New to jacksons

[slewis8128]

Hello all, I am new to Jackson's and just need some advice. Long story short found the little guy at petco and fell in love.

1) he's still small maybe 4-4.5 inches was wearing small crickets pet store ran out soni bought lrg. Is this bad for him? He eats them but takes him longer and he only eats one.

2) he is in a mesh cage, with an auto mister humidity stays between 50-80. I have plastic covering 2 sides to help with this. Is there another way to achieve his humidity goal? Or is the bagged sides okay?

3) he is green all day, towards his night light shift he turns brown. Is this normal or should I worry?

Then any other advise for new jackson owners would be awesome. I did my research before i got him so all his basic needs are meet daily.

 

[slewis8128]

Here are a few pics of him.

 

[Tony_S]

Welcome to the forum. We have several experienced jackson keepers here. It would help them out if you filled out some information on your setup.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/

 

[slewis8128]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - he is a male jackson not to sure about the age but hes young and small, we have had him for just about a week now.
• Handling - ad often as he wants. He reaches out to us. Seems to be very social and enjoys us.
• Feeding - we are feeding him mainly leg crickets. (Didnt have smalls). He eats about 1 maybe 2 leg ones. He will get a couple mealworms a day as well. Crickets in the morning mealworms halfway through the day. But with the big crickets he isnt eating the worms. Crickets are gut loaded daily.
• Supplements - We are dipping his food in calcium before we feed it to him. Repashy calcium plus.
• Watering - We have a monsoon auto mister. It goes off every hour for 8 seconds. I have seen him drink on multiple occasions.
• Fecal Description - black with a little white. No he hasn't been tested.(no reptile vet around.)
• History - he came from petco. So no info.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - we have the zoo med repti breeze 16x16x30 screen with plastic on half to help with humidity and heat.
• Lighting - we have a blue tropical day light, a ubv light, and his red night time light. 0630-1800 are his usual day light hours. All lights are zoo med brand I belive.
• Temperature - the temps during the day are generally 75-80 with a lower of 68-73 at night. (Upstate NY during winter)
• Humidity - humidity levels are generally 50-80. We have a monsoon auto mister to help.
• Plants - we have a pothos in there with him. A
• Placement - he is in the corner of the room with very low foot traffic. Currently he is on the floor. No vents or fans near him.
• Location - upstate NY.

Current Problem - none that I can tell. He seems happy and healthy. Hes a constant green besides night he turns brownish black.

 

[Thehippie]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - he is a male jackson not to sure about the age but hes young and small, we have had him for just about a week now.
• Handling - ad often as he wants. He reaches out to us. Seems to be very social and enjoys us. Chameleons are very prone to stress, please dont handle but once a week imo
• Feeding - we are feeding him mainly leg crickets. (Didnt have smalls). He eats about 1 maybe 2 leg ones. He will get a couple mealworms a day as well. Crickets in the morning mealworms halfway through the day. But with the big crickets he isnt eating the worms. Crickets are gut loaded daily. only feed in the morning since they need time to digest. what are you gutloading with? dont feed mealworms, they can cause impaction and dont have much nutritional value
• Supplements - We are dipping his food in calcium before we feed it to him. Repashy calcium plus. the supplement schedule for a jacksons is calcium no d3 twice a week, calcium d3 once a month and multivitamin once a month
• Watering - We have a monsoon auto mister. It goes off every hour for 8 seconds. I have seen him drink on multiple occasions. Jacksons need to be misted at least three times a day for about 5 mins-7 mins each time allowing the cage to dry in between
• Fecal Description - black with a little white. No he hasn't been tested.(no reptile vet around.) the white is a urate, its their pee.
• History - he came from petco. So no info.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - we have the zoo med repti breeze 16x16x30 screen with plastic on half to help with humidity and heat. you need a 18x18x36 for an adult minimum i would go with the 2x2x4 though, more room.
• Lighting - we have a blue tropical day light, a ubv light, and his red night time light. 0630-1800 are his usual day light hours. All lights are zoo med brand I belive. take out all colored lights, chameleons are diurnal so they cannot sleep with light on. the colors will hurt his eyes. use a white bulb with a che at night if its too cold if it doesnt drop below 60 at night youre fine to not have heat at night.
• Temperature - the temps during the day are generally 75-80 with a lower of 68-73 at night. (Upstate NY during winter)
• Humidity - humidity levels are generally 50-80. We have a monsoon auto mister to help. make sure humidity has a drop and spike to prevent a URI
• Plants - we have a pothos in there with him. A
• Placement - he is in the corner of the room with very low foot traffic. Currently he is on the floor. No vents or fans near him.
• Location - upstate NY.

Please see my annotations in RED

since you got him at petco, it may be good to get a health check from a vet too. just in case.

 

[slewis8128]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - he is a male jackson not to sure about the age but hes young and small, we have had him for just about a week now.
• Handling - ad often as he wants. He reaches out to us. Seems to be very social and enjoys us. Chameleons are very prone to stress, please dont handle but once a week imo
• Feeding - we are feeding him mainly leg crickets. (Didnt have smalls). He eats about 1 maybe 2 leg ones. He will get a couple mealworms a day as well. Crickets in the morning mealworms halfway through the day. But with the big crickets he isnt eating the worms. Crickets are gut loaded daily. only feed in the morning since they need time to digest. what are you gutloading with? dont feed mealworms, they can cause impaction and dont have much nutritional value
• Supplements - We are dipping his food in calcium before we feed it to him. Repashy calcium plus. the supplement schedule for a jacksons is calcium no d3 twice a week, calcium d3 once a month and multivitamin once a month
• Watering - We have a monsoon auto mister. It goes off every hour for 8 seconds. I have seen him drink on multiple occasions. Jacksons need to be misted at least three times a day for about 5 mins-7 mins each time allowing the cage to dry in between
• Fecal Description - black with a little white. No he hasn't been tested.(no reptile vet around.) the white is a urate, its their pee.
• History - he came from petco. So no info.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - we have the zoo med repti breeze 16x16x30 screen with plastic on half to help with humidity and heat. you need a 18x18x36 for an adult minimum i would go with the 2x2x4 though, more room.
• Lighting - we have a blue tropical day light, a ubv light, and his red night time light. 0630-1800 are his usual day light hours. All lights are zoo med brand I belive. take out all colored lights, chameleons are diurnal so they cannot sleep with light on. the colors will hurt his eyes. use a white bulb with a che at night if its too cold if it doesnt drop below 60 at night youre fine to not have heat at night.
• Temperature - the temps during the day are generally 75-80 with a lower of 68-73 at night. (Upstate NY during winter)
• Humidity - humidity levels are generally 50-80. We have a monsoon auto mister to help. make sure humidity has a drop and spike to prevent a URI
• Plants - we have a pothos in there with him. A
• Placement - he is in the corner of the room with very low foot traffic. Currently he is on the floor. No vents or fans near him.
• Location - upstate NY.

Please see my annotations in RED

since you got him at petco, it may be good to get a health check from a vet too. just in case.

Thank you!
I had read the he needs a red light at night. Our house doesnt drop below 60, so that isnt an issue. That will make my wife happy. Lol she will be able to sleep better with out a light in the room.

 

[Thehippie]

Thank you!
I had read the he needs a red light at night. Our house doesnt drop below 60, so that isnt an issue. That will make my wife happy. Lol she will be able to sleep better with out a light in the room.

all chameleons are diurnal so light when they sleep will actually stress them out more than put them to sleep.

 

[slewis8128]

all chameleons are diurnal so light when they sleep will actually stress them out more than put them to sleep.

Is that why he turns brownish and black at night?

Also being so small is the one lrg cricket enough? I tried to feed him more but he doesnt eat any more than the 1. Kinda worry some but he would wat more if he was hungry right?

 

[Thehippie]

Is that why he turns brownish and black at night?

Also being so small is the one lrg cricket enough? I tried to feed him more but he doesnt eat any more than the 1. Kinda worry some but he would wat more if he was hungry right?

Yeah, he's brown at night either because he's warm or basking or stressed.

I would try and feed as much as possible While he's young

 

[slewis8128]

Yeah, he's brown at night either because he's warm or basking or stressed.

I would try and feed as much as possible While he's young

I try to feed him more. Just not interested after the one lrg. When I had smalls he ate 4-5.

 

[Thehippie]

I try to feed him more. Just not interested after the one lrg. When I had smalls he ate 4-5.

Then you might want to downsize the feeder size

 

[slewis8128]

Then you might want to downsize the feeder size

I went to buy the small but they were out and only had lrg. So I got them to make sure he ate still haha. But hes green all day, seems happy. I'll have to go back after the nice snow storm we are in see about smalls.

 

[JacksJill]

• Your Chameleon - he is a male jackson not to sure about the age but hes young and small, we have had him for just about a week now. He could be a she. You have a jacksonii Jacksonii or a True Jackson's Chameleon. The females can and often do have 3 horns. The horns over the eyes tend to be more delicate or thiner than in the males as are the hind legs and tail base at maturity. Time will tell. These guys are much smaller than the xanths that are more commonly seen. Males top out at 60-70 gm and the females 30-35 IME.
• Feeding - we are feeding him mainly leg crickets. (Didnt have smalls). He eats about 1 maybe 2 leg ones. He will get a couple mealworms a day as well. Crickets in the morning mealworms halfway through the day. But with the big crickets he isnt eating the worms. Crickets are gut loaded daily. Try to stick to smalls when possible as larger prey items may damage the glands at the corners of his/her mouth. Use small superworms as a hand feeding treat instead and keep it down to one or two per week.
• Watering - We have a monsoon auto mister. It goes off every hour for 8 seconds. I have seen him drink on multiple occasions. You probably won't need so many mistings but Simon benefit from longer (2-5 minutes) hand misting first thing in the morning and last thing at night with just enough other to maintain minimum humidity and leave some droplets around. They also benefit from fogging at night with a cool mist humidifier. You want daytime humidity around 40-50% and night time as high as 80-100%.
• Lighting - we have a blue tropical day light, a ubv light, and his red night time light. 0630-1800 are his usual day light hours. All lights are zoo med brand I belive. In addition to advice above. I'm guessing you got the Chameleon kit and the lights that go with it. If so you should look into getting linear T5 lighting as it is a much better UVB source. The coiled UVB bulbs are inadequate in the long term. Keep your lights on for 12 hours and do your best to have total darkness for 12 hours. They thrive on night time temperature drops into the low 60's.

Supplements - We are dipping his food in calcium before we feed it to him. Repashy calcium plus. Repashy Calcium Plus has D3 & vitamins in it and should not be used but once a month in Jackson's. If it is Repashy LoD it may be given every other week until full grown then monthly if you have good lighting. Use plain phosphorus free calcium every other day. Use all supplements very lightly as Jackson's don't tolerate overdoses.
Cage Type - we have the zoo med repti breeze 16x16x30 screen with plastic on half to help with humidity and heat. You will need a larger cage but since these guys don't get that large a 18x18x36 will do but larger is better for males who like to roam. your smaller cage can be used for outdoors on nice days.
Placement - he is in the corner of the room with very low foot traffic. Currently he is on the floor. No vents or fans near him. He will be happier up higher on a desk or dresser as they are tree dwellers.

Here is a list of useful links for Jackson's owners. Jackson's Chameleon Articles and Studies

 

[JacksJill]

Just as a reference here are pictures of one of my males over time and my mature female of the same species.

 

[Thehippie]

• Your Chameleon - he is a male jackson not to sure about the age but hes young and small, we have had him for just about a week now. He could be a she. You have a jacksonii Jacksonii or a True Jackson's Chameleon. The females can and often do have 3 horns. The horns over the eyes tend to be more delicate or thiner than in the males as are the hind legs and tail base at maturity. Time will tell. These guys are much smaller than the xanths that are more commonly seen. Males top out at 60-70 gm and the females 30-35 IME.
• Feeding - we are feeding him mainly leg crickets. (Didnt have smalls). He eats about 1 maybe 2 leg ones. He will get a couple mealworms a day as well. Crickets in the morning mealworms halfway through the day. But with the big crickets he isnt eating the worms. Crickets are gut loaded daily. Try to stick to smalls when possible as larger prey items may damage the glands at the corners of his/her mouth. Use small superworms as a hand feeding treat instead and keep it down to one or two per week.
• Watering - We have a monsoon auto mister. It goes off every hour for 8 seconds. I have seen him drink on multiple occasions. You probably won't need so many mistings but Simon benefit from longer (2-5 minutes) hand misting first thing in the morning and last thing at night with just enough other to maintain minimum humidity and leave some droplets around. They also benefit from fogging at night with a cool mist humidifier. You want daytime humidity around 40-50% and night time as high as 80-100%.
• Lighting - we have a blue tropical day light, a ubv light, and his red night time light. 0630-1800 are his usual day light hours. All lights are zoo med brand I belive. In addition to advice above. I'm guessing you got the Chameleon kit and the lights that go with it. If so you should look into getting linear T5 lighting as it is a much better UVB source. The coiled UVB bulbs are inadequate in the long term. Keep your lights on for 12 hours and do your best to have total darkness for 12 hours. They thrive on night time temperature drops into the low 60's.

Supplements - We are dipping his food in calcium before we feed it to him. Repashy calcium plus. Repashy Calcium Plus has D3 & vitamins in it and should not be used but once a month in Jackson's. If it is Repashy LoD it may be given every other week until full grown then monthly if you have good lighting. Use plain phosphorus free calcium every other day. Use all supplements very lightly as Jackson's don't tolerate overdoses.
Cage Type - we have the zoo med repti breeze 16x16x30 screen with plastic on half to help with humidity and heat. You will need a larger cage but since these guys don't get that large a 18x18x36 will do but larger is better for males who like to roam. your smaller cage can be used for outdoors on nice days.
Placement - he is in the corner of the room with very low foot traffic. Currently he is on the floor. No vents or fans near him. He will be happier up higher on a desk or dresser as they are tree dwellers.

Here is a list of useful links for Jackson's owners. Jackson's Chameleon Articles and Studies

wow i totally forgot about uvb!

 

[JacksJill]

wow i totally forgot about uvb!

I got your back