Jackson Pair

[Meow Kitty]

alright so recently my dad left the back door open and my yemen cham escaped outside into a place where he could very well disappear forever end up in any neighbors yard. its my b-day Wednesday and my dad asked me if it would make me feel better if he got me the two jacksons down at the pet store, their being sold as a pair and havnt figured out of their related yet.
dw ill seperate them if i do get them

to the point, whats their husbandry i heard they need a higher constant humidity and lower temps
same supplements as a panther

 

[Meow Kitty]

i feel this thread was short lived and no one saw it please gimme your 2 cents
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[camimom]

jacksons like lower temps, no hotter than 82, and higher humidity.

they are sucespitble to over supplementation, so they do not have the same schedule as panthers and veileds.

i would get someone like miss lily to chime in on supplementing them.

 

[xanthoman]

reality check

probably not the answer you were hoping for, but, just to be clear,
jacksons are;

1.imo not the best starter chams

2. in all but extremely rare circumstances need to be housed individually, you cannot house a m/f pair together, on rare occasions, experienced keepers may get away with housing a f/f pair but not recommended.

3. this means separate cage, lighting, heating, and all other husbandry equip for each animal as well as 2x fecal floats (fecal float is recommended for all new xanths, especially ones from a petstore. and 2x vet bills, the reality is, if you are not an experienced xanth keeper you will likely end up at the vet.

4. if a mf pair has been housed together then its reasonable to assume that the pet store selling them has not exercised very good husbandry, which means metabolic issues are likely already in progress that will have to be corrected. also means that the female is likely already inseminated, quite possibly from its sibling . imo neither stuation offers a good starting scenario for a keeper new to jacksons. if you are intent on getting one from the pet store which i also dont recommend, imo you would do best by getting just the male and leaving the female at the pet store

5. jacksons are metabolically sensitive and diversity in diet is more critical than with many non-montane species, ie, feeding a diet of mostly petstore crickets will almost certainly eventually lead to serious metabolic (health) issues

6. i realize probably not the answer you were hoping for, but better to find out the reality of the situation now than after you buy them. jmo

 

[Elizadolots]

Xanthoman is the expert.

However, I don't think you need to view Jackson's as "undoable"...just quite different. An analogy I use is the difference between driving using a PC and using a MAC...whichever you are accustomed too feels "easier" and the other "harder". In reality, they are different.

Unless you have a really huge cage (at least 5 feet tall, at least 4 feet wide) I think you would be better off with 2 cages (heck, even if you have a huge cage, I think 2 cages is a safer bet).

They need a cooler temperature range but higher humidity. Which might be an issue for you where you are. Putting them outside would require a lot of work to keep them cool enough and if you bring them inside you probably have the AC going a lot which sucks humidity out of the air. So definitely think through how you're going to handle those issues before you make your decision.

Jacksons are more labor intensive than some chameleons, but that's a bit like saying football is more labor intensive than baseball--both require a whole lot of dedication.

If you're willing to put in the work, I think you would find Jackson's to be very rewarding...I mean, who doesn't want a little triceratops?

 

[joboi1535]

hey, bro love the info you put out thanks

 

[Miss Lily]

Xanthoman is the man to ask for anything Jacksons, along with jdog1027 and a few others. I will add that buying from a pet shop (a general shop rather than a reptile exclusive shop) is generally a bad idea as often they don't get the correct care and a lot are sick before they even get sold. It would be worth finding a breeder and getting a captive bred male to start with (if a Jackson is what you really want). I kept Veileds for 3 years before I got my Jax and even then I was petrified that he would die on me. I got him at 7 weeks old and together we got through the critical 4-5 month age where they can just drop dead for no apparent reason. Not sure I would get such a young one again especially if I wasn't sure on the background and previous care it had been receiving.

If you go ahead, then I suggest getting a screen cage for each of them and kitting it out with chameleon safe plants BEFORE you get them so you can do tests with various bulbs for the basking spots and get an idea of humidity levels in the home both before and after misting. I did this in a few locations in my home for a few weeks before I got mine.