Endangeredjen
New Member
This is day 4, with 3 Jackson chameleon babies. I live in Hawaii, I came across someone who was selling them 3 for $10, I believe these guys were caught in the wild, as you can find them hiking, many locals are selling and breeding them here. I now understand the amount of work needed to care for them, not such a bargain, but I have the persistence, time and resources to take care of them, so I'm going to do my best. I work at home and am able to stay at home with them and monitor them. Here's the rundown so far:
*2 males, 1 female, all about 3 inches long from snout to tail (tiny horns growing, so I was able to tell sex, not changing to green color yet, so I am guessing about 4 to 6wks?)
*Screened cage: 18w x12d x 20h inches. green reptile turf on the bottom of the cage, two bark pieces from the pet store on each side, two hanging artificial green plants
*The cage has been left inside next to my desk while I work during the day, there is a lot of light in here, I have drawn the shades so they don't get direct sunlight beating down on them. Daytime temp: 82 to 90 (when it hits 90, I turn on ceiling fans and cool down the room, usually stays at 82 to 85 all day with windows open). Night time: 72 to 75. Ample Humidity (Hawaii), have not bought UVB lamp or heating lamp as I was told they don't need it here, also plan on putting cage outside when they get bigger and can handle it.
*I am aware that they will have to be separated once they get bigger, I don't know when that is... Right now they are getting along fine, no fighting, or any individual at bottom of cage looking scared.
*Lots of misting: Misting plants whenever I see they are dried up, probably 3 to 4 times a day, if not more. I was spraying them by accident, but have learned not to do that, as they could inhale the water and it could lead to respiratory problems. I was told to make a drip system, since they need constant water at this stage, what do you think?
* Eating: They are eating a lot! Feeding them gut loaded pin head crickets from the pet store, they have went thru a hundred in last 4 days, but I think that I lost a bunch, also I suspect that they may be able to escape from the big cage, but none the less I have seen each one eat 3 to 5 crickets in a row at feeding times. Not sure how often to feed them, yesterday I fed them maybe three times, so they ate anywhere from 7 to 10 crickets each. I'm not sure if I should take them out of the cage when feeding, I don't want a whole bunch of extra pinheads hiding and then coming out at night to attack them. Also I was told to feed the pinheads, varying between two different powders each day, since they were just gut loaded, I sort of slacked on this, didn't put in piece of carrot or potatoe in there, maybe some pinheads died, seems like I ran out very quickly.
* I am trying to handle as little as possible, I'm not taking them out at all, I have been in there misting and that seems to disturb them quite a bit, also I am here working and moving around a lot, that could be distracting for them, but other than that, I am trying to keep stress to a minimum... What do you think? How am I doing so far? Any suggestions would be great, as I have heard Jacksons are notorious for dropping dead, babies especially!! Got a couple to eat a dead pinhead from my finger, pretty cool, they are up and active, have been roaming around looking for those pinheads in there! What do I look for if things are going south?
Thanks for any help!!
Jen
*2 males, 1 female, all about 3 inches long from snout to tail (tiny horns growing, so I was able to tell sex, not changing to green color yet, so I am guessing about 4 to 6wks?)
*Screened cage: 18w x12d x 20h inches. green reptile turf on the bottom of the cage, two bark pieces from the pet store on each side, two hanging artificial green plants
*The cage has been left inside next to my desk while I work during the day, there is a lot of light in here, I have drawn the shades so they don't get direct sunlight beating down on them. Daytime temp: 82 to 90 (when it hits 90, I turn on ceiling fans and cool down the room, usually stays at 82 to 85 all day with windows open). Night time: 72 to 75. Ample Humidity (Hawaii), have not bought UVB lamp or heating lamp as I was told they don't need it here, also plan on putting cage outside when they get bigger and can handle it.
*I am aware that they will have to be separated once they get bigger, I don't know when that is... Right now they are getting along fine, no fighting, or any individual at bottom of cage looking scared.
*Lots of misting: Misting plants whenever I see they are dried up, probably 3 to 4 times a day, if not more. I was spraying them by accident, but have learned not to do that, as they could inhale the water and it could lead to respiratory problems. I was told to make a drip system, since they need constant water at this stage, what do you think?
* Eating: They are eating a lot! Feeding them gut loaded pin head crickets from the pet store, they have went thru a hundred in last 4 days, but I think that I lost a bunch, also I suspect that they may be able to escape from the big cage, but none the less I have seen each one eat 3 to 5 crickets in a row at feeding times. Not sure how often to feed them, yesterday I fed them maybe three times, so they ate anywhere from 7 to 10 crickets each. I'm not sure if I should take them out of the cage when feeding, I don't want a whole bunch of extra pinheads hiding and then coming out at night to attack them. Also I was told to feed the pinheads, varying between two different powders each day, since they were just gut loaded, I sort of slacked on this, didn't put in piece of carrot or potatoe in there, maybe some pinheads died, seems like I ran out very quickly.
* I am trying to handle as little as possible, I'm not taking them out at all, I have been in there misting and that seems to disturb them quite a bit, also I am here working and moving around a lot, that could be distracting for them, but other than that, I am trying to keep stress to a minimum... What do you think? How am I doing so far? Any suggestions would be great, as I have heard Jacksons are notorious for dropping dead, babies especially!! Got a couple to eat a dead pinhead from my finger, pretty cool, they are up and active, have been roaming around looking for those pinheads in there! What do I look for if things are going south?
Thanks for any help!!
Jen