Our new baby Jackson, Mr. Albert

[AlbertEinstein]

Our new Jackson, Mr. Albert

This is our first chameleon. The Petco near our house in Salem, Oregon just recently got approved for Jackson's Chameleons and we bought this one up as soon as we could. We did pretty extensive research prior to purchasing our little baby so we're not in the dark and I've obviously created an account here to fuel my knowledge even more.

I just wanted to share a couple pictures of his reptarium that we spent a few hours on building everything in. I'm pretty sure it turned out great. I bought the dome lights at home depot, one is a UVB light and the other is a basking spotlight. I plan to weld them into a double dome light after a while, but I'm pretty sure it works well as is. Aside from that, and the use of substrate for bedding currently, I can't think of much else needed. Would love to hear others opinions though!

In addition is a pic of Albert Einstein. He was actually upside down but with some amazing photoshop work I changed that. He's only about a month old.

 

[ReptiGeek]

Welcome to the forums, glad you found us!
First and foremost, your jacksons is MUCH older then a month old. Possibly closer to 8 months considering his horns are so far along.
As for your set up, it is a good start, but might I suggest removing the substrate (you might be using it for humidity) and just make a switch to live plants? Not sure what you meant by using the substrate as bedding so if you already understand why substrate isn't great when using it for chameleons, disregard this! The live plants will really help with humidity and your jacksons chameleon will greatly appreciate it! Some plants you can consider are pothos, ficus and schefflera. They all do very well in terrariums and with frequent misting, they will be quite beneficial to your jacksons chameleons health.
As for your lights, you cannot purchase a UVB light from home depot. Swirly bulbs sold at home depot are strictly UVA (if the proper temperature, 5000-6,700K). You'll want to pick up a UVB bulb like a Zoo Med ReptiSun 5.0 or Exo Terra ReptiGlo 100. UVB is a reptile specialty bulb.
Cheers, and hope I could help.

 

[AlbertEinstein]

Welcome to the forums, glad you found us!
First and foremost, your jacksons is MUCH older then a month old. Possibly closer to 8 months considering his horns are so far along.
As for your set up, it is a good start, but might I suggest removing the substrate (you might be using it for humidity) and just make a switch to live plants? Not sure what you meant by using the substrate as bedding so if you already understand why substrate isn't great when using it for chameleons, disregard this! The live plants will really help with humidity and your jacksons chameleon will greatly appreciate it! Some plants you can consider are pothos, ficus and schefflera. They all do very well in terrariums and with frequent misting, they will be quite beneficial to your jacksons chameleons health.
As for your lights, you cannot purchase a UVB light from home depot. Swirly bulbs sold at home depot are strictly UVA (if the proper temperature, 5000-6,700K). You'll want to pick up a UVB bulb like a Zoo Med ReptiSun 5.0 or Exo Terra ReptiGlo 100. UVB is a reptile specialty bulb.
Cheers, and hope I could help.

Thanks for the information regarding his age. I was kind of in the dark and that was what they said at Petco. Kind of annoying actually, maybe I'll go see if I can't complain and get some money back. lol

We originally bought the substrate just to retain water for humidity and just so there was some "natural" bedding in the terrarium. I do understand the reasons why it isn't great, and we plan to make a switch to live plants in a week or two. I just don't want to stress him out more than needed.

As for the lights, I actually meant I bought the domes at home depot. The light bulbs I purchased at Petco and both are specialty bulbs.

If there's any other information you can give me about him, that would be great. The background information was almost non-existant at the pet store, but is he looking healthy? Maybe what sub-species he is?

 

[jmwhitel]

Reptigeek is right on all accounts

Also add LOTS of walkways and more shrubbery for good places to hide so he can escape the heat and uv rays. I use lavarock as my substrate cause I dont like the look of bare floor. When you add plants, you will also need to add a 5000-6500k flourescent light to promote plant growth.

Welcome to the forums, your little guy is cool!

 

[AlbertEinstein]

Reptigeek is right on all accounts

Also add LOTS of walkways and more shrubbery for good places to hide so he can escape the heat and uv rays. I use lavarock as my substrate cause I dont like the look of bare floor. When you add plants, you will also need to add a 5000-6500k flourescent light to promote plant growth.

Welcome to the forums, your little guy is cool!

There's about five walkways right now. Within a month or two, I actually plan to replace the artificial walkways with ficus branches and just attach the flowers to those as I have all the colors in hope that he will add some of the more vibrant ones to his spectrum as he grows. When that time comes, I'll certainly increase the amount of walkways.

As for shrubbery and places to hide, aside from the plan to make the switch to live plants, he really likes the two leaf bundles in the top corners for escaping the light (check the picture) and this was their main purpose. Although, I agree, it could use a bit more. Nothing urgent though.

Thank you for the warm welcome!

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

Jackson's like cooler temps, and higher humidity. I keep my jax between 80-100% after misting and slways above 50% when drying out. My ambient temp in the room is 68 degrees. I keep my basking spot between 83-85 but my guys rarely bask much.

I also have modified a walgreens cool mist humidifier to fog the place up between misting. There is a really good video to keeping jacks on YouTube.

 

[AlbertEinstein]

I keep my temperature and humidity similar. I'll have to check out that video. I've been looking for ways to keep the humidity up between mistings.

 

[symphonica]

Yes, no substrate due to possible impaction. To retain humidity, you can put up sheets of acrylic on two or three of the sides. They sell acrylic sheets at Home Depot. You can use paper towels on the bottom to wick up the moisture, but they must be replaced frequently, as stagnant water and feces will harbor bacteria that could make your cham very ill.

UVB must come from pet stores, specified as having UVB output. You want something with 5.0 UVB output, although some people do use 10.0 with no problems. Personally, I prefer T8 tube bulbs over coiled bulbs (and many will say coiled bulbs are no good) because tubes more powerful and efficient at distributing the UVB (spread out over larger area). I use T5HO bulbs because they're most powerful and efficient. ReptiSun is preferred over ReptiGlo.

Make sure you dry the cage out completely in between mistings, and the humidity levels should have a rise and fall, and not at a constant high. Constant high humidity could lead to respiratory infections, and they do need that gradient of some dryness during the day.

You'll want to provide him with a lot more walkways, and get the top one very close to the top, with just enough space for your cham to fit between the top vine and top screen of the cage. They have a tendency to get as high us as they can, and if there's no vine for them to get there, they will resort to hanging upside down from the screen. Therefore, make sure that you're gauging temp at the very top screen, and not necessarily the highest vine. If the top of the cage is too warm, your cham may burn himself when hanging upside down there. You essentially want your cham to be able to get to every spot of the cage by relying on the vines/walkways - top, bottom, every diagonal, left, right, etc. He shouldn't have to rely on climbing the screen to get where he wants to. It should essentially look like a 3D spider web in there.

And don't trust what most pet stores tell you, especially Petsmart/co. They're usually not knowledgeable enough when it comes to these guys, and remember, they do have the motive of getting you to spend as much money as they can get you to with them. They'll make you buy a lot of useless stuff. For example, red night heat lamps - a definite no no for chams. Or, those orange/green cricket jelly food things - completely useless. Which reminds me, make sure you're gutloading properly and using the correct supplements. Make sure your calcium has no D3, as too much D3 can be very harmful to them. Also, since crickets and dubia are so high in phosphorus, they should be dusted with plain calcium with no phosphorus every time you use them, to balance out the calcium to phosphorus ratio.

And handsome little fella you got yourself, but definitely not a 1-month baby. More like a sub-adult.

 

[AlbertEinstein]

First and foremost, thanks for all the information. It is much appreciated.

As stated before, the substrate will be removed within the week. I do have a pet store UVB light, and a basking light. I will certainly expand upon the amount of branches and walkways and make sure I'm letting the humidity go down between mistings. I have a ficus tree in the backyard that I will look into getting some efficient branches for making a lot more walkways with.

I'm not really even upset that he's not a baby, and having looked at so many pictures I probably should have known. I'm just upset that they were completely wrong about his age. If you're handling and selling pets, you should have a better knowledge of their age and background, that's all.

I still love him and wouldn't be able to bring myself to return the little beast or anything. I might pursue something like a half refund though. I just wish I knew more about his background and whether he was bred, wild, or what. ;_;

 

[ReptiGeek]

is he looking healthy? Maybe what sub-species he is?

Yes he is quite healthy! Very straight horns and limbs, and his eyes are aware. His sub-species is xantholophus, the more common species of jacksons kept in captivity. Everyone else has informed you with some great information.

Edit** as far as the store being wrong about his age, in this scenario it is a VERY good thing. Most jacksons breeders will not sell their babies until they are at least 4 months of age due to random acts of death. It's very literal, jacksons babies (even when fed and cared for properly) have a habit of calling it quits far too young. I'm not sure how much you paid for this guy, but he's in great shape! And also keep in mind, sub-adult chameleons will always cost more then babies because they are already established. I'd be happy with the outcome if I were you, just my opinion =P

 

[symphonica]

With the ficus, just make sure that it's cham safe. Some plants are toxic to chams and can cause health problems or irritate them. Even if just the branches, the sap in the bark could be toxic.

Edit** as far as the store being wrong about his age, in this scenario it is a VERY good thing. Most jacksons breeders will not sell their babies until they are at least 4 months of age due to random acts of death. It's very literal, jacksons babies (even when fed and cared for properly) have a habit of calling it quits far too young. I'm not sure how much you paid for this guy, but he's in great shape! And also keep in mind, sub-adult chameleons will always cost more then babies because they are already established. I'd be happy with the outcome if I were you, just my opinion =P

Very glad you mentioned this. I had started a thread a while back questioning at what age you can expect a baby cham to be "out of the woods" and will survive to adulthood (what age you should be buying to guarantee survival). Nobody understood the concept and kept telling me that a good breeder would have a 100% success rate, which I told them was absolutely impossible if we were to speak in terms of success being reaching adulthood and passing on healthy genes to future generations. They said that if they're given proper care, none should die. I tried to explain how not all eggs hatch. Out of the ones that do, not all will survive past hatchling age, not all into juvenile, not all into full adulthood, and not all capable of breeding. I was told that deaths only occur due to poor husbandry and that there shouldn't be any natural, genetic, innate reasons where a cham's lifespan is predetermined and destined. I was not convinced. I breed koi - I've experienced more than a fair share of random acts of death.

 

[symphonica]

Sorry, didn't mean to derail or take over your thread

 

[AlbertEinstein]

Sorry, didn't mean to derail or take over your thread

Haha, no worries. It's all very informative. And that's why I'm here, to learn.

 

[Chameleon Brothers]

Green

He is so intense!

 

[symphonica]

He actually has really nice colors for being a Petco chameleon. I'm actually quite jealous, looking at the Einstein 3–3-2014 photo.

 

[AlbertEinstein]

He actually has really nice colors for being a Petco chameleon. I'm actually quite jealous, looking at the Einstein 3–3-2014 photo.

That's his terrified colors but they are quite beautiful. lol

 

[AlbertEinstein]

Minor update! I did remove the substrate and have substituted it with a towel that I will be keeping clean daily. I also added some bird branches and his habitat is looking great, although I still need the live plants. I'm kind of broke right now but I feel bad not having a live plant in there for him. As soon as possible!

I'm also working on setting up a drainage system and I got a timer for his lights. He's been pretty hesitant to explore his new environment much since the changes but he's been about as content as I could hope for. Been a stressful week for the little guy, going to try and let him relax and get settled in.

Here he is again, showing his discontent with picture time. Although it's hard to tell in this picture, he's been developing a beautiful light blue to his head and cheeks. I'm excited to see how he looks after the shedding skin comes off his head.

 

[symphonica]

In terms of live plants, $10 will get you a fairly large one from Home Depot or Market Basket. Market Basket has pretty large hanging pothos baskets. I just picked up a nice palm from Home Depot. It's about 3' tall and really bushy. Be careful, though, because they both definitely carry plants that are toxic to them. And make sure you wash the leaves to remove all toxins/pesticides and cover the soil with rocks big enough that they can't fit in their mouths. You may find this site useful:

http://flchams.com/safe_plant_list.asp#e

 

[Ninkylou]

Seeing that you live in the PNW I am going to assume that the Fred Meyers in OR have similar inventory to WA. I get great Sheffelera's and pothos from Fred Meyers, quite often they have sales where you get one plant then another for 50% OFF. The Lowes & Home Depot don't have great quality stock out that I have experienced in a number of different location, the clerks say its the time of year and they get more later on.

Welcome to the world of chameleon ownership... ooops thats wrong, they owns you!!

Good do see another west coast recruit!

Lots of good west coast feeder companies too, so ordering online is easy and fast.

 

[AlbertEinstein]

Seeing that you live in the PNW I am going to assume that the Fred Meyers in OR have similar inventory to WA. I get great Sheffelera's and pothos from Fred Meyers, quite often they have sales where you get one plant then another for 50% OFF. The Lowes & Home Depot don't have great quality stock out that I have experienced in a number of different location, the clerks say its the time of year and they get more later on.

Welcome to the world of chameleon ownership... ooops thats wrong, they owns you!!

Good do see another west coast recruit!

Lots of good west coast feeder companies too, so ordering online is easy and fast.

I ended up getting a beautiful Schefflera from Home Depot for $10. Perfect size for his cage, I'll have pics tomorrow of his renovated habitat. Hopefully the last renovation for a while! I feel bad making changes so much but I just want to get everything perfect.