Jacksons chameleon

[ChamoNate]

Ok i think I'm going to scrap the commercial gutload and just start blending up gutload from recipes i have found, unless it is good to keep the commercial stuff as well (and when i say commercial gutload im talking about flukers high calcium cricket diet) so that may not even be considered a gutload but it's all ive really used on my leopard gecko for years and he is healthy as.. Well a leopard gecko. Next question, what is the best way to go about supplementation for jacksons chams because they need a lot less supplementing than other chams because of their metabolisms. I have both repticalcium with and withiut d3 and i have both reptivite with and without d3. I plan to use the repticalcium without d3 at every feeding and the reptivite with d3 either once or twice a month, i dont think i need the repticalcium with d3 or the reptivite without d3 but im not sure what i should really do

 

[jamest0o0]

Montanes eat less and use supplements less* so you especially need to make sure their gutload is on point. Every feeder needs to count. That flukers stuff isn't gutload like you said. It's pretty useless. Leopard geckos are much more forgiving of bad husbandry than chameleons and can't be compared. I think you should take a bit to understand reptile nutrition and supplementation. Check out the chameleon breeder podcast, the episode with John courtney Smith on nutrition and gutloading is excellent.

 

[ChamoNate]

Well first off i definately wouldnt call it "bad husbandry" as my leopard gecko is very active and healthy as can be and has lived off od nothing but crickets fed in high calcium diet, i see nothing wrong with it. My newest question now is what do i do if my chameleon is not interetsed in eating anything i give him? I have given him grasshoppers, red runners, dubias and crickets and he just doesnt seem to eat any of them. Every day i check his cage and see almost everything i put in there, i feel like he isnt eating enough, maybe 1 to 2 insects every other day...MAYBE. ive tried every way of feeding and now i have two nick barta free range feeders in there trying both out, one with crickets and the other with roaches, i let grasshoppers free range. No idea what to do to entice hik to eat and he is absolutely scared to death of me now, i tried to switch things up in his cage and took hik out for a second and during the process he leaped from my hand and fell to the floor (i was furious and speechless) i quickly grabbed him and put him back on a branch asap. He is fine but literally runs away now every time i come into the room (which now is totally understandable) but im afraid he is just to scared to eat now if i enter the room at all

 

[Chameleophlaged]

I have a Jackson that acted that way for the first couple of months I had him. He turned and ran every time I opened the door to feed him. I just kept putting superworms, or hornworms or silkworms on the screen near him ( he turned and ran), I'd put three or four in on the screen in different spots, watch for a while and usually within a few minutes he would find one and eat it. I'd move one of the others close to him again and sometimes he'd stay put and eat it when I closed the door. Just kept doing that for a month or so, now he shots worms out of my hand and stalks down crickets, roaches and anything else I put in like a lion.

 

[ChamoNate]

I'm seeing some improvement so that is a good sign. I just have to keep working with him

 

[Dürja]

@ChamoNate first thing is first, take a nice deep breath. Just take a few deep breaths and try to chill a little bit. I know you want everything to be perfect for your little dude, but allowing yourself to get so stressed out is actually making things worse. The biggest issue I've taken away from reading this thread has nothing to do with your husbandry and has everything to do with your animal's stress level. From what you've described over the last couple of weeks it sounds like you are stressing your animal out immensely. As has been mentioned, Chameleons take a very long time to adjust to new surroundings. They are incredibly fickle animals that do very poorly with large scale change. Because of this you need to give your animal ample time to adjust. Constantly checking in on him, checking what he's eaten, and being around him during this transitory period is going to make the whole process take significantly longer. If I were you I would legitimately leave him alone for 48-72 hours. Put his lights on a timer, set up a dripped and leave him alone. He's not going to waste away in two or three days, and intentionally not offering food is decent way to potentially jump start his desire to hunt. Just let him exist as he pleases without any kind of interaction. Unfortunately chameleons are also incredibly fickle when it comes to earning trust. It literally takes months of dedication and work to finally earn your chameleons trust. Even then there's some that never truly come around, that's just the nature of these animals. As is true for most animals it is much easier to lose trust than to gain it. The little incident where he fell from you is a perfect indication of that. He sees you as a predator and he was trying to escape. That moment right there is the moment where any trust you might have built up went out the window. You need to leave him alone and then very slowly introduce yourself back into his life. Start by just offering food and then leaving. Do not try and handle him unless you absolutely must. Do not try and hand feed him. Seriously just feed him and leave him alone for the day. Even if he doesn't eat much just continue being diligent. Trust that your animal isn't going to let himself stave.

As a side note, I highly suggest you listen to what people here have to say instead of trying to argue with them. That's not me trying to call you out or he harsh, it's just the truth. The people on these forums know what they're talking about, they're not going to give you false information. In regards to bio-activity I think you need to worry about simply getting your husbandry down first. Chameleons and leopard geckos aren't even close on the husbandry scale. Furthermore, there is an immense amount of different raw materials that go into a truly bio-active vivarium. It's not as simple as putting some isopods and springtails into your eco-earth. Again, i'm sorry if this comes off as harsh. I don't mean it to, but I imagine it probably will.

 

[ChamoNate]

No i fully agree with everything you just said and i understand completely, i have gone way overboard trying to make things perfect because i am a high anxiety individual....i have been realizing that the less i am there the happier he is and the more he eats, so i will continue to do as you say and others have said and leave him alone and only come in every few days or so when i need to. Thank you and everyone for your help i really want to give my cham the best life and husbandry possible