Jackson Chameleon care- Need input.

My brother has decided to get a Jackson Chameleon. I want to make sure that he is doing everything right, but when I look it up online I get really bad info. (Glass enclosure, bedding, ect).. so I wanna know from people who HAVE a Jackson, what should humidity, temp, setup (plants, vines, size), diet, how to tell WC from CB. He says the people told him they were CB but I read that CB are pretty rare? Just anything and everything would be great. He's a smart kid but can be lazy so Im gonna do what I can from a distance (since he lives in another state) and check up on em when I go to visit to make sure he is doing it right so I want to be educated myself. Thanks!

Oh and in case anyone has been following by chance, I purchased this for him. He wanted one but didnt have a card/paypal account. It's been a disaster in itself...

Set him up like most any cham... vines, ficus, sheflera, pothos... whatever... won't need the heat like a veiled or panther so a lower wattage heat lamp for basking. You want a low ambient temp like lower 70's if you can and the highs I think are like 85 in his basking. He'll need a humidifier regardless of local humidity. It helps keep the cage cooler. If I could keep my humidifiers running (I have hard water so they crap out fast) I would run mine 24/7... helps keep the room humidity up for the other chams as well.

There are more informed people in the forum.. but that is the gist of how I keep my Jackson.

blackbetty said:

My brother has decided to get a Jackson Chameleon. I want to make sure that he is doing everything right, but when I look it up online I get really bad info. (Glass enclosure, bedding, ect).. so I wanna know from people who HAVE a Jackson, what should humidity, temp, setup (plants, vines, size), diet, how to tell WC from CB. He says the people told him they were CB but I read that CB are pretty rare? Just anything and everything would be great. He's a smart kid but can be lazy so Im gonna do what I can from a distance (since he lives in another state) and check up on em when I go to visit to make sure he is doing it right so I want to be educated myself. Thanks!

Oh and in case anyone has been following by chance, I purchased this for him. He wanted one but didnt have a card/paypal account. It's been a disaster in itself...

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i have a jackson, i keep the humidity around 60. low of 50.. and high of 75-80.

the temperature i keep around 76. just dont go above 80! and not too much below 70.. only at night they can handle up to a 10 degree drop from the day temp.
wc is when its caught in the wild. like mine. i caught it my self.
you cant really tell by looking, but im sure wild caught have a bigger chance of parasites.
and cb is when it is captive bred (i think) but i do know it means it was caught in the wild. lol

I read they need a nighttime temp of like 62!? How the heck to you achieve that in the summer when its like 80 degrees out and you dont have air conditioning?

Humidity..do you use a warm air, cool air?

What wattage? Like 40watt bulb? Still use 5.0 UVB? I read they tend to be more picky in diet and become bored with the same thing (ex, crickets).?

i dont know yet bout summer time.. for humidity, just mist the cage for a few min, or get ann automatic mister. sumoner has a diy one and i made mine and i love it!
im not sure about the bulb, i need to get a better one, but for food, i have been feeding wax worms since she wasnt eating crickets when i had them..

Link me up Kevin so I can forward it.

Im just curious how he is going to achieve such low temps. He has a screen cage, how to maintain humidity in an enclosure like that? Its not very big either. like 2x2?

maybe a fan? and to maintain that humidity, use a mister. 2x2 is good, but how talll?

I dont know..he just said 2x2..

Wouldnt the fan dry up the humidity though.. ? What do you do to keep temps that low? Im assuming you dont live in 62 degree weather year round?

blackbetty said:

I dont know..he just said 2x2..

Wouldnt the fan dry up the humidity though.. ? What do you do to keep temps that low? Im assuming you dont live in 62 degree weather year round?

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well the taller is better. not a skyscraper though.
and no, the temp in mine is 76 right now and she is sleeping happily
if the fans dries it up, mist more.

This is a great page on jacksons

http://www.geocities.com/chamjacksonii/

Check Out the CBB, Jacksons I have posted for sale on this forum. Also included a full detailed care sheet and years of support. Thanks For checking it out. & sorry Blackbetty for posting here, But I can set your Brother Up with all the info he needs.

Good stuff!

Champhibians said:

This is a great page on jacksons

http://www.geocities.com/chamjacksonii/

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Great link! I remember seeing this site when I got my first chameleon and was doing research... but I had a veiled so I didn't make much note of the site. Now that I have a Jackson, this is great!

blackbetty said:

I read they need a nighttime temp of like 62!? How the heck to you achieve that in the summer when its like 80 degrees out and you dont have air conditioning?
Humidity..do you use a warm air, cool air?
What wattage? Like 40watt bulb? Still use 5.0 UVB? I read they tend to be more picky in diet and become bored with the same thing (ex, crickets).?

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I am NOT a jackson owner, but I would think 65F/18C would be okay for a night time low. If he cant provide a cool room at night, perhaps chameleons are not the right animal for your brother to have? Does his home have a basement? perhaps a room in a basement could be heated as needed in day, but would be cooler at night?

I use a warm air humidifier on the rare days that I need one, (panthers, not jacksons), but I think most people would suggest the cool one.

wattage of the light bulb will depend on the ambient temp. use whatever is necessary to achieve but not exceed the correct basking temp.

ALL chameleons can become bored with a boring diet. A vareity of insects is always a good idea, IMHO

Is it an indoor or an outdoor cage?

I just recently purchased a fogger, in hopes that it will help maintain humidity, and moister inside his cage....(not the waterfall foggers, this one sits on the outside of the cage)
There is an entrance about 10 inches from the bottom of the cage, it make for a perfect insertion spot for the tube

anyone else have any experience with this one?


http://www.amazon.com/ZooMed-Zoo-Med-Repti-Fogger/dp/B0019IJXD2

"Product Description Ready to operate. Includes one liter bottle and all necessary fittings. Create a tropical rainforest in your terrarium using Zoo Med Reptifogger. Dramatic cool mist increases animal comfort, relative humidity, and visual appeal. Can be used to increase the overall humidity level in smaller terrariums or to create a humid micro climate in larger terrariums. Excellent for use with chameleons, anoles, amphibians, geckos, forest tortoise, box turtles, hermit crabs, etc."

Dilemmaroblem:Issue:HELP!

So I bought these chams for my brother, and forgot to change the address on the paypal since I paid for them as he was to reimburse me..

Well, they arrived today. I didnt expect them. I paid for them last week but like I said, its been an ordeal.? So I call him and let him know I will house them until I can get up there at the end of the month...since I made the mistake.

he decides to tell me.. He changed his mind.. Going back to school and wont have time for them...


Notice I said THEY.. its a breeding pair..

So, now i OWN 2 jacksons that I didnt even want or was ready for right now. I went to the Nashville zoo today with the kids and came home to the package on my doorstep.. No cage ready, no anything... I just lost Leo and had taken everything down.. so Im running around with somethings head cut off..

I managed to get the cages set up.. They are drinking well. No eating yet. The female is far more angry than the male..and she's a Houdini..she has escaped twice when I wasnt looking.. I am SOOOO upset right now. Im still figuring out about Leo and now Im thrown into this. I didnt understand why they came to me until I rechecked the shipping notification, so thats my error..but now to not have a place for them to go...

So.. Here I am.. How can I tell how old they are. They ad says 9-12 month captive bred, no prior clutches.. I didnt think there were many CB these days... and they look small..Healthy but small. The male has all three horns, the bottom center is bent up with a white crease.. dont know if it was broken or is meant to be that way? The female has some nice red across her body...but they are about 4 inches, including tail curled. I will post pics in a few days when they are less stressed..

and the packing was AWFUL.. a cardboard box with styrofoam peanuts on the bottom...then on top of that, 2 paper bags, like thin bags that liquor comes in..twisted at the top and stuck on top. Nothing around it or on top to protect it from the box or being bashed around..no heat pack either, even though it was 78 here today, its been in the 50s.. It was overnighted Express via USPS.

Okay so,, help me!

I will post more about what I have done to accommodate them after dinner.

Oh geez that sucks Amanda. Didn't you say your husband was getting a chameleon soon too? At least here might be your time to shine. Maybe these will be the chameleons that will last eight years, healthy as ever!

If you aren't ready for them, can you send them back? I know that might be horribly stressful on the little things, though.

Well at 12 months they would be full grown. and that would be 10 to 14 inches from Nose (not horn) to tail tip extended. And if the female is that
old also, it would have gone through several breeding cycles.
Your used to the size of your Panther, so these may just look possibly small for you. Untill you post a picture I couldnt tell ya. Lets relax about having these Guys now, and take steps slowly one at a time. and We'll get them set up. If you deside your up & ready for them or not.

The crease in the horn does not sound normal most likely hard impact on the horn and bent it.

leid said:

Oh geez that sucks Amanda. Didn't you say your husband was getting a chameleon soon too? At least here might be your time to shine. Maybe these will be the chameleons that will last eight years, healthy as ever!

If you aren't ready for them, can you send them back? I know that might be horribly stressful on the little things, though.

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No, We were supposed to get one from Titan and decided against it with losing Leo so soon and didnt think it was a good time right now.

No I cant send them back..welL i guess I could but I would never ship them back as they came, I would be out more $$ and Id be worried sick about them getting there.. so Ill just suck it up and hope for the best.

Titan, Ill get a few pics in the morning when they are awake. Their lights just went off.

All I had available was (2) 65 gallon reptariums. Luckily, i had purcahsed a set of 3 awhile back as a lot off craigslist..Well, Leos, one 65 and a 38..but the 38 went with ben and the other 65 was Bettys. I completely dismantled Leos cage and put it away. I have a shefflera in one, with apothos, and a spot for a laying bin which I havent concocted yet as I dont have a female so not sure how to go about this...since Betty laid in the soil substrate (that I didnt know I was supposed to have at the time..) and Ben left before she laid eggs in my care.

In the males, I have 2 dracoenas (sp??). They were both alert and active. Like i said, she escaped twice already..and she blends well.

Titan, I need a copy of that care sheet or something.. I read last night that they need low night temps so i went to walmart when I got the plants before dinner and got 2 clamp fans that can be used on Low. havent turned them on as I dont have a cage reading yet to know what it is inside..

Sigh, I need some tea to relax... I dont mind owning more chams.. I wasnt ready though..emotionally or physically. But thanks for the support.........

Well hun, I wish you the best. Maybe occupying yourself with these new jacksons will help your grieving process.

Love to see pics of them when they are less stressed Amanda. Any chance they are Dwarf Meru Jacksons? (that might explain the small size)
Try not to panic, you're going to do great.
Don't forget these are live-bearing chameleons, so you don't need a laying bin.
Feel free to PM me if you have any questions not dealt with on the forum (although I'm sure Titan will help you out very well)

This site has been mentioned already, but is worth looking at to get you up to speed. http://www.geocities.com/chamjacksonii/

Good luck!