Too Friendly Jackson's?

[amalthea23]

I have a female jackson's cham, Mordrid. We've established a habit where every morning, I go to her cage, open the door, and hand feed her a couple of phoenix worms. Then a little later, I bring her crickets. On nice sunny days, I'll take her outside to sit in the sun and soak up some UV, which she seems to really enjoy. Happy colors, and calm demeanor etc. Thursday, she walked over the worms to crawl on me, and then turned around and ate worms while perched on me. Friday, I had to go to the office early, so I wasn't able to hand feed her or take her outside. I just gave her crickets and went to work. This morning, it was pouring and crappy out, plus I'm sick, so she wasn't going outside. I went to hand feed her and she crawled over the worms to climb on me again. I let her hang out for a bit, but, as I'm sick, I had to put her back in the cage with some crickets while I had some couch time. Now, when I go over to peek at her, she comes to the door and does her mouth open, silent scream thing. She only does this when she's annoyed or right after she eats as a kind of victory thing. My question is, I thought they're supposed to very much dislike the handling and certainly not walk over worms for it. Is this odd? Are some of them friendly enough to enjoy a daily "field trip" outside? And also, how long do they remember?
This is my first cham, so I'm just filled with questions. I hope they're not silly ones!

 

[Kerrek]

Every one is different. I have a female that hisses and gapes everytime I open the cage then will eat whatever food I am feeding right out of my hand. I have a male that wants nothing more than to be out of his cage and will crawl out on me or my wife then he will crawl up your arm on top of your head and hang out there. Looks like you got a friendly one.

 

[amalthea23]

Ok, that's really good to know! I get nervous because I'm a first time owner and I look through the forums and the first question people seem to ask if something is awry is "did you touch it?!" and I started assuming that was just the kiss of death. I bought her along with a male (my friend keeps him) and he's NOT into playtime like she is. I recently babysat for him while my friend was away and he made it very clear that holding wasn't his thing, so I left him alone, but Mordrid really seems to reach for it, so I figured it was ok. I'm glad to hear that some of them ARE friendly. I'm loving cham ownership and now I'm really looking forward to the next reptile expo I go to, I think before the year's out, I'll have more than one, I just can't decide what I want for my second!

 

[SAYWIZARD]

sounds like u have the same issue i have. my cham wants to come out his cage ALL THE TIME. not a bad thing at all. my guy will sit and watch a movie with me and just observe the living room the whole time.

most of the time when i walk in the room he's goes str8 to the door and starts scratching to come out. consider yourself lucky. your bond will only get stronger.

 

[amalthea23]

Wow! Is it only with Jackson's, or do other breeds have friendly members too? I'm trying to relax about her. She looks great, and she's eating, pooping, growing, etc. it's just nerve wracking with the first one!

 

[Zubi]

You do not know HOW MUCH i envy you. My cham doesnt bite or hiss or gape at me but he is a scaredy cat and tries to jump from my hands

 

[amalthea23]

We had a mothers day (belated, clearly!) BBQ here and EVERYONE wanted to play with her and she very happily obliged. She climbed on everyone and actually climbed down my dads leg, across the rug, and up my elderly friends leg. She's very into exploring, and ate a worm from my 8 year old nieces hand! Everyone she meets claims one of her future offspring. I wonder if you can breed for personality, lol.

 

[Solid Snake]

I have a female jackson's cham, Mordrid. We've established a habit where every morning, I go to her cage, open the door, and hand feed her a couple of phoenix worms. Then a little later, I bring her crickets. On nice sunny days, I'll take her outside to sit in the sun and soak up some UV, which she seems to really enjoy. Happy colors, and calm demeanor etc. Thursday, she walked over the worms to crawl on me, and then turned around and ate worms while perched on me. Friday, I had to go to the office early, so I wasn't able to hand feed her or take her outside. I just gave her crickets and went to work. This morning, it was pouring and crappy out, plus I'm sick, so she wasn't going outside. I went to hand feed her and she crawled over the worms to climb on me again. I let her hang out for a bit, but, as I'm sick, I had to put her back in the cage with some crickets while I had some couch time. Now, when I go over to peek at her, she comes to the door and does her mouth open, silent scream thing. She only does this when she's annoyed or right after she eats as a kind of victory thing. My question is, I thought they're supposed to very much dislike the handling and certainly not walk over worms for it. Is this odd? Are some of them friendly enough to enjoy a daily "field trip" outside? And also, how long do they remember?
This is my first cham, so I'm just filled with questions. I hope they're not silly ones!

How are you supplementing her?

This is somewhat odd behavior, especially for a jacksons.

Them being freindly is not unheard of though.

Usually if they want out of the cage, there may be something they dont like inside the cage.

You might want to fill out the form, and post pics of your setup. Just to make sure.

 

[amalthea23]

She's eating mostly gut loaded crickets and Phoenix worms. Occasionally she gets hornworms, and once a week, she gets calcium +d and a multi vitamin. I've got photos of her and her setup on this page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/amalthea23/sets/72157629899224231
She's had a very successful shedding since I've had her, just a month now.

She doesn't seem to dislike the cage, she's happy to go back after her outings, she just seems to really like those outings!

 

[justjumpit621]

Misslily has a jackson's like that, and all of JannB's chameleons are like this (she has veileds and panthers), my chameleon will be friendly as well when he feels like it, he is a panther. There are many very friendly chameleons of all species, but there are also aggressive ones. Not every one is made equal

 

[justjumpit621]

She's eating mostly gut loaded crickets and Phoenix worms. Occasionally she gets hornworms, and once a week, she gets calcium +d and a multi vitamin. I've got photos of her and her setup on this page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/amalthea23/sets/72157629899224231
She's had a very successful shedding since I've had her, just a month now.

She doesn't seem to dislike the cage, she's happy to go back after her outings, she just seems to really like those outings!

Definitely WAY too much supplementation. Jacksons can extremely easily overdose as well. they should get only a very light dusting of: plain phosphorus free calcium powder every feeding, the calcium with D3 once a month if you bring her outside regularly, and the multivitamin once a month as well, but not at the same feeding as the D3

 

[amalthea23]

Good to know! I'll cut back on the vitamins and d3 until fall (then I guess up the d3 again?) does she need the daily calcium with the daily Phoenix worms? I'd read that they were a high calcium feeder.

 

[Solid Snake]

You dont have to dust the phoenix worms no. Just her staple feeders(crickets).

What do you gutload with?

Supplemented D3 can be overdosed on, D3 from the sun can not be overdosed on.

I wouldnt be surprised if you notice a change in behavior after reducing the D3, as hyper-activity, and "friendliness" is a sign of such overdose(thats why I asked about it).

I would not give her anymore D3 for 1.5 months. This will give her time to get use up her current stores of D3.

After that, if shes getting more than an hour outside time a week, I wouldnt give any D3 at all. Thats just me. You could still give it to her, but not more than one LIGHT dusting a month. I would not give her the multivitamin for a month or so either, and after that, only one LIGHT dusting every 6 weeks.

What brand supps are you using?

The plain calcium is used to balance the calcium/phosphorous ratio of the feeder insects, as even with great gutloading, is not likely to be appropriate. (A ratio of 2:1 (Calhos) is desired) If these are out of balance, health problems occur, such as edema.

 

[amalthea23]

Wow, great info! Thank you so much! Right now, she's getting reptical multi vitamins, and I'm gutloading with a combo of orange cubes and fresh fruits and veggies from the lists on the forum (it's summer, so there's a lot around.) I'll make a note on her schedule to knock out all suppliments for a month and then go to every 6 weeks for the multi. I've got a phosphorus free calcium dust on its way, should be here tuesday. I'll stick with just that. As for gutload, IS there a commercially available one that's good, or be using orange cubes and adding fresh food on the side as well?
Also, just one hour outside a week is enough D3? That's not a problem until September around here. When I'm gardening, I've just been moving her cage outside to a half shade, half sun area, so she's getting several hours a day.

 

[justjumpit621]

Wow, great info! Thank you so much! Right now, she's getting reptical multi vitamins, and I'm gutloading with a combo of orange cubes and fresh fruits and veggies from the lists on the forum (it's summer, so there's a lot around.) I'll make a note on her schedule to knock out all suppliments for a month and then go to every 6 weeks for the multi. I've got a phosphorus free calcium dust on its way, should be here tuesday. I'll stick with just that. As for gutload, IS there a commercially available one that's good, or be using orange cubes and adding fresh food on the side as well?
Also, just one hour outside a week is enough D3? That's not a problem until September around here. When I'm gardening, I've just been moving her cage outside to a half shade, half sun area, so she's getting several hours a day.

There is this stuff sold called cricket crack I believe you get it online. There is also a couple other ones I believe like dinofuel which is a sponsor, and I just got one called organic feeder fuel which is locally made by me, maybe a local reptile store will know if there is someone near you who makes some. but you will also still want to supplement them with fresh fruits and veggies you just won't need as much.

You do have a UVB light right? Just checking because she needs that too for when she is inside.

 

[amalthea23]

Ok, I'll have to take a look. I'd like to lay up a store of it and keep it in the freezer. I've got health issues so I'm trying to keep a large stock of crickets and and such just in case I get sick for a while, I don't want her to suffer at all!

 

[justjumpit621]

Ok, I'll have to take a look. I'd like to lay up a store of it and keep it in the freezer. I've got health issues so I'm trying to keep a large stock of crickets and and such just in case I get sick for a while, I don't want her to suffer at all!

Try Dubia roaches, WAY easier to breed, low maintenance, quite, can't climb glass, and DON'T SMELL! They can be quite cute too lol if your like me. I HATE crickets with a passion, I am afraid of them with their little but pincher things lol but the roaches are great. I have a tank of Dubia roaches and a tank of Hissing cockroaches. They are also better feeders because there is more meat to them so you don't need to feed off as many.

 

[amalthea23]

Ok, I'll check my go-to reptile place next time I'm near there and see what they've got. It's funny, I generally HATE crickets, but I'm totally ready to put my hands in a big squirming pile to keep mordrid happy.

 

[justjumpit621]

Ok, I'll check my go-to reptile place next time I'm near there and see what they've got. It's funny, I generally HATE crickets, but I'm totally ready to put my hands in a big squirming pile to keep mordrid happy.

Yeah I do the same with the roaches lol and roaches don't bite! Which is the only reason I do it. What you do with Dubia is feed off the babies and leave the adults so they can breed. if you want to start a colony the cheapest I have ever found were on gotdubias.com it is a great place, awesome prices! Plus you get a little baggy of feeder food, they might even sell it if you want to buy a larger bag.

Just noticed they have a starter kit! Great price and value!

http://www.gotdubias.com/for-sale.html

 

[amalthea23]

Wow, looks good! I'll see about ordering one!