crude fiber, and 65.0% moisture. I only fed them to him twice in addition to crickets. I'm all up for any information you have about what is best to feed him though. I also have cockroaches for him but they sort of freak me out because once I put them in I notice that they immediately burrow. I was worried that they would stay burrowed and therefore he would not be able to eat them. The lady from the pet store that I got him from (who apparently is a reptile expert) told me not to feed him crickets because they can bite his mouth and can give him mouth rot. How accurate is that? Also, she said that crickets are not nutritious at all, however she told me to only feed him three or four crickets per day. A different woman at a reptile store told me I should give him all the food he wants as he will not over eat. What do you think about that? I can't find that much information on how much or little to feed them and whether or not they will over eat.

Ive been feeding all the insects "Fluckers High-Calcium Cricket Diet" in addition to a green jelly-like thing that apparently keeps them hydrated. The "Fluckers High-Calcium Cricket Diet" apparently has protein, fat, fiber, moisture, ash, two types of calcium (although it does not give anymore information on what that means), and phosphorus. I have been giving him crickets dusted in repti-calcium with vitamin D3 about twice a week. I absolutely want him to get all the vitamins and minerals that he needs so any recommendations are greatly appreciated! I do plan on giving him time in the sun once summer comes around and it is not freezing outside! Even if it is just for a short period of time, that way he can obtain natural UVB, and UVA and his little body will produce D3 so he can better metabolize the calcium. Also, I feel like he would really enjoy some natural light.

Side Note: My entire life, currently, revolves around engineering and this little guy, so if I'm not worrying about my next assignment I'm obsessing over Kemi. Since his tank is beside my desk I'm constantly thinking about new and better ways to improve his short life. Science is, quite literally, my life so I'm trying to absorb as much as possible. I just feel like I have been misled so many times. For example, when I went in to get a stronger light for Kemi, the woman told me that 60 watts is more than enough and that it is my UVB that is too weak. UVB lights hardly give off any heat! She recommended a 10.0 UVB... Needless to say I was very confused because that is very high for such a little creature and a small tank. This is the main reason why I joined this forum. Truly, unless you have first hand experience, all the knowledge in the world can not prepare you for what might actually happen. I was told that all chameleons are VERY different and, boy, did I realize that really fast!

 

[seattletrempe]

I also forgot to mention, like others said the bark should be removed in case of impaction but I would also keep an eye on the moss vine. I have known a few cases that the moss accidentally got ingested when striking for bugs, it is not glued on there very well. Moss can cause impaction as well.

I would also set the mister up they are great!! He will be fine with the water, it is much better to have a hydrated guy, dehydration can cause a bunch of problems! His urates should be nice and white

I removed the bark and put in "Eco Earth: loose coconut fiber substrate." last night. He doesn't really seem to like it all that much and has been a bit darker than usual but it might not be from the substrate. I would rather just take out the moss vine as opposed to leaving it in and taking my chances. Do you know much would have to be ingested before something happened? What are the side effects of this? I noticed when I first got the moss vines that the moss is not really glued on at all. It doesn't even appear to be real moss... I also set up the mister. Should I also mist him and the tank with the spray bottle too? The mister is quite literally vapor. It dispenses a vapor similar to what a home humidifier would emit.

 

[seattletrempe]

Wow, he has a lot of horn for less than 4 mos. Xanths grow faster than what I'm used to. Any idea how long he is or how much he weighs?

Honestly, on my adoption papers and from what everybody in the store told me, he is sixteen weeks old. It is possible that this is inaccurate as I'm pretty sure they got this information from the company they bought him from which is "Vista Pet." I didn't really think much about it until recently, but they just received another chameleon in which is apparently a female jackson's. In my opinion she looks like a veiled and is in awful condition. Her eyes are completely sunken in, she is totally black, and doesn't really move. I hope that Kemi never had to experience that at any point in his life. After seeing this, I wouldn't put it past them to give inaccurate information. If Kemi did experience trauma similar to what this other chameleon is going through, then I wouldn't be surprised if that stunted his growth. I suppose I will just have to wait and see though. I'm not sure how long he is but If I were to guess I would say he is about five inches from nose to tail, possibly a bit less perhaps 4 1/2 inches. I haven't weighed him yet but I do plan on starting to weigh him frequently to make sure he is healthy.

 

[seattletrempe]

Heres an update of him before and after I changed the substrate and took the tin foil off the top. Does anyone know why would he change colors like this?

 

[JacksJill]

I haven't weighed him yet but I do plan on starting to weigh him frequently to make sure he is healthy.

Good plan. I don't own the same species of jackson as Kemi so I don't know their exact growth rate. He just has very mature horns. That's why I thought he was a older.
There is a blog someone put to ether that tracts the weight of theirs as he grew. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/weight-tracking-on-jackson.2343/ Maybe the info will be of some use to you as yours grows. Size and growth rate can vary by individual even among clutch mates.