How long can a Jackson's play dead?

fredismyboy

fredismyboy

New Member
Fred had a bit of a panic attack when i put him in a seperate container to clean his cage today. He's been curled up on his side on the bottom of his cage for about an hour now. Is this normal? How much longer can he do this?:eek:
 
Fill this out. Pictures are very helpful.


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?

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.
Current Problem - The current problem that you are concerned about.

Pictures are helpful
 
bridgofaith said:
Fill this out. Pictures are very helpful.


Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
70"x13"x80". all screen
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
a clip on light. 12 hours a day
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
lowest temp is 73. highest is 85. I live in key west so these are natural temps
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
i use the weather channel and leave my window open all day. humidity here is very high
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
yes. hibiscus, sea grape, bamboo, mahogany
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?
80" above my room floor. not by any air vents. in a secluded area next to my dresser. all i do is sleep in my room.
Location - Where are you geographically located?
key west. southernmost city in the USA

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
this is my second day of having him. He is a 5 inch male jacksons.
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
i handled him a lot yesterday. i found out that night that i wasn't supposed to do that. I have not handled him since
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
pinhead crickets, today i was going to give him some worms, but he won't wake up :( i don't have a feeding schedule
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
rep-cal calcium powder. and i have not sprinkled any of his food yet
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
i have not seem him drink. i mist him 3 times a day and have a cup with a string for dripping water
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
brown with a milky substance. i dont know
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
no. i had him shipped to me overnight and he got to me tuesday at 3pm
Current Problem - The current problem that you are concerned about.

he is laying on the bottom of the cage with one eye open and one eye closed. u put him in a clear plastic container while i was cleaning his cage, and when i looked over 10 minutes later, he was laying on the bottom. i transfered him to his cage and he has not gotten up :(

Pictures are helpful
Click to expand...

Please help me! It's only been two days ... what did i do wrong
 
Many species of chameleons (and other reptiles), when frightened enough, can, in fact, "play dead"-- this is called akinesis. The behavior can be observer often in stump-tail chameleons, but I have seen it in deremensis and even merumontanus.

What you are seeing may or may not be akinesis, but I can tell you that in the worst cases I have seen, it does not last more than a few minutes, though I have seen a large varanid stay in akinesis for more than 15 minutes. Nonetheless, during akinesis, the eyes are responsive and breathing is present as normal.

Look forward to seeing the photo...

Fabián
 
Sorry to say but i think he has passed. I cant be 100% though because i am not there. Did he look like that when you first got him?
 
fredismyboy said:
please don't lol. this is really killing me. how can i tell if he's breathing?
Click to expand...

Just saw your photo-- that animal is not playing dead, it's emaciated.

It looks to me like you received it already in bad shape, as your husbandry does not seem to be out of line in such a way that it would cause a rapid downfall. All you can do for now is keep him well hydrated (increase the duration of the misting several minutes if possible, or place him in a luke-warm shower, with a plant that is half-exposed to the water so he can escape it if needed).

If you can, bring the day temperature down a bit, while maintaining his basking spot so he can thermoregulate as desired.

I did not see a source of UVB in your post, which, although a must for these chameleons, cannot be the cause for this quick demise.

Fabián

P.S. Is that a bird cage he's in?
 
fredismyboy said:
look like what when i got him?
Click to expand...

The way he looks in the picture, has he loked exactly or near that since you got him? He is probably on his way out, sorry to say. As previously posted you can try a shower, but dont lay him on the ground. If he wont hold on to the tree hand mist him with luke warm water.
 
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