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JaynDrea

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We just wanted to say hi to everyone. We are a husbad and wife team that loves our animals. We are new to Chams but not to reps. We just picked up our first Cham yesterday. It is a Jackson's and we are pretty sure it is a male. So, we named him Krawl! We also have a terrarium and our son has a African Fat Tailed Gecko. Krawl is the new addition to the family. So we hope to learn a lot here and maybe add to our Chams. We are already in love with them...

So any advice anyone can give, it is welcome!
 
We do have a question... What would be the best way to setup the cage? It is a screen cage and we want to give him places to hide. We looked at real plants but also wanted to add something else he can crawl on. What about fake plants and dow rods?
 
JaynDrea said:
We do have a question... What would be the best way to setup the cage? It is a screen cage and we want to give him places to hide. We looked at real plants but also wanted to add something else he can crawl on. What about fake plants and dow rods?
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Welcome to the forums!

Yes, yes and yes. Lots of plants. They love having places to hide, and will actually come out more because they'll feel safer. Real plants help with humidity but fake ones are okay too. Just wash them well before use to get off any chemical residues from manufacturing.
 
What type of real plants are safe for the Jackson's? Also, how do you have them setup in the bottom? Just sitting in the pots? We come from a terrarium background and having to switch gears here. What about the fake plants. How do you we secure them in?
 
Yes you can have them just sitting in pots, but you'll want to cover the soil completely with rocks large enough that a jackson can't eat them (at least 2" diameter) so he can't accidentally ingest the soil. Soil can block them up. Best idea is to also replace at least the top half of the soil with organic soil so there's no pesticides or fertilizers either. I secured fake plants with small wire either directly onto the screen or climbing branches.
 
What about handling to bond with him. We were told he was about 2 years old. I know he needs to get used to his new home and is for a while though. Also, what about feeding? We have been feeding him crickets. Should he be feed daily, twice a day, or? And how many crickets should be be eating at once? Anything else he would eat?
 
Chameleons really don't bond to people...as reptiles they don't form overtly emotional attachments, if at all. Handle him as little as possible for the first few weeks and then you can offer him food to take from your hand so he learns that you are associated with good things. Then you can gradually feed him and touch his feet and try to let him step onto your hand. Never try to grab him from above though because that only scares them really bad.

I feed my 2 year old jackson 4-6 big crickets every other day and he maintains his weight well that way. Feed him early in the day so he has time to bask and digest his food properly. They can also eat silkworms, butterworms, hornworms, phoenix worms, and a few other types in addition to crickets. Mealworms are not very good for them, and superworms are usually kind of big for them. Make sure you feed the crickets on good, high calcium foods before feeding them to your cham. Gutloading Basics.
 
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Good people here ... they're very helpful and knowledgeable
 
pothos, shefflera arboricola and ficus are the most common ones used and are cham safe. Wash and rinse thoroughly with soapy water and rinse good. Repot in organic soil or soil with no fertilizer. Cover the soil with large river rocks. I usually get a large bucket of soapy water and invert the plant, let it soak and then spray down with a hose to rinse.
 
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