Thinking about a jackson

[alil]

Hello, This weekend there is a repticon going on in my town. I am thinking about getting a Jackson if I see one there. I have raised a veiled for a few months and he is really healthy. (It feels like yesterday he was no bigger than my index finger) So I have a few questions about them. How is their temperament compared to a veiled. I feel my veiled while not liking to be handled will not run from sight when he sees me approach his cage. How much harder are they to keep. What is a good size cage for it. And finally should I buy one as a baby or adult if I have a choice. Thank you in advance for any help.

 

[SaintJimmy]

I think you should buy an OLDER (not necessarily adult) jacksons. It saves you a lot of hassle.

1) You don't have to deal with the "mysterios jacksons death" (before the age of 4 months sometimes they will just die for some reason)
2) You don't have to deal with fruit flies or small crickets (pain in the butt, believe me)
3) You only have to get 1 cage, instead of upgrading a cage.

So if you have an adult you can only buy everything/set up everything once, then never have to deal with buying anything ever again.

As for supplements, temperatures, care, etc, see caresheets like this one.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/jacksons/

I have a 4-5 month old jacksons I'm fostering, I have to tell you this: Slightly lower temps and higher humidity is a must.

 

[kplatvoet]

I would have to agree with the Saint- you want one older than 5 months and a male unless you know for sure that it hasn't even seen a male since birth- It's my opinion - which is not based on anything but a lot of reading this forum and jumping to conclusions but I think a big part of the problems people have with keeping Jackson's alive is that they get them too young or from to young unhealthy mothers. My baby was one of 11 born to a Petsmart purchase I took him because they had lost 3 at the time and thought that by thinning the heard the would stand a better chance of keep the ones they had left alive - and I had had some experience with a chameleon - mine wouldn't be alive except for the research I did here and a lot of luck. They ended up losing the mother and all the rest of the babies - If I get another one it will be from a forum member with a healthy mom and experienced owner - at least that's what I say now - SaintJimmy really is a saint for doing such a good job with his foster-

 

[SaintJimmy]

I would have to agree with the Saint- you want one older than 5 months and a male unless you know for sure that it hasn't even seen a male since birth- It's my opinion - which is not based on anything but a lot of reading this forum and jumping to conclusions but I think a big part of the problems people have with keeping Jackson's alive is that they get them too young or from to young unhealthy mothers. My baby was one of 11 born to a Petsmart purchase I took him because they had lost 3 at the time and thought that by thinning the heard the would stand a better chance of keep the ones they had left alive - and I had had some experience with a chameleon - mine wouldn't be alive except for the research I did here and a lot of luck. They ended up losing the mother and all the rest of the babies - If I get another one it will be from a forum member with a healthy mom and experienced owner - at least that's what I say now - SaintJimmy really is a saint for doing such a good job with his foster-

Thank you for the compliment. Although I do not have drainage, or a live plant, I am RELIGIOUSLY following caresheets and misting him like crazy, but allowing drying periods. He is very easy to care for since I already have veiled experience.

I've never really cared for a cham this young, when I got monty he was around maybe 4-6 months old already. This guy maybe 3-4. I think now he is 4 1/2 maybe 5.

It's always guesswork when you don't know the DOH (date of hatch).

He is just so cute.

I think that a jacksons that is older would be better than having to deal with tiny crickets (like I am now...) though! And I will have to upgrade the cage if I do keep him.

They also love to drink a lot! At least mine does, he drinks from a squirt bottle eagerly almost every day.

 

[Mew]

I have a Jackson, have had a veiled as well as I have both regularly in stock at my store. Jacksons tend to be of a more mild to social temperament. Mine loves to sit on my shoulder, I even took him with me on a brief errand into town today as he tends not to stress easily. They definitely don't get many fancy colors, usually a simple lime green color, although their horns and bumpy skin make them look almost dinosauric. I usually recommend a jackson to anyone looking for more of a social chameleon.

 

[houseofchameleons]

I have been fostering a pregnant jackson that recently birthed 16 beautiful babies on Sept 24th and have been hyper vigilant as I fear they might just die off but on a good note so far they are great and beautiful and plan on keeping them until they pass that drop dead point before selling thme

 

[kplatvoet]

I have a Jackson and a panther - and the Jackson is way more mellow- I don't handle him a lot - but when he has to come out of his cage for outside time and cage cleaning he only seems to mind that i messed with his hunting- or basking. he's moved up to a little bigger crickets but they are harder to find than just regular "small" Fruit flies are a pain they don't stay in the cage - staple flies die quicker than blue bottles - but the bbs are bigger and he's just about grown enough for a couple of blue bottles - I use a lower watt bulb and he's closer to the window- I have a cool mist humidifier - drainage is a big issue - and they like a lot of cover I mix live and fake mostly off the bottom of the cage so it's easier to just wipe out the bottom - which has a drain so there isn't any standing water. I haven't had much luck with the live plants the combination lots of water and shade- I have two hibiscus trees that I switch out - he can tell but it seems to only slightly bother him - doesn't effect his hunting- way less suppliments and I try to make sure his crickets have at least a day to gut load on something besides cardboard. (and feed his flies with special fly food that I get from the same place i get the flies from)
"House" your babies are beautiful - good luck with them - I'm glad to see a old hand having baby Jackson's and giving them a good start -

 

[houseofchameleons]

Thanks they are beautiful and I am hopeful but also it is always nail biting hoping for them to survive

 

[boosh96]

I'd definitely recommend a 5+ month old Jackson's. Handsome Jack is probably my favorite pet, and I usually can't pick favorites. Plus the young ones are the cutest thing ever with their nubby little horns and stuff. While Handsome Jack is my first "true" chameleon, I've heard Jackson's are generally thought to be a good step up from Veiled/Panther chameleons as well.

 

[Poptartjake]

Interesting to see everyone's opinion about Jax's. I have a female Jax that is just over a year that I took over care for. It's actually my GF's Cham and her dad had been caring for her previously. I have actually come to the opposite conclusion then everyone else, but that is also due to the nature of the Chameleon.

We consider our Jax, Lilly, to have two different personalities. She has what seems to be a pretty mild, easy going Jax personality most of the time. Then, she has her other personality which we call Yzma. This is when she gets flared up and pissy. This is usually any time I have to remove her from her cage for cleaning or such.