All Jacksons don't like being handled -- >MYTH?

[Zenny]

Hi all!

I have a baby jackson I've been raising for a few months. Got him when he was about 2-3 months old from the size of him. He had small horns and now he's grown quite a bit . I must say I'm pretty attached to him.

He seems REALLY good natured towards humans now. He will eat when on my hand, drink when on my hand, and when I go to spray the cage down, it will actually reach to be picked up.

Now I know they say it stresses out the jackson when it is handled or exposed to human activity alot, but can that be based on individuals? We've raised him since he was a little baby so maybe he is used to us now and doesn't mind us and possibly even sees us as friends or family members?

He also has no signs of stress, stays green when handled or moving around, eats (alot), drinks regularly, and actually likes when we open the cage. He comes running up to us and reaches for our hand/fingers. He used to do alot of swaying when walking (pretending to be a leaf around predators) but no longer does so. Funny thing about him is that he recognizes the crickets jar now so when we open the cage with it, he will anticipate us opening it and sometimes even making a shot at the jar! He's such a character too as he will reached to be held then won't want to go back into the cage after. He likes his freedom.

One thing that was worrying me is that he is a bit clumsy. Doesn't always have the best grip on the cage screen and will fall from the top of his cage to the bottom sometimes. It's not a far drop (for me anyway, for him its huge) at about a foot and a half, maybe a bit higher. I look at his feet and check him out daily visually to make sure there is nothing with him. He also has about 80-90% accuracy when shooting for crickets, I hope that's a good percentage?

Any insight to my Cham's behavior? Also, is it normal for them to not be EXPERT climbers? I don't want to be causing him any stress or harm but he REALLY likes to be held!

I'm not trying to freak out or anything about these small issues but I REALLY like this guy and want to make sure there isn't anything wrong with him and he's well taken care of. You get really attached when you raise them from tiny babies and watch them get bigger and bigger.

Thanks in advance!

Oh, some basics on him :

type : jackson chameleon

cage : screen cage all sides

plants : 1 fake plastic plant, 1 long bendable fake branch

diet : crickets, about 7-10 a day

water : sprayed down about 2-3 times per day

kept : outdoors, not in direct sunlight though but out of the elements

bowel movements : solid consistency, black, some white watery droppings now and then

eating habits : 2-3 times per day he is fed. used to stop eating when full after 3-4 small crickets but past month he will keep eating so we've rationed the amount he gets to eat rather than him telling us he's full.

 

[Olimpia]

I'm just going to help bump this because I'm curious about the answer. I'm interested in a few species for my first cham and I love jackson's.

 

[Sang]

all chameleonds are different, that being said. While one doesn't mind being handled as much as an other it still stresses them, mild as it may be they still try to move to higher grounds while you have them out.

every animal has its own little quirks, its likes and dislikes, yours may not mind being handled, but the general rule for all chameleons is to be handled as little as possible.

 

[laurie]

Just a couple of idea's could you put some live plants in his cage, they like live plants a lot. Also time wise how much is he out of the cage daily and what size is his cage? Both of those could be a factor in his behavior. There is a how to ask for help form you might fill out at the top.

 

[Jakedn]

Can you get a picture of his whole body? He should not be falling so much.

 

[Lancecham]

Jacksons by nature have a calm personality. Wild caught ones can be skittish, but will eventually settle down.
They seem to tolerate being handled better than other chams. Of course, each cham is different, but generally, as a whole, they tolerate being held better than most chams.
Your boy should not be falling so frequently. A picture would help. Are the branches appropriately sized?
DOes he have all his toe nails? That could be a possible explanation of why he is falling from the side of the cage.

 

[xanthoman]

thats true individual chams are different, being so young, it is entirely probable that his disposition will change as he gets older, particularly as he begins to be come more territorily aware. i have 14 neonates, none of which mind being handled, and are done so regularly, but as they become adults, some will certainly lose their predisposition to being handled. i have 3 adults one almost adult, i think their aversion is more towards being disturbed, than it is being handled, they all initially protest, but calm down quite readily, & i think it definitely makes a difference if they have been handled regularly from a young age, , and if his disposition does changeover time , i would certainly respect that , i think handling is definitely more detrimental to those that are less accepting of it. still i dont recomend handling them more than neccessary, they are a little more clumbsy when young, both with their limb dexterity and their tongues. i would be a little concerned about the falling issue, a screen is a readily grippable surface, particularly at that age, so (even semi) frequently falling from it is a concern, and may be indicitave of a strength or endurance issue, by his age, he should have developed a better accuracy with his tongue, normaly i would say at least 95%,so, if your estimation of the frequency of his tongue inaccuracy is correct, i would also be concerned, that is most likely attributed to either vision or dehydration issues, you didnt mention your lighting arraingement, but if its any sort of cfl or powersun type thing i would definitely change it and get a standard reptisun 5.0 , also if he climbs on the top underside of the cage, have you checked temps directly under the bulb (at the top of the cage) ? the most likely injury from a fall would be from hitting something on the way down like land on a branch on his side, but still may not be a bad idea to cushion his fall as much as you can , i would cut several white terry cloth liners to fit the bottom of his cage to cushion the fall, liners like that can be problematic (both from stray threads and sanitation issues) so if you have several, you can just change them out daily, and be alert to the loose thread issue . his tongue inacuracy could be in part to his feeding situation which was sort of vague , so if he is cup fed , be sure his cup is conducive to him , but i suspect it is more an issue of slight accumulated dehydration (because you only mist a couple of times a day and have only fake plants), i would moniter general humidity and monitor temp in at least three different places (actually monitor not just guess) top of cage right under the bulb, basking spot, and hiding spot , from what was given of your description it sounds as though your enviroment may be too dry, i would get him at least a central live lush plant and mist at least 5 times a day, (especially if you have airco in the house). my jax have live plants and get misted at least ten times a day, and he should have a dripper. overall it sounds like you are doing a pretty good job, but jax are a sensitive cham so you need to stay alert to their issues and regardless of humidity, live plants are important, they add to the general feeling of well being , good call on the food rationing thing, but it would be a good idea to get him a variety of feeders, and try to avoid the pet store cricket thing , one thing that might help him learn to improve his tongue innacuracy thing is blue bottle flies , if you want to give them a try, you can get them for cheap at themantiseplace.com , you can immobilize them by putting them in the fridge for 5 min./ edit/ good call on the toenail thing lance, i didnt even think of that and also the branch thing , at that age they need branches that are 1/8-3/16" ---1/4" branches are too fat and most prebought ones are at least that good call lance, ps still waitin on them blues ( fingers crossed)

 

[sandrachameleon]

Each chams tolerance for handling is different. You may find yours remains tolerant, or that may change as it ages. Best not to handle more than necessary, as it serves no benefit to the chameleon.
Could it be that the screen is simply to hard to grip? Does he fall from bigger branches?

 

[Zen Reptiles]

Nurture vs Nature.

You buy an adult cham that was never handled - it will be mean.

You buy a baby cham and handle it every day - it will be nice (and less stressed).

I'm a huge supporter of buying young and handling frequently, for the simple reason
that if a chameleon is used to its handler, it will save much stress on their part
and I strongly believe this promotes better health and longer lifespans.

 

[Corruptedmuffin]

My female veiled used to be like that. She would get excited when I would open her door and would reach for me like she wanted to come out, of course I know she just wanted to get to the crickets as quick as possible. Then as she got older she became more aggressive.

I am worried about your chameleon falling. My veiled and panther as 2 month old babies were able to hang onto the ceiling of their enclosures and could stay up there for hours.

 

[FreshWaterFish]

haha, i thought my girl was the only one like that. i have a jackson too and shes little miss social and has quite a personality. she sounds almost exactly like your boy.. only less clumsy.

 

[sarrobi]

My Jackson's has similar habits. I think he gets bored or something. He gets restless in the afternoon or early evening sometimes, and if I happen to open the cage, he makes a mad dash (in slow motion) for my hand so that he can get out. He doesn't seem to mind being handled at all. I'm going to try to free range him for an hour or so every day, but I really need to find a tree that can survive in low light conditions. I can't wait until it is cool enough here for him to go outside once in awhile.

 

[Zenny]

Glad to hear my Jackson isn't the only social butterfly .

I noticed he always has a hard time gripping with one of his hind legs well, always trying to grab at the screen. His nails don't seem quite long enough so maybe either the screen has too slippery of a material or he has too short toe nails? :S

I don't want everyone to think he falls quite a bit because he does have the ability to hang for a long amount of time, it's just when he's doing his exploring and wandering around that he sometimes will fall. Maybe misplaced grip or bad choice of footing?

I'll update with some photos later but here's a video of him when I first got him :

http://www.vimeo.com/4389955

He was a skinny lil guy back then, filled out quite a bit . Doesn't have that distinguishing white mark on his head anymore though.

Here's the info requested :

Cage Info:

* Cage Type - Screen, about 2 feet tall, 10 in deep, 18 inches wide
* Lighting - Kept outdoors so he only gets sunlight, indirectly
* Temperature - It's 89 degrees out during the day with night at 65 degrees. Measure by checking my car ambient temp gauge.
* Humidity - Not sure, it's Hawaii so it's plenty humid I would assume?
* Plants - Fake plants, open to purchasing some live plants for him.
* Placement - High traffic area, about 2 feet off the ground.
* Location - Hawaii


Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Jackson, Male, about 3 months, roughly 5-6 months old
* Handling - Daily, held maybe about 5-10 minutes per day and interacted with quite a bit.
* Feeding - Store bought crickets, don't gut load them, fed 2-3 times per day 2-3 crickets per feeding.
* Supplements - A calcium powder for reptiles, I'm not at home at the moment so I have to go home and check the brand.
* Watering - Spray bottle, 2-3 times per day just enough to wet an area he is by so he can drink. He drinks quite often.
* Fecal Description - Never been tested for parasites. Wild caught and bought from someone. Black and hard feces with some white, sometimes a little watery.
* History - Already posted.
* Current Problem - Him falling too often for my liking. I'm going to watch him for a while tomorrow and see how he hangs.


I'd also like to "spoil" him a bit. Any tips on what to buy him? I was going to buy him more flexible branches and some fake plants but from the suggestions given, I may just grab a good live plant. I'm concerned about insects as my last jackson I had and left in someone elses care for a day was sadly eaten by red fire ants. I'm pretty paranoid about my jackson and don't like any type of insects by him (that he doesn't eat ). I'm also going to slice up some apples for him so he can have a little sweet snack. How big should the slices be and how often?


Much thanks for all the great advice and love here. You're great people .

 

[Zenny]

*edited for answer*

 

[eisentrauti]

Nurture vs Nature.

You buy an adult cham that was never handled - it will be mean.

You buy a baby cham and handle it every day - it will be nice (and less stressed).

I'm a huge supporter of buying young and handling frequently, for the simple reason
that if a chameleon is used to its handler, it will save much stress on their part
and I strongly believe this promotes better health and longer lifespans.

On the handling of which species are those experiences based