Dark Jackson's

[torreyakatoe]

My Jackson's boy Loki has always been bright green with yellow and blue splashes here and there. Yesterday morning he turned a dark brown/black with yellow through the creases in his skin and has not gone back to normal. I have'nt changed anything from our routine. Why is he like this?

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male Jackson's cham, between 6-8 months. I've had him for 3 weeks.
Handling - Once or twice a week to the tomato plants out back for some sun
Feeding - He eats 5 crickets a day, dusted with Repashy supercal lo-d every other day. The crickets are gut loaded banana, carrot, and collared greens.
Watering - Full time dripper, and spray 4 times a day. He drinks the water off the leaves when I mist.
Fecal Description - Brown and white. No signs of dehydration.
Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? No, working on it.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - 2 side glass, 2 side screen combo with screen top. 18"x18"x48"
Lighting - 75 watt basking bulb, not on every day because San Diego is hot. 5.0 UVB. Lights on at 6:30 lights off between 6 and 7.
Temperature - Basking spot is 95, middle is 85, and bottom is 72 normally.
Humidity - Humidity between 65-85% because San Diego is kind of humid, assisted by misting 3-4 times a day.
Plants - Large ficus sapling and tisandillias for decoration.
Placement - 4 feet of the ground on a dresser in a bedroom, right next to a window. Lots of airflow, medium traffic.
Location - The hilly areas of San Diego. Hot and humid, half the year.

 

[Lathis]

A couple of things jump out - the biggest is that your temperatures are WAY too high. His basking spot should be 85 degrees max. 95 will cook the poor little guy. Ambient temperatures of 85 is too hot for him - should be in the 70s and lower at night if at all possible.

Either lift up the light or drop down to a 50W bulb to get the basking and ambient temperatures down ASAP. Give him some extra mistings and keep running the dripper - excessive heat with dehydrate a Jax quickly.

Can you post any photos of him?

Also, I would not let him on the tomato plants when outside. Tomato plants are toxic, so if he happens to eat any bugs that have fed off the tomato plant, it could make him very sick.

 

[torreyakatoe]

Thank you. It's hard to keep temperatures cooler in the summer in SD, so I had to build a mini-air conditioner for him. I'm trying to attach a pic, but it may or may not work... He is normally the bright green otherwise. that photo is sideways btw.

 

[torreyakatoe]

He normally looks like this:

 

[torreyakatoe]

Can you post any photos of him?


Done.

 

[Lathis]

Those look like stress colors to me - my Jax always goes dark and pops out the stripes when he's stressed out. My first guess would be that if nothing else has changed, it may be the heat. If the temps are really that high, turn off the basking light for a few days (sounds like this is what you do already?).

Keep the dripper going and give him extra mistings. If you have a fan, turn it on in the room - not pointed directly at him, but just the get the air moving so he can have some evaporative cooling. How does your mini-AC work?

 

[torreyakatoe]

I've dropped the temps down a load, and he's back to normal colors, sometimes. I have an ice chest with ice in the bottom, a fan pushing air in, and a fan pushing cold air out. The highest temp at the top is 82, lowest 70. It's better, but I can NOT wait for winter!

 

[Lathis]

I've dropped the temps down a load, and he's back to normal colors, sometimes. I have an ice chest with ice in the bottom, a fan pushing air in, and a fan pushing cold air out. The highest temp at the top is 82, lowest 70. It's better, but I can NOT wait for winter!

That will help a lot. In the Midwest, we call that a "swamp cooler"

 

[torreyakatoe]

That will help a lot. In the Midwest, we call that a "swamp cooler"

Ahaha cool. Loki seems a but happier now, thanks a lot.

 

[Lovereps]

Very important

In addition to the very good points that Lathis has made, I want to add something very important which needs to be changed before your cham is harmed.

I would immediately stop giving him the Repashy LoD because it has far too much D-- for a Jackson's especially---and purchase a plain NO D calcium for frequent use.
Then wait another month before giving him a single monthly dusting with the Repashy SuperCalLoD.

Jackson's are very sensitive to oversupplementing and serious health problems occur with too frequent supplementing of vitamins and minerals--especially Vitamin D or Vitamin A.

The name LoD is misleading for chameleon owners because chameleons tolerate less D than other reptiles.

The Zoomed ReptiCalcium with D3 that I use 1x a month for all of my Jackson's contains 10,390 IU of D3 per pound
The Repashy SuperCalLoD contains 10000 IU per pound of D3.
That's the amount your Jackson's should receive in an entire month. http://www.store.repashy.com/supercal-lod-4-oz-bag.html

Here is more on Jackson's requirements https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/jacksons/

When regularly exposed to enough sunlight each week, a cham will not need any vitamin D supplement because his body will make its won vitamin D.


Here are a few of my Jackson's cham's babies whom I will be selling to good homes https://www.chameleonforums.com/young-cbb-jacksons-females-133320/

 

[torreyakatoe]

Thank you so much Lovereps!!! I had no clue there was so much vit D in it! Thanks thanks thanks.

So I took Loki outside today and he lightened up like always! He tried to run away from me, light green and joyous the whole time. I put him back in his viv, and he's back to dark green and "stressed looking." What should I do? His enclosure is inferior to outside, but I don't want him to be miserable while at his home.

 

[Lathis]

Thank you so much Lovereps!!! I had no clue there was so much vit D in it! Thanks thanks thanks.

So I took Loki outside today and he lightened up like always! He tried to run away from me, light green and joyous the whole time. I put him back in his viv, and he's back to dark green and "stressed looking." What should I do? His enclosure is inferior to outside, but I don't want him to be miserable while at his home.

Jacksons are roamers - at least mine is He really enjoys his time to free range outside of his cage, but I do try to make his cage as pleasant an environment for him as I can. Do you have a place he can safely wander around for a few hours a week under your supervision? In our living room, we have fake vines in several places and a cluster of branches inside on window.

My Jax has a circuit that he travels to check his "territory": Up the vine to the sliding glass door, past the fireplace, behind the TV, into the kitchen, to the stairs, under the table, and then back to the fireplace where the stick formation is to look out the window. Then sometimes, he will climb back into his cage after awhile. It's hilarious.

Can you post a picture of the entire enclosure? Maybe he would like more hide spots or something easy to tweak.

 

[torreyakatoe]

I'm working on a small free-range enclosure in the room, but my brother has cats so it can't be outside of this area. His terrarium right now is an 18"x18"x48".

 

[Lathis]

He will very much appreciate a free range. Plus, he needs lots more branches to climb on in his permanent cage. If you can find some natural sticks, you can make a nice climbing area on the left side.

 

[Lovereps]

Yes, you definitely need to keep the cats from getting near him.

In your picture he doesn't look stressed but I think he would enjoy more foliage in his enclosure to hide behind.
Jackson's are shy creatures.