Feeding and dusting my wild Jackson

[paulkaranik]

Aloha, I have a 4 month old? wild Jackson, wondering what you think about my current feeding pattern.

Wild caught roaches,beetles,crickets & pillbugs. Occasional home grown mealworm or 2.

Dusted every other day with calcium, twice a month multivitamin twice a month calcium with d3

UV 10.0 light about 9-12 hours a day

seems very happy and surprisingly friendly for a wild caught cham. (i caught him myself)

I usually let all wild bugs fill up on veggies and cricket crack before feeding.

feedback is appreciated!!!!

 

[ChamDE86]

Hello Paul,

Jacksons are a Montane species and do not require the same amount of supplementation as the panther or veiled. 2-3 times a week of calcium w/o d3 and once a month dusting of calcium w/ d3 and multi-vitamins. UVB 10.0 is generally used for desert species such as the veiled, but if you're using it on top of a screen or raising it several inches off the cage, I don't see any issues with that. It's difficult unless you have a UVB meter to measure the exact output. I would honestly get a 5.0 bulb next time. A light schedule of 12 on and 12 off is what you should be aiming for and be sure you're giving your cham complete darkness with no night bulb. Your gutloading and feeding appears to be good with the exception that you could add some soft bodied feeders such as silkworms, hornworms, butterworms to his diet. Also, it's always good to mix your gutloading up with some fresh veggies. Lastly, I believe wild caught chameleons are typically full of parasites, so a vet visit to get him checked out may be in order. Wild caught are also much more difficult to keep healthy versus captive-bred chams. Check out the link I posted below.


https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/jacksons/

 

[paulkaranik]

Thank you for this info.

 

[SocialNumb]

UVB 10.0 is generally used for desert species such as the veiled

Veiled's aren't desert species. Just FYI.