~6 mo. old male Jackson's being lethargic and not eating?!?

[heather89]

I got a male, juvenile Jackson's chameleon on Tuesday morning. He came from FLChams in Florida. He seemed fine on Tuesday. Was exploring his terrarium and ate a couple crickets. Yesterday though he started seeming lethargic and today he has slept pretty much the whole day and not eaten. He did have bowel movements yesterday and today that seem normal. I had a veiled chameleon before and want to make sure my Jackson's is ok before it gets out of hand.

He is in a 18x18x24 enclosure. Temperature gradient during the day is 70-80 with the warmest at 85-90 in the basking spot. There is a misting system that goes off every hour for 16 seconds and keeps the humidity between 60-90%. The nighttime temp. is 60-65.

I have gut loaded crickets in a bowl in the terrarium, but he hasn't been eating them. I think he ate a couple on Tuesday, but none since. Tonight I went and got wax worms and meal worms to make available, but he is sleeping and doesn't seem interested.

There is a new UVB Reptisun 5.0 light and a basking bulb at the top of the cage. I'm not sure what other info would be helpful...I've attached a picture, but this was just taken and the lights are off for the night. The lights are on from 6:30 AM to 7 PM

 

[teejayteej]

there is a a jackson sheet on this site to help with your new little guy. I know that my jackson does not like the humidity too high in his tank, have mine in the same kind of set up as yours. he does how ever like to drink form a bowl, which is odd so I have to change it out daily. I spay the top of the screen till the water is dripping and he will drink form the top sometimes. my little man desire for food did not increase much till he was about 8 months now he is a hog.
my advise is to go by the care sheet till you know your cham then you can tweak it as needed for you and your pet but the main things to change is the food and supplements. You will learn what is nor male behavior you your little guy and when in doubt have a good vet to get your little one to.

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

I am not sure about yours but Jackson's like higher humidity and lower temps. They tend to eat less and grow slower than the panthers. However, sleeping during the day is not a good sign.

Have you had a fecal done on him?

 

[kplatvoet]

My jackson drinks mostly from a the dripper and need the sprayer to go off longer before she will drink (with me watching) and drinks better with humidity spikes - I would change your misting to longer settings farther apart - and you can make your own dripper by using a plastic bottle with a small pin hole that gives you a drip onto a leaf and drips for at least an hour after the sprayer goes off in the am. (You'll need something to catch the water - make sure you cover it so he can't fall in) (I have holes drilled in the bottom of my cage so it drains into a bucket so I don't have to worry about it) Make sure that the sprayer isn't coming on at night.
Read the care sheets for jackson and make sure that when dusting crickets your regular calcium doesn't have any d3 in it- One brand has a picture of a jackson but contains it and they are sensitive. I think your temps are too high also by about 5 degrees all around. It's hard to get a good gradient in smaller cages I keep mines basking spot small and in a corner so that the rest of the cage is cooler.
This you tube helped me a lot when I first got my baby jackson-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKTbUaOQ0aA
I would also let him settle in jacksons seem to be more mellow in general but mine stopped eating for 2 days once when I changed her cage around -

 

[kdc5019]

I dont have much experience with Jacksons, but reguarding arborial chams in general, they enjoy, alot more coverage that what you have provided, in order for them to feel safe. I would invest in some live plants, it will help keep the humidity up which jacksons love humidity. And i will have to agree, have longer mistings that just a few seconds especially for jacksons. I know your jax is young but he will need a MUCH larger cage as he grows, they love room to roam.

You should really fill out the https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/ sheet and hopefully we this community can help you!

 

[Psychobunny]

Welcome to the forum

First, your high basking temp is too much, jax like it a little cooler and more humid then veileds or panthers. mid 80's F would be better.

You need to have more branches on top, horizontal, several of them at different distances from the basking lamp.
I use a 60w incan bulb w/ reflective surface dome fixture, and I get more
then 80F at 10'' away. Make sure your closest basking branch is at least 10'' from the lamp.

Your cage is to small, jax like to have plenty of space. I would recommend a larger one.

Getting jax to drink, and keeping them hydrated can be a challenge.

I have had 3 jax, and they were all slow at drinking. They would be under dripping water sometimes for several minutes before they start moving their mouth to drink.

I like to use the Rain Dome for jax, connected to a MistKing pump and timer.

My jax gets one really long rain a day, about 8 minutes. This gives him enough time to get under the dripping water for a good drink.

Just think of what it's like in the wild, it doesnt just rain for a minute or two, it pours for several minutes, hours, all day, in the higher mountain ranges of the rain forest.

You can also use a misting bottle with the spray nozzle set to a coarse spray and spray him directly from above untill you see his mouth moving

Your jax should be getting a good night's sleep, or he may doze durring the day. Make sure the room is completly dark at bedtime. No lights at all.
Cover his cage with a dark colored sheet if you have to.

What are you using to measure the basking temps?
I recommend a digital thermometer with a probe.
Tie the probe to the highest basking spot, so the tip is about level with the height of your cham (not flat againts the branch) and monitor the temp for a few hours in the morning, and again at night. The temp may fluctuate.
Just take the average.
You may need to experiment with different wattage bulbs to find the sweet spot

 

[heather89]

Update 3/14 3 pm

Thank you for the feedback so far. I have gotten the temps down about 5 degrees over all. I'm using gauges on the side of the cage in several places to take temp and humidity. I switched my mister to go off for a couple minutes ever 8 hours. I will adjust that as needed to make sure the overall humidity is good.

I think the main problem is him not feeling safe, so I put background on both sides of the cage that you can't see through and draped a sheet over the front of the cage so he has complete privacy. The good news is that this has seemed to help and he has been awake the few times I've peeked in today.

The bad news is he still hasn't eaten. I think he just needs time with the changes, but I want to make sure he won't starve before he calms down.

Also, for those who mentioned, yes, I know he will need a bigger cage when he gets older. I plan to build the cage upwards. It will be twice as tall and the top 1/2 will be screen.

Back to the matter at hand. How long can he not eat before he starves? OH! And I did see him drinking today