New to Chams and now a proud owner of a Jackson!

C

CarrieMurrell

New Member
Hello,
I purchased a Jackson from a repticon expo ver the weekend, the girl there was watering him by a water bottle. Since then I have tried to do this same thing and he wont drink for me. I have misted his enclosure several times and have offered a water drip for him. However I have yet to see him drink. What do I need to do? I sure dont want to loose him and we are not offered a vet around here that excepts exotics such as him.:(
 
Be persistant. How long do you mist for? It can take several minutes for them to start drinking when you mist. Try dripping the dripper directly on his nose even if you have to follow him around with it. Some chameleons do not like to drink in front of people. I know you said he drank out of the sprayer but you just got him and he is getting used to you and his new environment so give him some time.
 
Does he have any live/fake plants? If so and these are wet, he is likely sneaking drinks while you are away.

They can take a few days to settle in.
 
Water problems...

Yes he has fake plants and I mist for 2-3 mins, that is what I have read to do. I took the little dripper out bc I was reading and it said not to put a bowl in his cage due to organisms growing. That is what I had the dripper dripping into. I dont quite understand all this watering stuff. Your suppose to mist,drip and fog...but yet you need to keep the cage o where it doesnt stay wet?? How is that possible bc I am all the time changing the papr towels in the bottom. LOL I know I can do this:eek: I have had every other animal there is to think of besides reptiles. Its just gonna take a bit for me to catch on to how high maintence they can be in the begining. I just dont wanna loose him due to dehydration in the meantime of learning the pros n cons. Thank you to all who is helping.
 
This is why people build drainage systems. So all the excess will drain into a bucket below. The plants can get soaked because they will dry out from the basking bulb between mistings. Once the cage has dried, this is when you can mist again.

Would you also post pictures of your set up
 
Drainage is a must, especially for Jackson's. A hole at the bottom, covered with screen would be acceptable. However and all screen enclosure is optimal.
Amazon has a packaged deal for a 18x18x30 reptibreeze enclosure combined with a reptisun 2 lamp terrarium hood for roughly $95.ºº w/shipping included. Saved me about $60 compared to buying it at retail price from local pet suppliers.

I use an all screen enclosure atop a white plastic ventilated storage shelving unit ->http://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-4-Shelf-18-in-D-x-36-in-W-x-55-in-H-Black-Plastic-Ventilated-Storage-Shelving-Unit-17601102/202504715#.Ugc0zRY1FSU and drainage is no longer an issue.

I hardly ever see my baby drinking, she is normally pretty shy unless I have crickets or a lid full of fruit flies in my hand. Seeing as you have a dripper it is likely that your cham was drinking while you are away rather than sickness or anything like that.

The advice you mentioned about not having waterfalls or standing water is valid for a number of reasons.
Standing water does make for an appealing place for insects to die, chameleons to poop and bacteria to flourish. If the crickets were to drink from the mcnastyness growing in that week old water dish, and then hop along to be eaten by your cham... Im sure you know where im going with that...
Keeping a bowl at the bottom to catch excess water is perfectly fine, as long as you keep it clean.

Chameleons are not attracted to standing water anyhow and misting by hand is often stressful. No matter what you do the physics behind the mechanics of the mister make sure that the water coming out is always cold no matter how hot it is in the bottle. If you wouldn't drink it or submerse yourself with the same water then the chances are your chameleon can get sick from it.

Meanwhile in nature, far far from home... the light reflecting off of the moving droplets of morning dew, misty mountain clouds and or rainfall trigger an instinct to drink.
For some chams it could take a number of minutes of heavy rain like misting before they react and are compelled to drink.

Once he is conditioned to your hand coming in and giving water, his instinct will eventually adapt his reaction to the series of sounds you make coming into the room and the sight of your hand coming near the enclosure.
Although I personally feel that the behavior you mentioned is caused by dehydration and thirst as apposed to recognition and affection.

Be attentive to your chams activity during the day. Watch whether he spends most of his time basking or chilling out. Observe his movement while hunting and watch for clumsiness. The strength of his grip as he moves as wells as the various speeds at which he moves for different reasons are very important.
The level of alertness shown when you interact with him and as he interacts with is environment. The urate and feces are very informational...
These are all GREAT indicators of whats going on inside of them but without a vet we cant really do much when problems come up.

Preparation, observation, research and adaptation of your husbandry practices are really the only things we can do to help them be healthy.

Google is great and a simple keyword search can and will save you a lot of time and patience.
for example;
if the urates, (the white things attached to the poop) are not completely white, than your cham is probably dehydrated.

Hope this helps :)

No problems, just solutions.
 
proud father of two jacksons, male and female. they have great temperament and actually respond back to love.
 
I assure you that your reptiles have absolutely no perception of love or who or what you even are. Their brains function from intuition and have never developed an emotional center. The anatomy of their brains make them incapable of feeling emotions and things like love.
However...
This reminds me of a great quote written by Kim Krizan for the movie The Waking Life,
Kim said that,
"...This is where I think language came from. It came from our desire to transcend our isolation and have some sort of connection with one another. And it had to be easy when it was just simple survival, like water we came up with a sound for that. But when we use that same system of symbols to communicate all the abstract and intangible things that we're experiencing...
When I say love the sound comes out of my mouth and it hits the other person's ear, travel through this Byzantine conduit in their brain, through their memories of love, or lack of love, and they register what I'm saying and they say, Yes they understand, but how do I know they understand? Because words are inert, they'r ejust symbols, they're dead. And so much of our experience is intangible. So much of what we perceive cannot be expressed, it's unspeakable. And yet, when we communicate with one another, and we feel that we have connected, and we think we are understood, I think we have a feeling of almost spiritual communion. And that feeling might be transient, but I think that's what we live for."
I believe that sense of connection is possible whether or not they have an emotional center or are capable of feeling. This primitive part of our brains is not possible to locate with any type of exam or machine, which lets me beleive that the possibility of my chams sharing that type of connection is entirely possible.

Conditioning is possible in every animal as was proven by the theory of pavlov's dog. But a response to repeated stimuli is not the same as responding to love.
Whether or not they can "feel" or respond to "love" is irrelevant, they are still the coolest reptiles on the planet that grow as attached to us as we do to them!
Mind you that this is only my opinion and was not meant to start controversy... I apologize if I come across as cynical or if my tone is perceivably rude. I have just developed a rather scientific and methodical view of the world from the schooling I am partaking.

0.1 jacksonii xantholophus
 
I have 2 adult jacksons male and female I also have 9 little babies that are just the cutest any ways for my adult female I have a fogger and a atuo mister and for my male cage I have a fogger that keeps him very well hydrated for my babies I have a fogger and a dripper. Hope this helps I just love my jacksons but my female is not so loving but my male will just hop right onto my hand they are just amazing. :D:D:D:D:D:D
 
I'm super new to chameleons, I've only had Jarvis (My juvenile veiled) for 4 days now. But I found that he will not drink from leaves at all, but he will drink a ton from just his glass wall, but I usually have to put him there. That's just what I found works so I don't have to worry about him drinking. If anyone has anymore advise for me and juvenile veileds it's much appreciated. Most posts are always about adults.
 
I would try to add live plants - do you know if your cham is a wild caught or from a breeder? the w/c seem to be more nervous, and take longer to settle - I would put the dripper back in - if you need to catch the water, use like a butter dish , cut the center out of the lid, and place a screen over the dish, and put the lid back on- this keep the bugs out, and your cham from falling in and drowning - this is just my opinion, but I really feel they need more water than just hand misting can offer - and there was an excellent post on real plants and chams - I will try to find it and post the link for you - but I have noticed, for my w/c Jax, once you put in a live plant, they hardly ever go to or sit on the fake ones - they will sit on the man made vines, but avoid the fake leaves - I have one who would go all the way to the bottom to avoid stepping on the fake plants - lol
give your little one time to settle in , getting a new home is stressful for them, but in time ( and don't get upset if it take a long time- Olive took mos. before I could even look at her and she would not freak out ) he will come around , but go at his pace ;) best of luck
 
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