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LisaS88

New Member
Hi! My name is Lisa and my 4 week old Jacksonā€™s Chameleons name is Pebbles. Obviously at only 4 weeks we donā€™t know the sex yet but we refer to it as a she because our house is mostly made up of girls. I got a crash course of Chameleon caring over the last week as I have done as much research as possible and Iā€™m just crossing my fingers and hoping Iā€™m doing everything right. Pebbles and one of her fellow hatchlings, Peanut, who lives with a friend of mine, both seem to be thriving or at least surviving and we know that has unfortunately not been the case with some of the other hatchlings. So at least we know weā€™re doing something right. These little ones were born at a local big box store that sells animals but canā€™t sell babies and I happen to be good friends with someone that works there since I buy fish from her a lot and she messaged me asking if I could give one of the babies a good home so that is what I am trying to do!

Facts about Pebbles the Jacksonā€™s Chameleon

Two enclosures are provided, one wire mesh for daytime, one glass tank for nightti
a UVB/UVA light is provided during the day
No light/heat is provided at night
Temp during the day stays between 70-80
Temp at night drops to 60ā€™s
Light mistings from a spray bottle to wet leaves of plants during the day.
one heavy misting of the glass tank prior to bedtime for heavy humidity overnight but with no standing water on the floor of the tank
Real plants in both enclosures are Pathos and Parlor Palm working on getting more live plants. No fake plants, plenty of sticks to climb on as well
She eats fruit flies and some crickets. I also ordered bean beetles and black soldier fly larvae which should get here Wednesday for her
We spend some time outside everyday while itā€™s still warm so she can have access to actual unfiltered sunlight. She tries to access sunlight every chance she gets even if her light is on. Sheā€™ll leave her light to go lay in the sun then go back to the light when the clouds cover the sun.
she has been stretching a lot lately which has kind of freaked me out but maybe sheā€™s just molting? Is thatā€™s what itā€™s called? Like when shrimp jump out of their exoskeleton? Lol!
Oh! When should I start vitamins?
Is there anything else Iā€™m missing?
to clear up one thing, we have two enclosures because we have two cats who have free range of the downstairs at night and I donā€™t want to risk them knocking over her enclosure with her in it so I bring her upstairs at night instead where I know she is safe. Our room is quiet and dark and has the most consistent schedule whereas the downstairs is chaotic in the evening and morning. So she spends the day downstairs with me and the night/morning upstairs with me, it gives her peace and safety.

hopefully I included all of the information yā€™all need to know without sharing too much šŸ˜‚
 

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Hi and welcome to the forum.

WeĀ“ll wait till some experts chime in @JacksJill @Mendez and for now I can only say following:
First of all, great job coming here to ask help, second you did your homework already which is great and the people here will do the finishing touch for you.

Personally I think, she is a he, because at first glance I see 3 horns starting to grow. Depending on which JacksonĀ“s species it is, 9 out of 10 would be a male.

4 weeks also really young for a Jackson to be taking home, however considering where itĀ“s coming from and how dedicated youĀ“re it will be better for him. Could you post some pictures of both enclosures? Especially the glass one, because you need to be careful with the high humidity (which is good) and a poor ventilated glass enclosure. This could cause a respiratory infection, however this could prevented with a good ventilation or chimney effect.

IĀ“m no expert, but I think the little one is handled too much, from one enclosure to the other, chameleons are quickly stressed especially due lots of handling. The eyes closed at the first picture could be the reason, due isnĀ“t feeling secure (and not that is enjoying the sun). Eyes closed during the day is a bad sign and in this case could mean itĀ“s shutting down due stress being handled. Babies (even adults) need their secured feeling and thatĀ“s mostly in the foliage.

That all saying itĀ“s a handsome little fella and hopefully heĀ“ll grow into big and beautiful JacksonšŸ€
 
Very cute. Just here for the love of your new cham! @Sonny13 pretty much got everything & who I was gonna tap in.

You've done great, but agree maybe to much handling. Especially for so young.
Maybe bring up his screen enclosure as well. It's okay if you're not there during the day. They love their privacy, the more you're gone the better lol.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum.

WeĀ“ll wait till some experts chime in @JacksJill @Mendez and for now I can only say following:
First of all, great job coming here to ask help, second you did your homework already which is great and the people here will do the finishing touch for you.

Personally I think, she is a he, because at first glance I see 3 horns starting to grow. Depending on which JacksonĀ“s species it is, 9 out of 10 would be a male.

4 weeks also really young for a Jackson to be taking home, however considering where itĀ“s coming from and how dedicated youĀ“re it will be better for him. Could you post some pictures of both enclosures? Especially the glass one, because you need to be careful with the high humidity (which is good) and a poor ventilated glass enclosure. This could cause a respiratory infection, however this could prevented with a good ventilation or chimney effect.

IĀ“m no expert, but I think the little one is handled too much, from one enclosure to the other, chameleons are quickly stressed especially due lots of handling. The eyes closed at the first picture could be the reason, due isnĀ“t feeling secure (and not that is enjoying the sun). Eyes closed during the day is a bad sign and in this case could mean itĀ“s shutting down due stress being handled. Babies (even adults) need their secured feeling and thatĀ“s mostly in the foliage.

That all saying itĀ“s a handsome little fella and hopefully heĀ“ll grow into big and beautiful JacksonšŸ€
Iā€™ll definitely post some pictures of the enclosures tomorrow! I donā€™t have any on my phone at the moment unfortunately. If it would be better I could probably find space for the wire mesh enclosure in my room and just use a room humidifier instead. If moving the enclosure would be better than moving the chameleon. I do allow Pebbles to make the decision of when to exit her enclosure onto my hand and I always hold my hand lower than where she is on the plant or branch or whatever sheā€™s on. So she is always making the decision to climb down to my hand to leave the enclosure rather than me giving her a path up out of it which would be the obvious choice for a baby since they want to climb higher. She also often eats the fruit flies off of my hands. Getting the babies to eat has been one of our biggest hurdles (Iā€™m hoping the pinhead crickets will help a ton with this issue) but it is guaranteed that I can get her to eat if I am holding her and sheā€™s watching the fruit flies walk on my other hand. She also seems to ā€œsleepā€ a lot during the day. Her eyes are closed often. I mention this since you said itā€™s not a good sign. I actually heard that on a YouTube video today which is what prompted me to post today, especially those first two pictures, not just her eyes closed but her stretching like that. I have no idea what is normal for a chameleon. She rubs her head on my hands too actually, now that Iā€™m thinking about odd behavior. Almost like sheā€™s trying to scratch her head or something? Sheā€™ll just rub her cheeks or her eye, today it was the top of her head that she was pushing into my hand then rubbing. It feels so weird but I just hold my hand real still while she does it.
 
Very cute. Just here for the love of your new cham! @Sonny13 pretty much got everything & who I was gonna tap in.

You've done great, but agree maybe to much handling. Especially for so young.
Maybe bring up his screen enclosure as well. It's okay if you're not there during the day. They love their privacy, the more you're gone the better lol.
Iā€™ve thought about just leaving the screen enclosure in our room but our room stays cold all day and Iā€™m afraid it might be too cold. The rest of the house warms up but our bedroom is always cold. But I could just bring that up at night at use a room humidifier.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum.

WeĀ“ll wait till some experts chime in @JacksJill @Mendez and for now I can only say following:
First of all, great job coming here to ask help, second you did your homework already which is great and the people here will do the finishing touch for you.

Personally I think, she is a he, because at first glance I see 3 horns starting to grow. Depending on which JacksonĀ“s species it is, 9 out of 10 would be a male.

4 weeks also really young for a Jackson to be taking home, however considering where itĀ“s coming from and how dedicated youĀ“re it will be better for him. Could you post some pictures of both enclosures? Especially the glass one, because you need to be careful with the high humidity (which is good) and a poor ventilated glass enclosure. This could cause a respiratory infection, however this could prevented with a good ventilation or chimney effect.

IĀ“m no expert, but I think the little one is handled too much, from one enclosure to the other, chameleons are quickly stressed especially due lots of handling. The eyes closed at the first picture could be the reason, due isnĀ“t feeling secure (and not that is enjoying the sun). Eyes closed during the day is a bad sign and in this case could mean itĀ“s shutting down due stress being handled. Babies (even adults) need their secured feeling and thatĀ“s mostly in the foliage.

That all saying itĀ“s a handsome little fella and hopefully heĀ“ll grow into big and beautiful JacksonšŸ€
Also I keep saying she šŸ˜‚ although, I agree with you, pebbles does have 3 horn nubs already and Iā€™ve wondered if that means sheā€™s a he. Lol! I was just told that at this age itā€™s way too soon to tell so weā€™ve just left it at that.
 
Iā€™ll definitely post some pictures of the enclosures tomorrow! I donā€™t have any on my phone at the moment unfortunately. If it would be better I could probably find space for the wire mesh enclosure in my room and just use a room humidifier instead. If moving the enclosure would be better than moving the chameleon. I do allow Pebbles to make the decision of when to exit her enclosure onto my hand and I always hold my hand lower than where she is on the plant or branch or whatever sheā€™s on. So she is always making the decision to climb down to my hand to leave the enclosure rather than me giving her a path up out of it which would be the obvious choice for a baby since they want to climb higher. She also often eats the fruit flies off of my hands. Getting the babies to eat has been one of our biggest hurdles (Iā€™m hoping the pinhead crickets will help a ton with this issue) but it is guaranteed that I can get her to eat if I am holding her and sheā€™s watching the fruit flies walk on my other hand. She also seems to ā€œsleepā€ a lot during the day. Her eyes are closed often. I mention this since you said itā€™s not a good sign. I actually heard that on a YouTube video today which is what prompted me to post today, especially those first two pictures, not just her eyes closed but her stretching like that. I have no idea what is normal for a chameleon. She rubs her head on my hands too actually, now that Iā€™m thinking about odd behavior. Almost like sheā€™s trying to scratch her head or something? Sheā€™ll just rub her cheeks or her eye, today it was the top of her head that she was pushing into my hand then rubbing. It feels so weird but I just hold my hand real still while she does it.
How high he is holding his head & eyes closed alot during day could be sick. (Respitory infection). But also could just be because he's brand new. But typically they won't sleep during the day.
I had a baby as well my first time.. he slept almost always during the day the first 5 days. I thought It was "normal" stress.. I unfortunately found out quickly. He was very sick & stressed out. He died very shortly. Day 9 :( it was to late when they took him to the vet.
I'd say take him to an experienced vet just to make sure everything is great & run some Fecal test to make sure he doesn't have parasites & stuff.
 
Iā€™ve thought about just leaving the screen enclosure in our room but our room stays cold all day and Iā€™m afraid it might be too cold. The rest of the house warms up but our bedroom is always cold. But I could just bring that up at night at use a room humidifier.
Oo I see. Possibly a higher wattage bulb. & hang it high enough to get the right basking temps. & him not burn himself as babies screen climb alot!
 
How high he is holding his head & eyes closed alot during day could be sick. (Respitory infection). But also could just be because he's brand new. But typically they won't sleep during the day.
I had a baby as well my first time.. he slept almost always during the day the first 5 days. I thought It was "normal" stress.. I unfortunately found out quickly. He was very sick & stressed out. He died very shortly. Day 9 :( it was to late when they took him to the vet.
I'd say take him to an experienced vet just to make sure everything is great & run some Fecal test to make sure he doesn't have parasites & stuff.
Unfortunately we have no vets here we can go to. All of the vets in our area only see dogs and cats and other fluffy pets. We donā€™t have any vets that will see reptiles or fish or anything like that so weā€™re just kinda SOL and left to figure things out/treat things on our own. For our fish we just get very broad spectrum treatments and use as many preventatives as we can.
 
Unfortunately we have no vets here we can go to. All of the vets in our area only see dogs and cats and other fluffy pets. We donā€™t have any vets that will see reptiles or fish or anything like that so weā€™re just kinda SOL and left to figure things out/treat things on our own. For our fish we just get very broad spectrum treatments and use as many preventatives as we can.
O boy! Lol that's not good. I hope it's nothing serious. & I would try to stop handling asap. & also. Hand feeding can be stressful too. I would either just free range ( I only do that with my flies) & or cup feed. Even if he doesn't eat ouut of it automatically.. eventually he will. Just put it up high enough. But low enough for him to see.
 
O boy! Lol that's not good. I hope it's nothing serious. & I would try to stop handling asap. & also. Hand feeding can be stressful too. I would either just free range ( I only do that with my flies) & or cup feed. Even if he doesn't eat ouut of it automatically.. eventually he will. Just put it up high enough. But low enough for him to see.
Yeah, it can be pretty rough. But, thatā€™s what happens when you live in a small town, in a state that doesnā€™t have a lot of people to begin with. Iā€™m in Idaho. Iā€™m in one of the bigger cities in Idaho but, itā€™s still a small town. The population of our COUNTY in 2019 was 220,000. Weā€™re lucky that we have two Walmartā€™s! Pebbles did find a cricket and eat it without any assistance. I leave some of those in the screen enclosure. I want nothing to do with crickets except feeding them and putting them in her enclosure for her to eat! They creep me out! šŸ˜‚
 
Yeah, it can be pretty rough. But, thatā€™s what happens when you live in a small town, in a state that doesnā€™t have a lot of people to begin with. Iā€™m in Idaho. Iā€™m in one of the bigger cities in Idaho but, itā€™s still a small town. The population of our COUNTY in 2019 was 220,000. Weā€™re lucky that we have two Walmartā€™s! Pebbles did find a cricket and eat it without any assistance. I leave some of those in the screen enclosure. I want nothing to do with crickets except feeding them and putting them in her enclosure for her to eat! They creep me out! šŸ˜‚
Dang lol. I see. Bugs creep me out too girl. Hahaha
 
Iā€™ll definitely post some pictures of the enclosures tomorrow! I donā€™t have any on my phone at the moment unfortunately. If it would be better I could probably find space for the wire mesh enclosure in my room and just use a room humidifier instead. If moving the enclosure would be better than moving the chameleon. I do allow Pebbles to make the decision of when to exit her enclosure onto my hand and I always hold my hand lower than where she is on the plant or branch or whatever sheā€™s on. So she is always making the decision to climb down to my hand to leave the enclosure rather than me giving her a path up out of it which would be the obvious choice for a baby since they want to climb higher. She also often eats the fruit flies off of my hands. Getting the babies to eat has been one of our biggest hurdles (Iā€™m hoping the pinhead crickets will help a ton with this issue) but it is guaranteed that I can get her to eat if I am holding her and sheā€™s watching the fruit flies walk on my other hand. She also seems to ā€œsleepā€ a lot during the day. Her eyes are closed often. I mention this since you said itā€™s not a good sign. I actually heard that on a YouTube video today which is what prompted me to post today, especially those first two pictures, not just her eyes closed but her stretching like that. I have no idea what is normal for a chameleon. She rubs her head on my hands too actually, now that Iā€™m thinking about odd behavior. Almost like sheā€™s trying to scratch her head or something? Sheā€™ll just rub her cheeks or her eye, today it was the top of her head that she was pushing into my hand then rubbing. It feels so weird but I just hold my hand real still while she does it.
Generally pointing the nose so high could indicate RI, so keep a close on that, even try listen to popping sounds which is another indicator for RI. On the other hand the stretching and rubbing indicates the start of shedding. At least he/sheĀ“s still eating which is positive, so hopefully itĀ“s just shedding.

I would move the screen enclosure towards upstairs and it there, the lower temps in the room arenĀ“t problem, they like a temperature gradient, as long as they can warm-up due a basking light, which does not need to be too high of temps. TheyĀ“re really sensitive for over heating, IĀ“m using only 25w in my free range, going up higher to 42w makes him open his mouth within 10 min. Therefore be with too much wattage. My room temps are all day between 65-68. And only in the upper part of his enclosure itĀ“s 72-74.

Also check Chameleon Academy website and IG, they got JacksonĀ“s week, there you will find tons of information regarding Jacksons. I added 2 care sheets for you and at first sight I would say you got a Yellow Crested and therefore directly a male.
 

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Yeah, it can be pretty rough. But, thatā€™s what happens when you live in a small town, in a state that doesnā€™t have a lot of people to begin with. Iā€™m in Idaho. Iā€™m in one of the bigger cities in Idaho but, itā€™s still a small town. The population of our COUNTY in 2019 was 220,000. Weā€™re lucky that we have two Walmartā€™s! Pebbles did find a cricket and eat it without any assistance. I leave some of those in the screen enclosure. I want nothing to do with crickets except feeding them and putting them in her enclosure for her to eat! They creep me out! šŸ˜‚
We all hate cricketsšŸ˜‚šŸ¤¢, however for now a good choice of feeder. When theyĀ“re young they need continues eating. Therefore try both cup feeding and free range (y)
 
I can't cover it all but here are a few points,
Keep the temps under 78 F until 9 months,
Male and female have horn buds the males just grow in, in xanths the females just don't. Jack Jacks are more complicated and we can determine sex 4-6 months from now.
Stick to one cage. If the glass has vents at the bottom it will be fine, if not it won't. I raise a lot of babies in ventilated glass. If you cover 3 sides of the screen cage with plastic it will work as well. Fill it with live plants and keep up with 2 long mistings first and last thing each day and a dripper in the middle or light misting.
Switching cages is causing indue stress as is the daily handling. Unless she/he climbs on your hand without coercion leave her be.
Start using supplements now. You should be feeding twice a day. Only use supplement once on those days. Apply calcium without D3 2-3 times per week. I would use Repashy Calcium plus LoD lightly twice a month. My Jackson's Supplement Schedule this link goes into more detail.
I don't use a lot of crickets in the early weeks but I have fruit flies and bean beetles handy. Pinheads are a nice convenience and you will need crickets or dubia nymphs as part of the diet eventually.
Jackson's Chameleon Articles and Studies more info
 
We all hate cricketsšŸ˜‚šŸ¤¢, however for now a good choice of feeder. When theyĀ“re young they need continues eating. Therefore try both cup feeding and free range (y)

Very good feeder!
Another problem with living in a small town is getting crickets small enough for it. The stores only get in small crickets, never 1/8ā€ or pinhead. Sometimes youā€™ll get lucky and find real small ones in the small crickets though. So I just have to buy a bunch of smalls and pick through them to get the ones that are small enough. I ordered pinheads though, 500 of them and since sheā€™s use to eating small crickets the pinhead ones should work for quite a while as they grow! I have a home all set up for them already!
 
I can't cover it all but here are a few points,
Keep the temps under 78 F until 9 months,
Male and female have horn buds the males just grow in, in xanths the females just don't. Jack Jacks are more complicated and we can determine sex 4-6 months from now.
Stick to one cage. If the glass has vents at the bottom it will be fine, if not it won't. I raise a lot of babies in ventilated glass. If you cover 3 sides of the screen cage with plastic it will work as well. Fill it with live plants and keep up with 2 long mistings first and last thing each day and a dripper in the middle or light misting.
Switching cages is causing indue stress as is the daily handling. Unless she/he climbs on your hand without coercion leave her be.
Start using supplements now. You should be feeding twice a day. Only use supplement once on those days. Apply calcium without D3 2-3 times per week. I would use Repashy Calcium plus LoD lightly twice a month. My Jackson's Supplement Schedule this link goes into more detail.
I don't use a lot of crickets in the early weeks but I have fruit flies and bean beetles handy. Pinheads are a nice convenience and you will need crickets or dubia nymphs as part of the diet eventually.
Jackson's Chameleon Articles and Studies more info
Thank you so much! All of this helps a lot! Should I be worried about the stretching that sheā€™s doing or her rubbing her head/face on my hands?
 
Feed the crickets a good gut load.
Iā€™ve been doing tons of research on gut loading! I have fruit available in the enclosure for the crickets to continue to eat after Iā€™ve released them into her enclosure to encourage them to stay full, fruit they donā€™t get access to outside of her enclosure.
 
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