I’m a new mama and - Is this normal? (A question I ask daily)

[lillielotus]

Aloha everyone! I adopted this baby here in Hawaii about five days ago. He is 3 1/2 weeks old. I’m a first time chameleon mama which means I’m waking up 4 times throughout the night out of pure anxiety just to make sure he’s alright. I’m learning more and more about him and his species every day.
My first question and concern is-
Is the “red” peeping through his skin normal? Does he look too skinny or dehydrated? He’s been eating and drinking but it’s just a few crickets here and there (from what I see). Doesn’t seem like he has a large appetite. l have been regulating enclosure temp., dusting crickets with calcium powder, misting, spraying water on leaves, etc. So I just would like to know from an experienced chameleon parent to a new-be with a baby, does Little Foot look healthy to you?
Mahalo for reading,
Lillie

 

[Hydra_cosplay]

Cute little baby! I'm sure others will chime in with some counter questions so I'll go ahead and give you this form to fill out to allow them to easily assist you.
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 location



Just copy and paste that in a new reply and fill out the blanks! Thanks! ^_^

 

[lillielotus]

Chameleon Info:
My Chameleon - Jackson, believe to be male, 3 1/2 weeks old, have had for 5 days now.
Handling - Handle a few times throughout the day to take out of cage so I can spray properly.
Feeding - Pinhead crickets, drop in enclosure 5 at a time in the morning and add more in the afternoon if he has eaten them all. Will leave crickets that have not been eaten in enclosure. They are eating Fluker’s orange cube.
Supplements - Dusting with Zoomed’s Reptivite with D3 every time I feed
Watering - I spray the leaves and make sure there are moving droplets. Misting 4-5 times a day with Zilla humidifying spray. I see him drink every now and then.
Fecal Description - Solid and white with some brown attached. Has not been tested for parasites.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - Using a plastic carrying travel enclosure since he is so small. Have a large screen enclosure for when he’s bigger.
Lighting - Using a UV light and (sometimes) heating lamp. Temp. Throughout day is kept at 85 and 73-77 at night. UV light I keep on all day but will only turn on the heat lamp for 10 minutes over one side of the enclosure because the temp. shoots up to 96. I use a digital thermometer.
Humidity - I do not have anything to measure humidity but I spray 4-5 times a day.
Plants - Using live Pothos and twigs
Placement - Cage is in living room (small house) has the best air flow. There is a fan in the room that is on most of the day. (Can it cause respiratory issues?) About three feet off the floor on a table.
Location - In a jungle valley of Hawaii.

 

[Hydra_cosplay]

Ok well I can say for sure the calcium powder with D3 you only want to use twice a month. Every feeding should br calcium without D3 on the rest of the days. I would also recommend getting a hygrometer to monitor the humidity in the cage, for this is pretty important to know. I'm sure @Beman or @MissSkittles can help more in depth with the rest. Do you also have pictures of your enclosure?

 

[janjan20]

Welcome! I will tag @JacksJill too. She is very knowledgeable about Jackson’s. They require different supplement schedule and temps. I would stop supplementing with D3 now. I know their schedule is different and daily is not recommended. Temps I would not have above 80 and get some fruit flies too. Can you send a pic of the current set up?

 

[MissSkittles]

Sadly I know almost nothing about Jackson’s other than their care is different than veiled and panther. @JacksJill is the forum’s Jackson’s expert.

 

[jamest0o0]

Welcome!

Right off I can say you are over supplementing, immediately stop that. You want plain calcium, no d3 lightly* dusted with each feeding. The d3/vit A I personally would do lightly once a month, but @JacksJill might recommend differently.

If temps are shooting up to 96 do not use that heat bulb, my guess is you don't even need a heat bulb because you'll want temps for a baby to be pretty low around 80 max.

You'll want plenty of water available and high night humidity(90-100)

 

[Beman]

@lillielotus
@JacksJill will be popping in and out of the forum as she is dealing with a family emergency. She will correct me if I am incorrect but I know she suggests for young Jacksons Calcium without D3 very lightly every other day. And then repashy Calcium plus LoD once a month until the cham is 6 months old then it should be used 2 times a months on half of the feeders very lightly.

No hotter then 80 for juveniles and 78 for babies. I would say no heat lamp if your temps are 85 without it. You need it cooler. You want to make sure your not using a screw in UVB bulb it must either be a T5HO fixture with a 5.0 UVB bulb or a T8 with a 10.0 UVB bulb. Fixture type is specific to the bulb I included with it. With the T5HO the closest basking branch would be about 9 inches down and with a T8 the closest basking branch would be 6 inches down. Lights should be on 12 hours and total darkness 12 hours.
Night time temps seem too hot as well I know Jacksons need a night time temp drop.

I would not be removing baby either that is going to cause a lot of stress. Spraying is fine when they are in the enclosure.

At this age baby should be getting as many feeder as he wants. This can mean 30 a day. 5 a day is way too few.
Your gutload needs to be switched to either fresh veg or something like repashy Bug burger.

 

[MissSkittles]

Not sure if this will help for now. https://chameleonacademy.com/the-jacksons-chameleon-trioceros-jacksonii/