How Does My Enclosure Look

paleopossum

paleopossum

Member
This is for Osiris my jackson's chameleon, it's a reptibreeze xl so 16"x16"x30". I have a reptifogger that goes on when I leave for work, a little dripper for when i'm getting ready in the morning hence the big bowel in the corner till the season comes around for me to get a ficus tree in there. The wire is for a thermometer and his highest branch is around 95F and the lowest is around 70F with the middle being around high 70s to 80s. He has a 100 watt basking bulb, zoomed daylight blue bulb 60 watts, and the red heat bulb escapes me at the moment. Also he was pissed about the pictures therefore he turned a bit brown, hehe my little grumpy butt.
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Temperature:
Baby/juvenile (<9 months): 70-75F (21-23C) ambient, 75-80F (23-26C) basking
Adult: 70-80F (21-26C) ambient, 82-85F (29C) basking

Your's looks like a little guy but 95F is way high either way. That would work for a panther or a veiled but not a jackson's.
 
JacksJill said:
You might want to look this over. It's very helpful. https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/jacksons/
He's very cute!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice, for awhile after I moved him into his new enclosure he was nervous and didn't want to explore so he stayed on the lower branch. Finally after handling him I put him on the highest branch and he spread out and relaxed and it was so cute if I may add. He finally understands that the branch is a nice place to get heat and he trusts it, Lower then that though it drops into the 70s especially on the lower areas.
 
Good plan with the ficus. That will help keep your humidity up.
If he is too hot near the top he won't be near enough to the top to get uvb. I'm also concerned about your red light bulb. Light even red or black bulbs can interfere with their sleep patterns. If you have to add heat at night you should use a ceramic heat emitter. Keep in mind they like cooler temps at night so household ambient is probably enough.
I understand why you need a water bowl for the dripper for now. Many people use a covered container that bugs come in to collect water to minimize the risks of standing water to chameleons.
Give him a cricket for me. Little pointy faces have a special place in my heart.:love:
 
JacksJill said:
Good plan with the ficus. That will help keep your humidity up.
If he is too hot near the top he won't be near enough to the top to get uvb. I'm also concerned about your red light bulb. Light even red or black bulbs can interfere with their sleep patterns. If you have to add heat at night you should use a ceramic heat emitter. Keep in mind they like cooler temps at night so household ambient is probably enough.
I understand why you need a water bowl for the dripper for now. Many people use a covered container that bugs come in to collect water to minimize the risks of standing water to chameleons.
Give him a cricket for me. Little pointy faces have a special place in my heart.:love:
Click to expand...

I totally will and I knew about the whole color thing, I was just concerned about him getting heat. I've turned the red light off and it's 78 so far on the top branch and he went right to sleep, which I have noticed him staying up a lot. I feel bad about that, but it's changed now.
 
It takes a while to learn. Even the old timers here are always looking to learn more. You've come to the right place. You will make a fine pet parent. Keep up the good work.
 
JacksJill said:
It takes a while to learn. Even the old timers here are always looking to learn more. You've come to the right place. You will make a fine pet parent. Keep up the good work.
Click to expand...

He's my first non gecko, so it has been such a learning process. I have two leopard geckos, a crested gecko, and a tokay gecko all of which are licking animals and so i've never had a problem with hydration till Osiris came. Since he's a lizards he doesn't just lick, he likes to gulp water so it was a scramble for the dripper when he was showing some signs of dehydration. I felt so so bad, but he's still the cutie that scratches to be let out and to sleep on my hand hehe. I also read that jackson's take a while to grow and therefore shed is that true? I've had him for about three months and he hasn't shed, he's 24 grams and obviously i'm trying to bulk him up since that seems under weight.
 
I'm not a good source for size information because I have a different species of Jackson. Mine will be half the size of yours as an adult. Looking at his picture he doesn't look skinny (it's a little blurry). On skinny animals you can see the pelvis or worse the ligaments in the tail. Feed the heck out of him because he needs it to grow. They say you can't over feed a juvenile. Some people say feeding dubia roaches improves growth. IDK (couldn't hurt to get him eating them if he's not) A varied diet is best.
He looks like he is either avoiding the camera or a bit dehydrated. His eye is a bit sunken in. I suspect camera shy. His urates are the best way to asses hydration. Pearly white is great, yellow to orange bad. I don't know gecko's for comparison.
Until you get more plants you can wrap a side or three of his cage with plastic sheeting (shower curtain) to hold the humidity in. For a slower dripper you can use melting ice cubes.
I don't know what you are using for supplements. I use Repashy Calcium plus 2-3 times per week on the crickets only. Jackson's have a slower metabolism so don't need daily supplements. They can get sick from over supplementation.
I hate to tell you they will scratch to get out when they are over heated. It's nice that he's comfortable being handled and coming out.
There are a few xanth people out there that can give you size info.
 
JacksJill said:
I'm not a good source for size information because I have a different species of Jackson. Mine will be half the size of yours as an adult. Looking at his picture he doesn't look skinny (it's a little blurry). On skinny animals you can see the pelvis or worse the ligaments in the tail. Feed the heck out of him because he needs it to grow. They say you can't over feed a juvenile. Some people say feeding dubia roaches improves growth. IDK (couldn't hurt to get him eating them if he's not) A varied diet is best.
He looks like he is either avoiding the camera or a bit dehydrated. His eye is a bit sunken in. I suspect camera shy. His urates are the best way to asses hydration. Pearly white is great, yellow to orange bad. I don't know gecko's for comparison.
Until you get more plants you can wrap a side or three of his cage with plastic sheeting (shower curtain) to hold the humidity in. For a slower dripper you can use melting ice cubes.
I don't know what you are using for supplements. I use Repashy Calcium plus 2-3 times per week on the crickets only. Jackson's have a slower metabolism so don't need daily supplements. They can get sick from over supplementation.
I hate to tell you they will scratch to get out when they are over heated. It's nice that he's comfortable being handled and coming out.
There are a few xanth people out there that can give you size info.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for the help ^.^ He was pissed I was in his cage at night taking pictures and what not. I know chameleons in general are like shy eaters and drinkers, which upsets me to a degree lol I watch till all of my lizards eat at least one cricket to know they are getting something into them and him.......nope. I've seen him eat and he obviously is since the lack of crickets just not in front of me. I'm giving him five gut loaded crickets a day and want to up it though again he doesn't eat in front of me so it seems like he always has left overs, they get coated with zoomed's repti calcium with D3. He has been my one impulse buy though, like before I went to my first reptile expo I had played with the idea and read a lot about jackson's, but wasn't totally set on it, till I saw him and well........He is a huge project and i'm always fluttering around about him because he is so different it seems like from my geckos.
 
Mine eats silkworms and and the occasional superworm from my hand. If I ever wonder about his appetite I just get out a superworm. After he tags it then I know he's just being picky. Depending on size he could eat 8-10 feeders a day. I use a feeder to contain them.
Go easy on the D3 he needs it but just not too much.
 
JacksJill said:
Mine eats silkworms and and the occasional superworm from my hand. If I ever wonder about his appetite I just get out a superworm. After he tags it then I know he's just being picky. Depending on size he could eat 8-10 feeders a day. I use a feeder to contain them.
Go easy on the D3 he needs it but just not too much.
Click to expand...

I tried super worms and he won't do anything with them even leaving it alone with him for a bit he just climbed away from it. Also I obviously removed the pinchers. Also I tried mealworms even if they don't do much he wouldn't touch them. At the next expo I go to in a few weeks I'm gonna pick up some roaches since the only pet shop near me is petsmart and they don't sell them.
 
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