Thinking about adopting a Jackson's any advice?

[Lathis]

Poor little thing - she looks healthier than I expected honestly - maybe that's a good sign for recovery. Drinking is very good; once they refuse to drink, it is very difficult to keep them going. She does look very round, so I would expect slugs, which is exactly what she doesn't need right now. Soldier fly larva are an excellent idea for the calcium. Her front legs do look a little bent. I think it's harder to see MBD in Jacksons because of their pajama legs compared to the skinny legs of Veileds and Panthers. Can you get her silkworms or hornworms too?

I agree you shouldn't wait to go to the vet. The vet can get her started with a calcium injection. Take fresh droppings if you get them for a fecal parasite check.

Keep us posted. Hope is quite the little doll, and I am rooting hard for her!

 

[Andee]

I have hornworm eggs on the way, they should be arriving in a couple days or so, the vet ended up being able to fit me in tonight, love my vet. She was poked and prodded and was obviously very uncomfortable but it was as expected, severe MBD but still reversible. She says she is glad her tongue is still working well otherwise it'd be a whole other story. When she touched her legs they were like rubber, she isn't sure if there are slugs or not. She's only 65 grams, but I am worried. How do you get them removed? Or does she give birth to them naturally? Is there anyway I can be prepared? Should I get an X-ray done as soon as I can?

I got liquid calcium and she had a calcium D3 shot. She is incredibly grumpy now and I assume she's pretty painful. She is now in her cage probably settling down for the night. Her jaw is apparently slightly pliable, but supposedly everything should be fixable. It'll take time, but I have 'hope' lol. I am definitely waiting for her to go to the bathroom though so I can get a fecal done.

We didn't want to do too much tonight, considering this is literally her second day with me.

 

[Lathis]

You're off to a great start with her. The calcium just needs time to work now. Hopefully she can gain some strength with a proper diet.

As for the slugs, I would say wait and see. You might send a PM to a member here by the name of Little Leaf. She takes in rescues and had a lot of experience with female Jackson's. She's not on often, but she might have some really good advice for you. I might have her email, too, I'll see if I can find out for you.

Hope should lay any slugs naturally, and with luck she can recover a bit before it's time.

Poor little thing. It's so terrible that she's so sick

 

[guanagator]

Sounds like your doing everything you can, glad she's in a better place now and like Lathis said she looks better than I expected from description. Keep it up and hopefully she comes around for you!

 

[Leo Chance]

I am impressed at the degree that you care about the little Jackson. Wishing you the best. We have a cool basement where we keep Jacksons, and we enjoy them very much. They really are sweet, with a calm nature. We built a fog system for them and love watching them taking showers. They really love water, especially compared to Veileds. Good luck!

 

[Andee]

The Petco I work at will eventually be hiring me as their aquatics/reptile specialist and I will be teaching everyone what they need to know from now on. Thank god XD, some of the veileds that came in our latest shipment have some Vitamin A deficiencies, I can fix it but they both need to be put in the back and taken care of correctly while they are recovering. Hand feeding and watering is the only way to take care of them right now because they both have their eyes closed completely.

I hope I can prevent this from happening again, with at least this Petco. I don't expect to change the world, but it'd be nice if I could make some people more knowledgeable. Hope was just the product of poor teaching and ignorance, and probably laziness because no one referenced any material. I'm not making any excuses for them, but they Cooperate really has no idea what they are doing when they try and teach people. Today is the first day of Hope's liquid calcium regiment, wish me luck getting it down her. I just am so afraid I'll hurt her.

 

[Leo Chance]

Good luck, hope you can make a difference. The Petco near our house gets Veileds & sells them quickly. But no one there seems to know much about what they sell.

 

[wodesorel]

Can't something be done since they're coming in sick? Doesn't Petco have a policy that all animals are vet checked before being sold? (It's been like 15 years since I bought a hamster there.)

 

[Andee]

They do have that policy but they don't think I know what I am talking about since I am just a sales associate... they won't listen to me until I have a title

 

[wodesorel]

I'm not understanding why their vets aren't saying something when they see an ill animal, especially multiple ones over time. It does the chain no good to be paying a distributor who is supplying them less than perfect animals. It costs them money in deaths and upset customers. If everything is actually vet checked as claimed, it should be on the vets to step up and say it's not a good idea, go elsewhere for your chams, this breeder/supplier is bad. (or whatever animal it might be.)​

 

[Andee]

I think they only send them to vets if they consider them sick, and most store employees don't know a sick animal from a hole in the wall.

 

[Andee]

Ok already seeing some improvement, which is quite surprising to me considering I expected her to be bad for quite a while. However she is eating now with no problem, and had a bowel movement, though it didn't look quite normal (I assume that's because she is on more vitamins/calcium now idk, will be watching for new ones), her urates are still a bit orange but they are starting to turn a nice chalky white. She takes her liquid calcium really easily, she just gapes at me when I pick her up and I stick it deep into her mouth and she swallows with no issues. She is already showing improvement in how she is holding herself, when I picked her up today she is standing somewhat, though she's still incredibly shaky and unsure on her feet. I don't know if all this improvement was just because she was so utterly dehydrated and so low on vitamins in general, so any improvement in her water levels and vitamin levels have caused her to feel better quicker than expected. I don't, I am spectating, I am going to watch her closely and see how she does. Hope has a lot more energy today, climbing all over the place and worrying me to death. Though all over the place, means moving about 2 inches every three hours lol XD still it's a lot better than her first two days. She seems happier? We shall see.

 

[Andee]

She's eating about every day now, though she won't move in and out of the basking light when she needs to, I think she wants to move too far and it takes too much energy for her to. So she just ends up sitting there, I'm not sure though, I move her when I realize she is getting to hot, and move into the basking light at least once a day. She's doing well otherwise. She's moving still but only two inches at a time, she's doing better than I expected in such a short time.

 

[Lathis]

Go, go, Hope!

 

[wodesorel]

So good to hear!

 

[Andee]

I have hornworm eggs waiting to hatch and I am hoping to start winning her affections with them. That way when she does feel better and probably a little more sassy it won't be as much of a problem. She seems to like calciworms and wax worms so I am hopeful she will like the hornworms too. She seems to grudgingly put up with just about everything I do to her, medications and moving wise. So I assume she would take to hand feeding ok. But we shall see. And I'm also so glad you guys are here to help me on this emotional roller coaster. Give me support and share in the joys. It's so nice to realize there are people out there who care about her almost as much as I do and they haven't even met her.

 

[Andee]

So she fell for the first time this morning. Though I don't think it's because she is getting worse, I think it's actually because she is feeling better. Found her starting to climb upside down about it, and for some reason I didn't think anything of it, even though I knew I should've have moved her back to normal position. I guess I am so used to watching a healthy chameleon scale all over the place it just automatically registered as normal in my brain while I was rushing about and feeding everyone this morning. Anyway, thank god I had put towels down for her, I came in and she was on the ground, nothing seems broken or any worse. I will be keeping an eye on her watching for bruising in specific places. But I think it's getting to the point where I should create a hammock or something similar for her, because since she is feeling better I fear she is going to be testing her limits and putting herself in danger.

 

[KrazyZen]

diet is pretty much the same kind you would feed other chameleons or reptiles the climate they thrive on is a more montane region also they do not lay eggs and has live birth instead. in my opinion probably a good chameleon to start with for beginners.

 

[KrazyZen]

if your chameleon isn't use to being handled or is not quite use to your presence then i suggest giving it more space and being more slow and patient . if it starts rocking on the stem or dropping off a stem when you are near by it's probably stressed out , avoid ever trying to grab it, instead offer your hand and see if it is ok with being scoped underneath instead. also some chameleons just dont like being held and should just be admired at a distance.

 

[Bush baby]

Supplementation is simple, but crucial.

1) Dust with Calcium at every feeding.
2) Expose to natural sunlight every opportunity possible and/or change UV bulb frequently
3) I only dust with D3 in the winter when i can't take him outside, but if so, 1-2 times a month max.
4) Gutload your feeders with Turnip, collard, mustard greens and other veggies all the time.