- Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? He is a male jackson’s xanth, over a year old (exotic vet said he’s a “toddler,” but here it seems like people are saying much older than a year and im inclined to believe that). in my care for just shy of 2 months now.
It's hard to say exactly how old he is due to potential subpar care before you got him. He does look over a year old.
- Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? Every other day unfortunately, because I have been needing to medicate him. If it weren’t for that, I’d only handle him when bringing him back to his cage from the tree i let him hangout in outside his cage (by letting him crawl onto my arm willingly - never grabbing). That would be maybe once a week.
Yeah, no worries at all. I'm just happy that he's getting his medication even if he isn't too happy himself! It's got to be done. So well done on getting him medicated!
- Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? Initially he was addicted to superworms but as of this past 2 weeks he eats 3-5 medium dubia roaches or “rusty red/red runner” roaches daily. Every other day I try to swap out a couple of the roaches for a superworm or hornworm. Thinking next month i will go back to crickets and just keep alternating like that. I am considering ordering some mantids, silkworms, and grasshoppers too, just for some variety. I gutload with fresh fruits - papaya, blueberry, mustard greens, apple, carrots. Was using better bug gutloading diet but i got skeeved out by how fakey green it is when it gets wet and i want to reconsider if that’s necessary or if there’s a better alternative.
Awesome! Nice job on the variety and getting him off superworms! As per the amount given, I would restrict him to 3-5 roaches every other day. Feeding him every day at his age will lead to obesity. Looking at the side pic you posted of your cham, he seems to be a healthy weight. His casque isn't puffy nor sunken in--this is a good sign. Now you just want to maintain how he looks. My jacksonii loves grasshoppers! You can't go wrong with them. I've never tried mantids, but I'm sure he would love them. I tried silkworms once, but he only ate 1 and then didn't want anything to do with them ever again. I spent $40 bucks just for him to eat 1 measly silkworm... Though they are very individualistic, so yours may like silkworms. I would try to buy them in the smallest quantity possible if you are only buying them for your jackson's chameleon. Some seem to like them and some don't.
- Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Calcium without d3 weekly, calcium with d3 monthly (both zoomed brand), and herpavite multivitamin (rep-cal) monthly.
Your schedule sounds good. However, you are going to want to switch out the Rep Cal Herptivite multivitamin. When it comes to chameleons and supplemental Vitamin A, you want something with retinol (preformed Vit A). Herptivite only has proformed Vit A (Carotenoids) which is up for debate whether it can be converted by chameleons. If I had to recommend a multivitamin, I would say to get one supplement with both D3 and Vit A. That way you can hit two birds with one stone. Plus, I like the brands of these supplements much better. So either get
Zoomed Reptivite with D3 or get
Repashy Calcium Plus LoD. If you go with repashy, make sure you get the LoD one. The regular calcium plus isn't really designed for chameleons, let alone montane species such as jacksonii. If you get a two-in-one supplement, you could probably just toss the supplements you have. You will already need to toss the multivitamin you have currently. Might as well just replace it with a supplement with both D3 and Vit A. It's not any more expensive.
- Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I mist for 2-3 minutes just before lights-on (8 am) and 2-3 min just after lights off (8 pm). I turn on a humidifier in the room he’s in at night too because it’s very dry in my house (20-30). Just got a mistking that i need to finish setting up and that will make life much easier. He drinks only from a dropper though. He goes straight up to the tube and even puts his mouth on it like a straw. He drinks very leisurely for up to 20 min per day, sometimes upside down, sometimes crawling on the tube like a vine, sometimes letting it run all over his face. Never seen him drink dew off leaves. Hes just obsessed with the tube and i think that’s all he understands, because that’s all he had at petco. So tube it is.
It's fine to keep the dripper he has. But from the sound of it, the nighttime humidity is too low. Though take this with a grain of salt. His eyes are nice and round in the picture you sent. So he isn't severely dehydrated. He is likely using the dripper during the day to make up for the low humidity in the middle of the night. I'm extremely happy to hear that you got him a mistking! That is great news! Definitely add some misting sessions in the middle of the night to boost the humidity in the cage. I think you will find that he drinks less with higher humidity nights.
To add to the bit where you never see him drink dew off the leaves: neither have I. I don't utilize a dripper, but he seems to be licking off the dew from the leaves in the morning. Utilizing a dripper is never bad though. I agree with your tactic, it's to be better safe than sorry! Especially with a live animal.
- Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Droppings look normal. Mid-dark brown, solid, smooth ovals. Some little bug legs and fragments whatnot. Urates normal as well - totally white and like thick jello i guess? with small orange bit at the top and plenty of excess water pooling around it on the ground (bc he’s obsessed with drinking). Never been tested for parasites but i actually just ordered a home parasite fecal test from rainbow mealworms so hopefully that works.
Nice, this confirms that he is getting enough to drink. So you have nothing to worry about. He will drink less once you add the mistking and give him several misting sessions throughout the night--so don't be alarmed.
- History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. Nothing else to add other than that he was at 2 petcos before i had him. I actually keep in contact with the employees there about him, because they named him wesley (a name i kept for him), and actually did their best to care for him despite lack of understanding about chams (prob on the management level). They said he was transferred to them when he was already an adult, because he wasnt selling
I got my jackson's chameleon from a chain pet store as well. I really like Wesley's name! It suits him well!
Cage Info:
- Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? 2x2x4 foot zoomed reptibreeze screened enclosure. Previously was in 16x16 (part of the terrible zoomed “chameleon kit”.
Awesome! A 2x2x4 ft screen enclosure is perfect for these guys with a few modifications. Since you have noted that your house is especially dry, you will want to wrap the sides of his cage with shower curtain, corrugated plastic, sheet plastic, or anything that you can get a hold on to cover the sides and back of his cage. This will help hold in the humidity in his cage. It will also keep the mist from staying outside his cage. Even people with an average humidity level should cover three of the sides of a screen cage. Indoor climate control with dry out the cage incredibly fast.
- Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? 22” linear bulb (just recently upgraded to this with the help of feedback on the forum). It is a reptisun t5 ho 5.0 uvb . it is on from 8 am - 8 pm and rests right on top the cage in its fixture. Hes had this the past 2 weeks. Before this he had the bad little one that comes with the zoomed chameleon kit (basically didnt end up using anything that came in that kit).
Sweet! Glad to hear you got the right uvb linear bulb! What is the distance of the nearest basking branch to the uvb? Ideally, the branch should be 8 inches (directly) below the uvb bulb. Do you have any other lighting on top of the cage? You will need a grow light to help plant growth. Arcadia jungle dawn or the vivosun t5 quad fixture both act as great growlights. Your chameleon will also enjoy a brighter cage.
So anyway let me know what y’all think if his legs/skin /everything else look normal and if anyone else has had to give injections and sees any similarities .
