WC Unactive

[FloydPakasloslo]

I may just be being a paranoid mom and not letting my jackson settle in, but I would rather get ahead. Long story short is he has his one or two perches in the cage, and I never see him exploring any other area or doing much but basking.

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - WC Jackson, young male, had him for about 3 weeks
• Handling - Entirely on necessity, about once since I have had him
• Feeding - A few WC surinam roaches from my organic farm, now feeder crickets. Been feeding him on an increasingly more scheduled routine. Hand feeding and cup feeding. Gut loading with mustard greens, guava, papaya, etc
• Supplements - None yet, they just arrived in the mail. Plan on CAlcium w/out D3 every other feeding, and vitamins twice a month
• Watering - Dripper during daylight hours, and II have not been misting or watering much because it has been raining almost every day
• Fecal Description - Pretty normal from what I can tell
• History - Locally caught by a friend of mine

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Wood and screen outdoor cage, about 2ft 6in x 2ft 6in x 4ft
• Lighting - Whatever the sunshine gives me
• Temperature - No temp readings of the cage
• Humidity - No humidity readings of the cage
• Plants - Arrowhead vine, pothos vine, umbrella tree, tillandsia and two smaller unknown species of plant. Very densely planted.
• Placement - Outdoors, about 6ft from my front door, gets first sun about 8am
• Location - Pupukea, Oahu, Hawaii

Current Problem - My cham has been pretty much stuck to his one little branch, but other than that seems healthy. His colors are dark, but his eyes are open, clear, and they will follow me around. He has a good appetite and seems well hydrated. I feel like I just need to let him adjust, but I am worried that captivity is too stressful for him and it may be better to release him back where he was caught.

**Please avoid any comments on the ethics of catching an animal from the wild. I do not agree in general with WC specimens, but locally these are the only ones available and if I where to buy one, it would most likely have been WC to begin with.

 

[Andee]

Don't worry about the wild caught thing most people on this forum are pretty lax about it. Especially since Jackson's are an invasive species in Hawaii. Can you get pics of his enclosure and of himself?

 

[FloydPakasloslo]

Don't worry about the wild caught thing most people on this forum are pretty lax about it. Especially since Jackson's are an invasive species in Hawaii. Can you get pics of his enclosure and of himself?

I know most people here are pretty open minded, but it can be a touchy subject and I'd rather take it off the table as a point of discussion.

Sorry for the poor quality photos, but hopefully this helps. Sun was just about to go down, so he's more "bunchy" than he is during the day, but that is his post and he pretty much sticks to it. During the day he's a little more relaxed, turns around and has a straightened tail. That black PVC 1/2 netting is new, I put it on the top and side as a sort of experiment to see if it might help make him feel less caged up. The top was originally half hardware cloth and half wood (to offer some shade and shelter from heavy rain) but is now the same plastic PVC netting. When I installed it I took him out of the cage, and was hoping when I put him back he'd cruise around and check things out, but he went straight back to that spot.

 

[Andee]

Hmmm hee has plenty of greenery, and sounds like he's getting plenty of moisture. He made need some more horizontal pathways? He may just be unsure of his new surroundings and is settling in. I wouldn't take him into a vet unless he really starts to decline like not eating or losing weight for no reason. At least not for a couple months if you can help it. Hopefully someone else has some more to add

 

[FloydPakasloslo]

Hmmm hee has plenty of greenery, and sounds like he's getting plenty of moisture. He made need some more horizontal pathways? He may just be unsure of his new surroundings and is settling in. I wouldn't take him into a vet unless he really starts to decline like not eating or losing weight for no reason. At least not for a couple months if you can help it. Hopefully someone else has some more to add

Thank you. That's what I thought, I just lost my last one so suddenly I would rather be overly cautious this time around. He actually has a lot of horizontal surfaces, it's just hard to photograph the whole cage.