Jackson Chameleon loose grip and sleeping

My male Jackson Cham has been sleeping during the day and seems to have a very loose grip when I hold him.i give him crickets daily in a bowl but he doesnt go for them it seems the only way he will eat is out of my hand. I'm very scared that he could be sick please help this was my first cham ever! And I don't wanna loose him. He is about 3 years old and I have had him for close to a year now
 
Here is some recommended information to include when asking for help in the health clinic forum. By providing this information, you will receive more accurate and beneficial responses. It might not be necessary to answer all these questions, but the more you provide the better. Please remember that even the most knowledgeable person can only guess at what your problem may be. Only an experienced reptile veterinarian who can directly examine your animal can give a true diagnosis of your chameleon's health.


Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Male Jackson chameleon about 1 year
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? 2 times a week for 10 mn
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? I offer him 10 crickets and 5 meal worms or wax worms a day
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I use rep cal with 0 d3 once a month and rept life plus once a year
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I spray him in the morning afternoon and just before bed and I have a fogger on him
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Dark brown with like cricket remains in it and no he has never been tested for parasites
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
he has never had anyother problems besides this that I know of
Cage Info: many branches and lots of foliage
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? All screen cage with a foam rock back ground and I am pretty sure it's 24 by 24 by 48
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? I use a zilla UVB with a zilla rainforest UVB (5.0) and a 50 wat threat bulb
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? It is around 81 degrees and around 60 degrees at night
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? 80 to 90%
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? I don't use live plants in his cage but I used to about 3 months ago it was a real bamboo tree/plant
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? The cage is near the entrance of my door and there is a fan in the middle of my room witch is only on at night
Location - Where are you geographically located? Derby Kansas U.S.A.

Current Problem - The current problem you at having. He seems to have a loose grip and sleeps during the day plus he ignores food unles it's crickets that are hand fed to him


Pictures are helpful
 
A couple of things I noticed.

You dust with regular calcium (no d3) once a month? He should be getting a vitamin/d3 supplement every 5-6 weeks, with pure calcium 2-3 times a week.

If you are seeing cricket parts in the stool, up his basking a little. My guy likes his basking around 85 F. I would also recommend just ditching the mealworms. Too much shell, not very nutritional to begin with.

I can't comment on the zilla brand lighting nowadays, but from everything I have read before, people have had issues with such lighting. It's best to stick with Zoomed/exo-terra.

If I had to guess, if you only gave him calcium once a month, he is likely developing MBD, but without pictures I can't be for certain.
 
Idk how igot onnce a month calcium I must have miss read a lot of care sheets when I first got him I will definatly start giving him calcium before his bone start getting all wierd but what about him sleeping and not opening his eyes?
 
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Male Jackson chameleon about 1 year
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? 2 times a week for 10 mn
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? I offer him 10 crickets and 5 meal worms or wax worms a day

What are you gutloading said feeders with?

Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I use rep cal with 0 d3 once a month and rept life plus once a year

You should be using the plain calcium almost every feeding, in extremely light amounts. The feeders have a cal/phos ratio of 1:2. For proper calcium absorbtion, you need a ratio of 2:1. Thus, dusting with an EXTREMELY light amount of calcium all the time/almost all the time is the best way to get the animal what it needs.

Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I spray him in the morning afternoon and just before bed and I have a fogger on him

For how long do you spray him?

He needs at least four mistings a day. Of around 5 min each, and one of them should be around 10 min long.
You want the cage to dry out in between mistings, but you especially want it to dry out before night. This will prevent mold and mildew from growing in your encosure, which can make the chameleon sick.

A fogger should not be used all the time, unless you live in an area where the RH levels are extremely low(<10%), for the same reason as stated above.

Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Dark brown with like cricket remains in it and no he has never been tested for parasites

Undigested feeder parts should be a rarity. Is there any yellow, orange, or white to the droppings?

There should be a white part, which is the urate. If it is yellow or orange, then the animal is dehydrated, and not getting enough water.


History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
he has never had anyother problems besides this that I know of
Cage Info: many branches and lots of foliage
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? All screen cage with a foam rock back ground and I am pretty sure it's 24 by 24 by 48
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? I use a zilla UVB with a zilla rainforest UVB (5.0) and a 50 wat threat bulb

Say huh?
You need one 5.0 UVB bulb, and one 40-75watt heat bulb.(depending on your situation)

Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? It is around 81 degrees and around 60 degrees at night
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? 80 to 90%
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? I don't use live plants in his cage but I used to about 3 months ago it was a real bamboo tree/plant

Some bamboo is toxic, though I doubt he would eat any of it anyhow. You really need live plants in the enclosure. THis will generate fresher air for the animal, and keep your RH levels up.

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? The cage is near the entrance of my door and there is a fan in the middle of my room witch is only on at night
Location - Where are you geographically located? Derby Kansas U.S.A.

Current Problem - The current problem you at having. He seems to have a loose grip and sleeps during the day plus he ignores food unles it's crickets that are hand fed to him


Pictures are helpful

At this point Id recommend you find a vet, and have the animal checked out. It doesnt sound as if the chameleon is doing very well at all at the moment.

I am sorry to hear this. :(

Heres a few links that you should study, and then make the necessary changes to your husbandry. Once you do this, your chameleon will have what it needs to be healthy.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/jacksons/


This video is a great resource. Id recommend watching it as often as possible, until you get you get everything down pat.
 
I'm taking him to local pet store because all vets are closed today
Please keep giving me feed back though I really appreciate it

Dont do it! ...and if you do, and their info conflicts with anything you learn in those links I posted, ignore it.


A couple of things I noticed.



If you are seeing cricket parts in the stool, up his basking a little. My guy likes his basking around 85 F. I would also recommend just ditching the mealworms. Too much shell, not very nutritional to begin with.

Very good point!
 
I'm taking him to local pet store because all vets are closed today
Please keep giving me feed back though I really appreciate it

My guess is the Zilla lights are causing eye problems, which they are noted to do.

As far as calcium, 2-3 times a week now at 1 year would have been enough, as a baby he should have gotten more than that.

Now you will likely have to take him to the vet and get liquid calcium injections to help get the bones back in order. If he does have MBD it can't be reversed, but can be stopped.
 
The pet store I go to for advice is extremely good with there animals they breed most of there reptiles them selfs including Jackson chameleons. We have been experiencing lots of diffrent climates in Kansas right now so the atmospheric pressure could be the reason why most of my reptiles are slow eaters. As for the mbd they said he doesn't have it. I gut load my feeders with kale and other vegetables such as collard greens. Also they said the zilla light could be hurting his eyes so I'm gunna get a new bulb when they get them in and as for the loose grip that was just me being paranoid because my hand is covered in small little claw marks. But I will be dusting his crickets more often now just in case.
 
Can you post pictures of him? That would help a lot.

It's good you are getting rid of the zilla bulb. Make sure the new one is a tube, and not the uvb coiled bulbs.

ReptiSun 5.0 are one of the best, I use 10.0's in my larger/taller enclosures.
 
Yes definatly I can post pictures but do u think it's true that the atmospheric pressure could be tampering with him a bit be ause right now its like mid 70 when it's usally a 105
 
Is it possible? I suppose, but I don't think so in this case. Eyes closed and lethargic are not good signs no matter the condition of the weather.

You should really take him into a vet regardless. While your pet store may have said he doesn't have MBD, they are not a vet. Him only getting calcium once a month for many months is not a good thing and he could have it, even though it's not showing physically yet.
 
Heres is his cage with fogger on and crappy camera
 

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He doesnt appear to have obvious signs of MBD.

However, the disease could be onsetting, and not showing obvious signs yet.

He does look a bit malnourished.

Hed appreciate more climbing areas and some more cover in his enclosure also.

Best of luck with him.
 
My vield Cham eats out of a cup but my Jackson doesn't so I let the crickets roam free in his cage but it has a back ground so crickets just get stuck behind it. But sense my vield eat out of a cup I'm thinking I should put her in there and rango ( my Jackson) in the other cage that my vield would no longer be in that doesn't have a background all I would have to do is switch the lighting and clean the cage then poof no more crickets behind back ground. Plus my vield is almost bigger then him now anyway
 
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