Help save a Rescue Jacksons!!

Silverdusk

Silverdusk

New Member
I was finally able to get my local pet store to give me a baby Jackson Chameleon that was in bad shape. I've got her st up properly now I believe, but since I'm new to Jacksons I could use some serious help with this little darling.

History.

Age & Size: No idea. She's maybe 2 1/2 inches from nose to vent.
How she was Housed: Glass enclosure, with very little ventilation if any.
Lighting: They had her under a coiled fluorescent compact type UVB bulb.
Feeding: She was not eating
Watering: Barely anything at all. She's lucky if she got misted once a day.

Problems: Not eating and looks like she has eye issues from the coiled compact fluorescent bulb.

I have her in a small screened enclosure. Shes been misted and will be dripped. I've dropped some small crickets and blue bottle flies in there with her now.

Heat. None as of yet. She's in my bedroom. Ambient is 74 degrees and down to 70 at night. I can adjust for her needs.

I have all the needed supplements that I use for my Panthers and all feeders are properly gutloaded.

I have and can use some Reptaid on her, but since I just got her home I didn't want to stress her further.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Here's a couple of pics of her good side. The other eye is closed.
Rescue2.jpg

Rescue1.jpg
 
You could try a shower or extra long misting with warm water. You can also put her in the bathroom (not the tub or shower just in the batroom) and turn the shower on hot and just leave her in the steam for 15 minutes or so. This should get her eye to open and then put in a drop of saline solution. Do this twice a day for a few days and if this doesn't work she might need a vet visit......she probably needs a good check up anyway. I guess this is ok for a Jackson.....it worked on my daughter's panther.
 
her colors/patterns look fairly typical. her eye in the pic looks normal. if the compact caused damage then a shower will not fix the issue. i don't know the long term effects of using compacts or how to mitigate damage. hopefully there is some info on this that you can find.

2 1/2 inches is very small - less than a year old. a small cage is better at this point so that she can find her food w/out too much effort; especially if she sees out of one eye only.

jax like it cool; they are a montaine spp. 70 F is fine. they can tolerate much lower.

my jax eat crix and silks; they ate flies as babies. if you have them, silks are good for chams under the weather b/c they don't move very fast. she would have a better chance of snagging food if it didn't hop/fly away quickly.
 
roach nymphs might not be a bad idea.

small roach nymphs...

She doesn't look like she is in the worse shape. Keep it up, hope she turns out really good for you.
 
Be careful with vitamins and suppliments. Jackson's are more sensitive to vitamins than panthers. Give her as much natural sunlight as you can. They can take a bit lower temps than panthers.

Good luck!!!
 
Jacksons (especially wild caught) also really love baby snails as a snack. If you can get them from somewhere you know is safe (pesticide free), they'll often really help entice a reluctant eater. Plus, they're full of calcium and moisture.

Good luck! She's a cutie, and she actually looks like she's in pretty decent shape aside from the eye issues.
 
i'd forgotten about horn worms - mine love them. i've never used roaches (in fl we kill them w/our foot as a gut reaction) but they should be fine. i suggested slow food just so that she could catch them but sometimes they need a fast mover to spark their interest.

as for supplementing - since there doesn't seem to be any solid scientific study on the exact supplement schedule needed for all the diff. spp of chams, and because over supplementation can kill, i'd opt for healthy feeders and exposure to natural sunlight. i supplement very little compared to some people on the forum (do the same for my human pets - give them fresh healthy food and sunlight:D ). but where you live will determine how much sunlight you can expose her to and how fresh your fruits/veggies for the feeders are. my jax spend a minimum of 4 hrs a week in direct florida sunshine.

keep it up - she will love you for it in her own special chameleon way. have you decided on a name?
 
i name my female animals after strong female role modles - 2 are named cleopatra and nefretiti - pretty standard. my kids came up w/names like peanut butter :confused:spunky:confused: and avacado:confused:

pm me if you ever want. most people seem to prefer veilds and panthers. i have jax only.:cool:
 
::: UPDATE :::

"Olive" a temporary name:) is drinking up a storm. She's still not eating, but looks to have decent weight to her. I have Reptaid, should I try that?

As you can see from the pics below. Nature is a beautiful thing to watch. Here are a short series of pics of her bad eye and her looking like she's tending to it.

Under a drop of water she lines her turret up to catch the drop
Olivecatchingthedrop.jpg

The drop is caught
Olivecaughtthedrop2.jpg

Now gently rubbing her eye with it watered
Oliverubbing.jpg

Just a few closer ups of the bad eye
Olivesbadside.jpg

Olivesbadside2.jpg
 
I would try the reptaid. It won't hurt.

I read the rest of the thread but didn't see if you have tried misting her and waiting for her to open her eye.

I have used this method successfully a couple of times with eye irritation issues.

Spray her , stop , wait for her to open her eye and then spray while it is open. I repeat that a few times each misting , a few times a day.
 
Ryan Jarosek said:
I would try the reptaid. It won't hurt.

Spray her , stop , wait for her to open her eye and then spray while it is open. I repeat that a few times each misting , a few times a day.
Click to expand...

Thanks Ryan, I'll try that. Here's a couple of glamour shots. I just love this little girl :)

Olive2.jpg

Olive3.jpg

Olive4.jpg

Olive1.jpg
 
her patterns and colors look totally normal.

good that she is trying to care for her eye. olive is a great name; another jax is named pickles......:)
 
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