well, ill be hopefully buyin my chameleon in a few weeks 4 to be precise.. it should be about 2 months or so in 4-6 weeks. im purchasing the chameleon rather young i have concerns since its so small.
it is a jackson i believe of the xantholophus, or jacksonii variety, they already have the small ocular horn buds, nose horn buds.

1. im mainly concerned about what i read that they are tough to keep alive past 7 months, or at least they do poorly?

2. i purchased a smaller cage while its still small, the basic r-zilla 18" x 12" 20"
mesh enclosure, and i have r-zilla vines and cleaned eucalyptus branches. along with a hanging pothos plant. is the eucalyptus a OK tree? ive used them for other reptiles with no problems.

3. i was going to puchase a mister system, which one is good prolly going to go with mistking, but the timer i have won't do mist cycles for just a few seconds, smallest incriment is 1 min , is this ok? for every hour? *minus 6 hours from 12:00 midnight to 6:00AM? will this be to much i guess is what im asking, like over water/cool his temperature? what would be better incriments?

4. ive searched for what gravid is, but with no luck, what is it and how can i detect/avoid that problem.

5. the jackson is by far my favorite variety of chameleon, but can anyone convince me to go with the more common vieled chameleon?

1. If you get one that is 7 months old you should be in the clear it is around 3-5 months when they die off

2. Pics of the cage would be good but sounds good in theory. I am not sure about eucalyptus but I would not use it in my cage

3. Mist king will be great. I do mine for 5 times a day for 8min each

4. Gravid is pregnate

5. A veiled would be good to start with but if you can get a CB 7 month old jackson and that is your favorite go for it. Just read up as much as you can on them. Search the fourms here and you will find some great things. I hope this helps.

I'm no Jackson's xanth expert...but I will try to answer some of your questions...

You said..."1. im mainly concerned about what i read that they are tough to keep alive past 7 months, or at least they do poorly?"...raising baby Jackson's is more difficult than raising veileds or panthers. There is a bigger die-off. Once you get them into adulthood it becomes less difficult.

You said..."2. i purchased a smaller cage while its still small, the basic r-zilla 18" x 12" 20" mesh enclosure, and i have r-zilla vines and cleaned eucalyptus branches. along with a hanging pothos plant. is the eucalyptus a OK tree? ive used them for other reptiles with no problems"...I have no idea about the eucalyptus...never used it. Pothos is fine. I have never used the r-zilla branches either. I do know that some of the artificial vines can cause problems but I don't remember which ones. Sorry...hopefully someone else can give you information.

You said..."3. i was going to puchase a mister system, which one is good prolly going to go with mistking, but the timer i have won't do mist cycles for just a few seconds, smallest incriment is 1 min , is this ok? for every hour? *minus 6 hours from 12:00 midnight to 6:00AM? will this be to much i guess is what im asking, like over water/cool his temperature? what would be better incriments?"...I just use a drip system and mist them...so again, I I hope some others will answer.

You said..."4. ive searched for what gravid is, but with no luck, what is it and how can i detect/avoid that problem"..gravid means pregnant. The female will take on a certain color and pattern to indicate that she is gravid/non-receptive. The only way to avoid this state is not to mate the female.

You said..."5. the jackson is by far my favorite variety of chameleon, but can anyone convince me to go with the more common vieled chameleon?"...they are more beautiful colors. You don't have to worry about gular edema from oversupplementing as much as you do with a Jackson's. For me, the veileds are easier to keep.

for a cham beginner i would suggest a veiled cham because they are by far the hardiest chameleons. they need hotter temps and less humidity. they can be a lil moody though. they have much more vibrant colors than jacksons. if you want a semi-hardy cham with amazing colors i would suggest a panther cham. if u are willing to spent some cash.

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its not hte color im after, i love the horns, i was gonna go with the quadricornis but unfortunatly tom at my local store won't be able to get any for a long while.

iam really excited about the jacksons, mainly cause i have wanted one since i was but a wee lad.

i plan on getting the male pretty young, so it definatly will be a learning process, i have dendrobautus aeratus *dart frogs* atm which i have had for almost 2 years.


*cage comes thursday in the mail, and then i go with a friend to pick up lighting, heating sources since she already owns a 9 month vieled and i trust her with what i should get.

my house is typically about 85F during the day and about 76 at night..arizona is a hot damn place..

way to hot for a jackson. Go with a veiled

the pet store there in pets inc , runs a bit hotter. so im sure they can adjust a little bit. but i can do things about the temp. usually at night my room can get as low as 73F.

yea montane do not like heat at all. they can not adjust to it. You need to be running no hoter than 75 day and 70 night but 60-65 is better

how does the pet store get away with running the store at about 85F. i mean that is relativly cool in arizona..

their female jackson and vields do just fine. *not trying to argue*

just im sure if they can do it i should be able to. im not sure TBH i really got my heart set on the jacksons..practically been waiting 8 1/2 months as it is.

yea it is not something that is just going to drop them dead. A veiled can handle it no problem but heat with montanes is one of the bigest things. I breed jacksons and others here. A female you might be able to get away with but not a male they are more sensitive.