Jackson chameleon extending his body

[Magia348]

Hi guys

Im new to the chameleon game but I've been doing so much research you dont even know. Regardless, I have 2 questions.

1. My true jacksons chameleon (6 month old) has recently been extending his neck and lower body as if he was being threatened, desite being calm and basking under the sun. He will stay there, stay dark, then move around, chance color and reduce the croak of his neck. I know why he does this, but why does his neck stay in a croaked position as well as his lower body? as if he is intentionally getting flatter.

2. What is a healthy plant I can buy my chameleon for his cage that doesnt grow crazy big, and what website can I get it from? as well as type of soil/compost?

Any advice is appreciated, thank you and god bless

 

[Magia348]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - True Jacksonii Jacksonii chameleon. Male, around 6 months old. Under my care for about 1 month.
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? once a day around 10-20 minutes for unfiltered sunlight/free roaming
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? medium crickets What amount? 5 (he usually eats 4-5) What is the schedule? (in the morning after he poops/urinates) How are you gut-loading your feeders? pebble food feed and green water gels.
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? reptifeed calciferol calcium with D3 twice a week and multivitamin from herbareptile twice a week as well, dusting on crickets.
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? dripper fountain bought for $30 dollars at reptile shop. How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? Mist once or twice a day, and chameleon drinking all the time.
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? White urea with nice black collected and hard poop.
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. Mt.Kenya jackson, captive bred and fairly rare.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? screen cage open all sides, about 2 feed and a half high, 17x17ish floor. Pretty big for this small chameleon.
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? dual bulb one UV and 50 watt heat bulb.
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? cage floor coller higher significantly hotter, i dont not measure these temps.
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? dont measure, created via home made humidifier, important as these boys are from Mt. Kenya where humidity is high. Often likes alternating between this cool darker zone and the higher hotter side under basking light on other side of cage.
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? No but I would love to know what would be a nice plant to put on the side of the cage to grow freely, not on vines that are put all ove rcage.
• 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? High on a high desk next to a window that is curtain open during the day, limited traffic, nice ventilation not too close to air conditioning vent. perfectly between floor and ceiling.
• Location - Where are you geographically located? South florida.

 

[Carlton]

Chams will flatten themselves (or maybe "stretch") in order to expose as much surface area to the heat.
There are some modifications you should make to your husbandry:

Montane species such as jackson's are more sensitive to fat soluble vitamins like vitamin D3. Reduce the D3 and multivitamin dusting to no more than once a month. Dust with plain calcium (no added D3) daily...not a heavy coating, just a light one.

Your gutload isn't great. The sad fact is that most commercial insect gutloads are pretty poor. There are some much more nutritious ones available from forum sponsors.

You MUST measure the basking temp and the cooler area of the cage! It is very easy to overheat (and consequently dehydrate) a jackson's.

Please provide the exact brand and model of UV light. Most "full spectrum" lights offered at pet shops do not provide the correct part of the UVB spectrum. This will eventually cause vitamin and calcium deficiencies.

You MUST monitor the cage humidity levels! Get a good quality electronic humidity gauge, not the little dial gauges available from pet shops. They are quite unreliable.

I'd really suggest reviewing your husbandry and compare it to the jackson's care sheet you can find under this forum's Resources page.

 

[Magia348]

Hi Carlton, thank you so much for your advice. Here is the cage setup, I have a humidifier running in the left and the 50W heat lamp on the right, one of the posts here reccomends around 40W since these montaine chameleons are used to cooler fog and weather, as well as farther from the tree tops. The lamp is a Zoomed im not sure if its good or bad. To the right of the cage by where the rug is cut is where a styrofoam rock will be placed against the cage to house a live plant, still not sure where I can find some suitable ones. Definitely gonna just feed Vitamin and calcium w/d3 once a month and buy myself a calcium w/out D3 to feed regularly. The back is where I have a glass door that I can open up for more sunshine, not sure if I should leave it open all day or not.

 

[leedragon]

add alot more plants and higher cage would do it good.