hello, I'm new to the site, and to owning a chameleon. I've got a few questions.

[LSepkowski]

Hello, my name is Lori. I came across your forums today and I was wondering if I could pick your guys brains about a few things. I just became the owner of a Jackson's chameleon and I was hoping that you all might be able to help me out with a few things.

I've had my Jackson's chameleon for 2 weeks now. He was captive bred (I brought him from a breeder) and is 5 in. from snout to his butt. I don't know how old he is (the breeder told me, but I forgot in my excitement) but maybe his size will give an approximate. He eats anywhere from 4-6 adult gut-loaded crickets a day. The terrarium he's in right now is 18x20x22 all screen enclosure. For the heat source I have a 50 watt basking lamp on one side of the cage and I use a 40 watt infrared at night (my room is generally hot, so the temp is around 75-78 during the day and 68-70 at night) I have water from a dripper constantly on and I use my misting machine 3-4 times a day. I have one fake hanging plant from the side and one pothos plant on the ground.

I've done a lot of research on the web about proper care of a Jackson's chameleon, but the problem is that some information contradicts itself or is unclear. So if I could just give an overview of how I'm caring for my chameleon then maybe you can steer me in the right direction if I'm doing anything wrong.

1. The lighting I'm using is from PetCo. It's called the Repti Glow "Tropical Terrarium Lamp 5.0 UVB," which emits 30% UVA and 5% UVB. Is this adequate lighting, or is there a better brand or ratio of UVA/UVB lighting?

2. I've been giving him gut-loaded crickets that have been fed with dandelion, collard greens, and endive. I read a lot of blogs and articles suggesting that things like lettuce, spinach, and carrots are no good for them, while other sites say their perfectly fine. I want to make sure that he is getting the right amount of nutrients to stay healthy, so if there is anything that I should be feed him would you let me know. Also I know I should be feeding him other insects, but which ones would you guys recommend?

3. I have been dusting the crickets with calcium and a multi, but it is unclear how often I should be doing this. Some people are saying every day, some say once a week. It's just confusing.

Thank you all so much in advanced for helping me out. I've been really stressing out about my chameleon. I'm totally in love with the little guy and I want to make sure I can give him a long and healthy life. If you need any more information just get back to me with your questions. I'm down for any constructive criticism, but no one need to be nasty. After all, I'm asking for your help so I can be a better pet owner. Thanks again!

-Lori

 

[CleaTheChameleon]

For the lighting, yes there is a bulb that a lot of people recommend better then the Repti-glo and it is the Reptisun 5.0 UVB bulb. You can get it online at www.lllreptile.com

 

[laurie]

Hello Lori and welcome to the forum. So from one Laurie to another I will try to answer some of your questions. This looks really long but the information we ask for on the "help form" will give members what they need to better help you. I will be happy to answer questions as will others but this will keep us from all asking the same questions.


This is our "how to ask for help form"
Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.


Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
Location - Where are you geographically located?


Pictures are helpful

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[hallenhe]

I've actually used both Reptiglo and Reptisun, and had no problems with either (contradictory information already!). He won't need an infrared at night; most chameleons don't, unless your ambient temperatures are below 60 F. Jackson's are montane species - in the wild they have been observed in snow (not that they favor it), and they don't really want to be too much above 80 F, and will definitely be unhappy by 90; check the temperature under your basking light, because it sounds as though your room may be warm enough for him without it.
Waxworms are fatty and not very nutritious, so should be only a very occasional treat, but when I had a Jackson's, he loved them. Silkworms are healthier, albeit a little pickier about care and may need to be ordered online. If you're not squeamish about roaches, lobster roaches or young dubias are good food, and are actually cleaner and better behaved than crickets. When he gets bigger, an occasional superworm would be a good treat. - I give my crickets occasional carrots, with no ill effect; also bits and pieces of fruit, crumbled dry cereal (crickets absolutely LOVE Sugar Crisp, though I don't expect it's particularly nutritious) and fish food flakes.

 

[Julirs]

Fish food flakes(as well as cat/dog food) are not a good gutload due to the high protein content. I can't imagine sugar cereal is a great gutload either.

 

[Carlton]

You don't need the light at night. Even if the temp was OK (it is a too warm right now), extra light will tend to dry the cage out more than necessary, especially if your room is already warm.

How are you measuring the cage humidity? This is very important and will help you determine how often and how long your misting cycles need to be. Get a good digital humidity gauge and keep it handy.

Jax like more foliage in their setups. More foliage provides surfaces to drink off of, the live plants help maintain higher humidity which montane species need, provide more climbing and perching options, and places to hide from view. If you have trouble finding him, that's probably what he would prefer.

Yes, husbandry info varies a lot as much of the husbandry info out there is based partly on opinion and the region the keeper lives in. What might be necessary to keep a jax comfortable in Fl would be different than N Dakota.

Feeding insects lettuce (not much nutrition in iceberg lettuce...leaf is better),

spinach (tends to bind up calcium...not a good thing),

and carrots (not bad that I know of)

I like to give my feeders ground fortified cereal such as Total, kale, orange chunks, and bee pollen. A little fish food mixed in provides some dietary diversity, but don't overdo it.

Consider cultured houseflies, dubia roach nymphs, silkworms, cultured immature tomato hornworms, occasional superworms, pillbugs (rollie pollies), grubs and slugs from a yard without pesticides.

Dusting isn't an exact science and isn't straightforward unfortunately. How well you gutload your insects affects how you dust. Montane species are more sensitive to oversupplementation and the age of the cham also matters. For an adult cham who is past rapid growth,
Calcium without vitamin D3 daily (a light dusting)
Calcium with D3 once a week
Herp multivitamin once a month to six weeks

No one plans to be nasty. Sometimes some of us get impatient with questions we get asked over and over and over when the asker hasn't tried forum searches first.

 

[LSepkowski]

Thanks soo much for all your help

Thanks to everyone who answered my post so far. It makes me feel good that I'm not completely off track. I've been a part of other online communities, so I know how annoying it can be to always answer the same questions. If it's okay though, I have a few more for ya, but they're a little more specific to my case.

First off, hallenhe said that I may not need to use an infrared light at night time. The problem is that the first night that my chameleon was at my house I got up in the middle of the night to see how he was doing and he was cold to the touch, even though the temp was like 65. Is that okay?? I also have pet snakes and so I tend to interpret reptiles being cold as a bad thing when it may not be in this case.

Also, I do think that I will need to add more plants to the cage. I was thinking maybe a small tree (20 in. or under.) What are your favorite plants to use? The problem is that I have a lot of vines in my cage, so it’s a little crowded. I’ll put a picture of my cage at the end of this post.

One last thing. Everyone was very helpful when it came to talking about what types of food to gut-load my crickets with, but can anyone give me a specific example of well balanced nutrition plan? I'm afraid that if I feed my cham the same 3 foods that he won't be getting all the vitamins and minerals that he needs to stay healthy. Do any of you have a well calculated nutrition plan that you use weekly, or maybe a 3 day cycle that provide all the essential nutrients?

Now for the fun part, some pictures! Here is my cage and my adorable little chameleon Spock! (because his hands remind me of the Spock hand sign =])

How do most of you do as far as handling your chameleons? Spock will let me hold him, but you can tell he is extremely uneasy. He tends to climb up to my shoulders. I guess he feels safer there? I don’t take him out of the cage too much though, because I know it can have a bad affect on their immune system if he’s constantly stressed. How do they rest of you handle your chameleons? Do they ever warm up to you, or do they stay distant?

 

[Courtney]

someone told me that a cham being cold to the touch doesnt mean they are cold. some people keep their chams outside where it gets as low as 47. they have heat emiters though. im not sure on the specifics on that. and i read somewhere that they can regulate their temp for about 24 hrs incase of a sudden temp change. i could be wrong on that.

 

[pssh]

Night time temps are fine into the low sixties and high fifties for most species. I use ficus trees, hibiscus, hanging pothos, and umbrella plant.

As for gut loading, try to use different veggies/fruits ever week. The food you feed the feeders doesn't have to be different every day. Just stay away from brocolli(sp?) tomatoes, and spinach. Here's a chart with the amounts of calcium: phos ratio. Keep the calcium high and you're good!

http://www.guinealynx.info/diet_ratio.html

also, to make sure he's getting every thing he needs you should be dusting his food with calcium and vitamins, but I'll let someone else get into the scedule as I'm on my phone and typing is a hastle.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

The advice you are getting is pretty good so far ... I will add my 2 cents though
You need a lot more live plants for two reasons: he will feel more secure and it will help with the relative humidity.
Dust very occasionally, light dusting with calcium w/out D3 once or twice a week and a multi vitamin dust once every 4 to 6 weeks or not at all. Montanes are very sensitive to supplementation. The best thing to do is enhance the gut load with sweet potato, red pepper, squash, spirulina, bee pollen, apples and collard greens.
As mentioned, this animal can tolerate very cold night time temperatures and should have cool temps in the day as well. 78 to 80 degrees should be the temperature of the basking spot.

-Brad

 

[ciafardo 4]

If you are looking for the best way to keep your chameleon i would suggest research through books and articles that have been posted on reliable web sites. I would steer clear of forum chatter . Most of them know no more then you. Good luck with your chameleon.

 

[Carlton]

The problem is that the first night that my chameleon was at my house I got up in the middle of the night to see how he was doing and he was cold to the touch, even though the temp was like 65. Is that okay?? I also have pet snakes and so I tend to interpret reptiles being cold as a bad thing when it may not be in this case.

Remember, your hand is at a human's skin temp (around 90F) which means a cham at 60 or 70F will feel cold to you, but is just fine for a sleeping jax.

 

[Carlton]

If you are looking for the best way to keep your chameleon i would suggest research through books and articles that have been posted on reliable web sites. I would steer clear of forum chatter . Most of them know no more then you. Good luck with your chameleon.

Umm, beg to differ here. How can a newbie detect which books or articles are good or bad? There's a lot of junk out there and a lot of terribly outdated books available. True, a forum can have its share of poor advice, but in active discussions this tends to be filtered out or challenged. Anyone reading forum archives or using searches can learn what is good information and what is an odd bizarre post. The forum can also suggest better current books for newbies. I think forums have their place especially to get feedback and answers to questions.

 

[ciafardo 4]

Umm, beg to differ here. How can a newbie detect which books or articles are good or bad? There's a lot of junk out there and a lot of terribly outdated books available. True, a forum can have its share of poor advice, but in active discussions this tends to be filtered out or challenged. Anyone reading forum archives or using searches can learn what is good information and what is an odd bizarre post. The forum can also suggest better current books for newbies. I think forums have their place especially to get feedback and answers to questions.

Have you ever read the things that are posted here i beg to differ how do they know what advice is sound and what advice is from some of our resident self proclaimed experts who do nothing but give the wrong info over and over. Then if you notice there is what i like to call "a parrot effect"this is where one member reads the inaccurate advice of another then they repeat it on other threads.Sure there's a lot of members that know what they're talking about but even more that don't and they seem to be the ones that want to offer advice .I think if you want to gather info use a search engine.

 

[draetish]

Have you ever read the things that are posted here i beg to differ how do they know what advice is sound and what advice is from some of our resident self proclaimed experts who do nothing but give the wrong info over and over. Then if you notice there is what i like to call "a parrot effect"this is where one member reads the inaccurate advice of another then they repeat it on other threads.Sure there's a lot of members that know what they're talking about but even more that don't and they seem to be the ones that want to offer advice .I think if you want to gather info use a search engine.

Exactly, first google your species of chameleon, look up the care sheet, do your own research on the husbandry. Of course, the supplementing advice you receive on this forum is uniform and most all agree, not to over supplement and use a good gutload. There are simple signs that your cham might be in trouble, sinking eyes (could be dehydration which is the most common and can be taken care of with warm showers, or simply making sure you are not giving him cold water, they hate that. Mist often and no waterfalls (they contain bacteria). Another sign that your cham might be in trouble is abnormal poops. They should be brown with white urate. If the urate has too much orange, again it's dehydration and your cham needs water. Read this forum as much as possible to learn about different issues that "could" happen. If you feel something is wrong, post a pic and fill out the "How to ask for help" form. We are all just keepers of chameleons and they depend on his to give them the best life they can have.
Good Luck!

 

[Metric]

If you are looking for the best way to keep your chameleon i would suggest research through books and articles that have been posted on reliable web sites. I would steer clear of forum chatter . Most of them know no more then you. Good luck with your chameleon.

I have to agree and disagree with this statement. It is up to the owner of the animal to do the proper research, and this (to me) includes books, online searches like google, articles, forums, ALL OF IT. The key is to gather as much info as possible and weed out the outdated or just plain bad advice.

You have remember, many forum members have read the articles and the books you speak about, applied it to their husbandry and gained a first hand experience of the information in action. It's those members that prove to be a priceless source of information, knowledge, and experience and shouldn't go unnoticed or unappreciated.

As for the parrot effect, i agree with you 100% it happens way to often, and feels like a regurgitation of useless facts rather then a well strung plan of action based on knowledge and experience.