Just got a Mt. Meru Jackson

[jadeaudio]

Man this guy is awesome. Very active and eats like crazy. Only issue I have is he is always on the screen. He hangs on top. I've only had him for 2 days, but he sleeps up there too. Is this normal? I have had chams climb on the screen to get prey or to get around for a few minutes, but never all the time. I have a drip with a hose coming down and he'll just put his mouth around it and drink. Crazy little guy.

 

[cushcameleon]

Post some pictures of him and his setup, I'm interested to see what you have. My carpet was also avid about climbing on the screen, adding more vines and climbing structures helped solve that problem.

 

[chameleonman57]

Congrats on the new member, pictures please.

 

[merumontanus]

Man this guy is awesome. Very active and eats like crazy. Only issue I have is he is always on the screen. He hangs on top. I've only had him for 2 days, but he sleeps up there too. Is this normal? I have had chams climb on the screen to get prey or to get around for a few minutes, but never all the time. I have a drip with a hose coming down and he'll just put his mouth around it and drink. Crazy little guy.

Hello,

Congratulations on your new acquisition. Mt. Meru Jackson's chameleons are very active animals, and you'll find that wild caught animals, or those introduced to a new enclosure, will frequently move, bask and sleep on the top screen, and although this may happen whether or not your enclosure is up to par, there are a few things to consider:

1. The cage should not be placed too low to the ground.
2. It must be well planted (this often solves the problem)
3. As already mentioned in another post, make sure to add enough sturdy branches for climbing and basking. If the animal cannot find a suitable place to bask, it will take to the screen.

As I said, even if you have all these things under control, some merumontanus will do this for the first few weeks while they adjust to their new enclosure. Nonetheless, if this persists, it may be a sign that the animal is uncomfortable-- either the cage is too small, the basking spot is not warm enough (see #3 above), etc.

Give him some time, but more importantly, some privacy.

And of course, photos are encouraged

Cheers,

Fabián

 

[SimonBolivar]

Sounds great! Jackson's will always be on the top of my fave herps list.
Some picturess?? I'm more interestested in seeing how you set him up.

 

[jadeaudio]

He finally came down. Here are some PICs. He is definitely not shy. I have him setup in the same cage setup I had for my carpet that recently died. 16 x 16 x 30 cage and a ton of real plants and vines with branches, so he has plenty to climb and hide on. Temps are in the 70's with Mistking mistings about 4 times a day for 4 to 5 minute intervals. His horns are really cool. I have a 48" Reptisun 5.0 right on top of 3 cages. 50 watts Basking bulb around 5 to 6" above the cage.

 

[merumontanus]

Great setup-- and the animal appears to be in good condition, too. You should see his real colors come out as the weeks go by.

Keep us posted.

Cheers,

Fabián

 

[cushcameleon]

I really like your setups, you do a great job. Keep it up.

 

[jadeaudio]

Thanks guys. I spent a lot of time and money to get the setups the way I want. Thanks to this forum of course. Gave me a lot of ideas and then it just took money, time, and patience to get it done. Chameleon care is not easy, but it is very addictive once you get going.

 

[Fearaffect]

Yea, u know, he looks like hes in bad condition....your gonna have to send him to me for care.......


Very nice setup u got there....keep up the good work!!

 

[Danicuteeyes]

He finally came down. Here are some PICs. He is definitely not shy. I have him setup in the same cage setup I had for my carpet that recently died. 16 x 16 x 30 cage and a ton of real plants and vines with branches, so he has plenty to climb and hide on. Temps are in the 70's with Mistking mistings about 4 times a day for 4 to 5 minute intervals. His horns are really cool. I have a 48" Reptisun 5.0 right on top of 3 cages. 50 watts Basking bulb around 5 to 6" above the cage.

what plants are you using?

 

[eisentrauti]

Those are Scheffleras and some plastic ones.

 

[xanthoman]

really gorgeous specimen , i am so jealeous. jacksons can be kind of nervous chams and have a tendency to take to the wire, they will get even more nervous if kept lower than eye level, your cage is well planted but has a lot of open wire space, like fabian says, the two best ways to deal with the issue of taking to the wire is raise the cage and add some additional climbing structure so there is less open wire space, they are far less likely to spend a lot of time on the wire if wherever they walk they run into a branch, in most cases they would prefer to walk on branches if it gets them where they want to go, some of that may be attributed to being in new diggs and just wanting to explore every corner , i suspect it will get better over time

 

[jadeaudio]

really gorgeous specimen , i am so jealeous. jacksons can be kind of nervous chams and have a tendency to take to the wire, they will get even more nervous if kept lower than eye level, your cage is well planted but has a lot of open wire space, like fabian says, the two best ways to deal with the issue of taking to the wire is raise the cage and add some additional climbing structure so there is less open wire space, they are far less likely to spend a lot of time on the wire if wherever they walk they run into a branch, in most cases they would prefer to walk on branches if it gets them where they want to go, some of that may be attributed to being in new diggs and just wanting to explore every corner , i suspect it will get better over time

It's going to hard for me to put more into the cage. It is seriously really crowded in there and there are more branches than you think because I zip tied fake plants to the branches. I even have a small Potos plant on the bottom of the cage to add more humidity. I guess I could add some more branches going from one side of the cage to the other, but when he is on the screen he is at the very top of the screen upside down. I can also raise the cages up more if you really thing that will help. He is an awesome hunter!

 

[jadeaudio]

Went back to the top today, but came back down after a couple hours... He ate his 1st Hornworm though since my picky Senegel didn't want it.

 

[ChamLady]

Beautiful cham! I added perches to my cham cage by buying a 6 ft bamboo stake (Lowe's) for under $2.50, & cutting it into 3 sections. I attached them in the top foot or so of the 2x2x4 cage by drilling holes in the ends & using zip ties. My veiled's favorite perch is the highest one. Works great.

 

[Montium]

He finally came down. Here are some PICs. He is definitely not shy. I have him setup in the same cage setup I had for my carpet that recently died. 16 x 16 x 30 cage and a ton of real plants and vines with branches, so he has plenty to climb and hide on. Temps are in the 70's with Mistking mistings about 4 times a day for 4 to 5 minute intervals. His horns are really cool. I have a 48" Reptisun 5.0 right on top of 3 cages. 50 watts Basking bulb around 5 to 6" above the cage.

A visual divider between him and that taller cage may calm him down a bit. He can see the taller plants and wants to be on them.

 

[SimonBolivar]

Hm.. he's fat.

haha jk he looks awesome. Been wanting a jackson for a while. Nicely set up as well ^^

 

[jadeaudio]

I bought some Bamboo sticks from Home Depot and see what kind of crazy thing I can come up with. They are very thin sticks though. I want to try to scew them into the screen.