Just want to make sure If he’s okay.

[CJH]

He always is these colors even in his cage. I have put his cage in a place where he doesn’t see me walk around in my room. He has all the correct uvb and a heat lamp. I made sure he has a cold spot and a warm basking spot. I also have a mister, dripping tree, and a humidifier. He was completley different looking when I got him about nine months ago. He was always a normal green but now he is always these colors camo or dark which I know is to absorb heat. I just wanted to know if his colors are okay because I have seen variety of colors about Jackson’s chameleons that I did research on and also if that pale spot on his mouth is mouth rot. He has had that spot since I got him and I just didn’t really see it as much before but I have a picture that’s old that shows it. He also recently had a black spot on his lip. Thats all and please let me know what I can do if I’m doing something wrong. The last two pictures are from 8 months ago.

 

[kinyonga]

Welcome to the forum!
@JacksJill @Kaizen may be better at giving you feedback for a Jackson's chameleon....so I've tagged them.

 

[Beman]

@Mendez

 

[Lindasjackson]

Hi and welcome! He’s a beautiful Jackson’s!! I don’t see anything wrong with his mouth but we can ask @Mendez and see what he thinks. What is a dripping tree? If it’s like a fountain they are not good for use with chams because they can harbor bacteria and you don’t want that. What you can use instead is a plastic cup with a couple pin holes in the bottom and set it on top of his cage over some plants and it will drip on the leaves for him to drink. That’s what I use for my Jackson’s. How are his temps now that it’s cooling down outside? Are you getting a good temp drop at night at least into the mid 60s? How’s his day and night humidity? We’re here to help.

 

[CJH]

Hi and welcome! He’s a beautiful Jackson’s!! I don’t see anything wrong with his mouth but we can ask @Mendez and see what he thinks. What is a dripping tree? If it’s like a fountain they are not good for use with chams because they can harbor bacteria and you don’t want that. What you can use instead is a plastic cup with a couple pin holes in the bottom and set it on top of his cage over some plants and it will drip on the leaves for him to drink. That’s what I use for my Jackson’s. How are his temps now that it’s cooling down outside? Are you getting a good temp drop at night at least into the mid 60s? How’s his day and night humidity? We’re here to help.

I figured that out awile ago so I cleaned it out and I actually removed the pump from its resivior and just made the water return to a plastic container I swap and clean every day.

 

[CJH]

Hi and welcome! He’s a beautiful Jackson’s!! I don’t see anything wrong with his mouth but we can ask @Mendez and see what he thinks. What is a dripping tree? If it’s like a fountain they are not good for use with chams because they can harbor bacteria and you don’t want that. What you can use instead is a plastic cup with a couple pin holes in the bottom and set it on top of his cage over some plants and it will drip on the leaves for him to drink. That’s what I use for my Jackson’s. How are his temps now that it’s cooling down outside? Are you getting a good temp drop at night at least into the mid 60s? How’s his day and night humidity? We’re here to help.

And the humidity is normally at 90% to 80% I have the heat on a timer that keeps it normally at like 75 during the day and one 3hr spot where it stays on a bit longer to hit like 80 thats when he normally bask and at night it’s at 60

 

[Lindasjackson]

Ok so his humidity is at 80-90% all the time? If so you’ll need to change it. Humidity needs to be around 50% during the day and 80-100% at night. Do you have a T5ho linear fixture with a reptisun 5.0 or Arcadia 6% bulb? This is the kind of uvb he needs and the linear uvb needs to be as wide as his cage. His basking spot needs to be around 78-80 measured with a temp probe at basking spot. He needs this especially in the morning and early afternoon so he can digest his insects. You may already know all this but we have had new Cham owners come on her that have gotten bad information and their chams aren’t doing well so I always ask. Instead of my asking you all these questions could I ask you to fill out the “How to ask for help” form that I will link? It would be very helpful and then either I or one of the other Jackson’s keepers can go over your husbandry and maybe figure out why his color is always dark.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/
Thanks!

 

[Lindasjackson]

Also if you can include some pics of his enclosure from top to bottom would be great!

 

[CJH]

Ok so his humidity is at 80-90% all the time? If so you’ll need to change it. Humidity needs to be around 50% during the day and 80-100% at night. Do you have a T5ho linear fixture with a reptisun 5.0 or Arcadia 6% bulb? This is the kind of uvb he needs and the linear uvb needs to be as wide as his cage. His basking spot needs to be around 78-80 measured with a temp probe at basking spot. He needs this especially in the morning and early afternoon so he can digest his insects. You may already know all this but we have had new Cham owners come on her that have gotten bad information and their chams aren’t doing well so I always ask. Instead of my asking you all these questions could I ask you to fill out the “How to ask for help” form that I will link? It would be very helpful and then either I or one of the other Jackson’s keepers can go over your husbandry and maybe figure out why his color is always dark.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/
Thanks!

Yup and I’ll include the cage pictures

 

[Lindasjackson]

Thanks! That wil help a lot!

 

[CJH]

 

[CJH]

View attachment 312670View attachment 312672

Usually the cables and the tubes are lined and put in better places but that night I thought he was stressed while he was sleeping I moved him to the spot in my room that I don’t go near much as fast and quiet as I could. He seems to like it a lot better in there.

 

[CJH]

And I don’t have the super long uvb light so I just have two so it covers all of the cage still.

 

[Lindasjackson]

Ok so those lights look like the compact uvb lights and they are not good. The uvb doesn’t reach but maybe 3 inches down from the light so most likely your Jackson’s isn’t getting any uvb from the. You really need the long linear one I mentioned above or your guy will likely end up with mbd metabolic bone disease. You don’t want that. The tree in there and plants look like they’re all fake and not much foliage for him to hide in. I would start over if I were you and get all of that stuff out of there and get some live plants like a ficus benjamina and some pothos plants. You want to create a little forest edge type enclosure. So if you close your eyes and imagine a forest edge opening up onto a clearing, that’s what you want with plenty of foliage for him to hide in. That’s what I have and my guy disappears in it for hours and I can’t find him. It helps them feel safe and secure. When they can’t hide it stresses them out. I’ll include a picture of my enclosure for my Jackson’s. Have you filled out the form yet? If so please post it here.

 

[CJH]

Ok so those lights look like the compact uvb lights and they are not good. The uvb doesn’t reach but maybe 3 inches down from the light so most likely your Jackson’s isn’t getting any uvb from the. You really need the long linear one I mentioned above or your guy will likely end up with mbd metabolic bone disease. You don’t want that. The tree in there and plants look like they’re all fake and not much foliage for him to hide in. I would start over if I were you and get all of that stuff out of there and get some live plants like a ficus benjamina and some pothos plants. You want to create a little forest edge type enclosure. So if you close your eyes and imagine a forest edge opening up onto a clearing, that’s what you want with plenty of foliage for him to hide in. That’s what I have and my guy disappears in it for hours and I can’t find him. It helps them feel safe and secure. When they can’t hide it stresses them out. I’ll include a picture of my enclosure for my Jackson’s. Have you filled out the form yet? If so please post it here.

Alright I’ll get on that and not yet I have work right now. I’ll fill it out when I get home im sorry.

 

[Lindasjackson]

So in the pictures above of my set up you can see I have the long linear uvb light that spans the width of my cage and is 8-9 inches above my chams basking branch along with a clamp lamp with a 60 watt halogen lamp in it. There is an orange cup with a pinhole in it for a drip system then you can see my ultrasonic cool humidifier with the pvc pipe taking the fog up to the top of the cage so it falls down ove the ficus tree. I only run that from 1 am to 5 am to help with humidity and cooling the air.

 

[Lindasjackson]

Alright I’ll get on that and not yet I have work right now. I’ll fill it out when I get home im sorry.

That’s ok, talk to you then.

 

[Mendez]

I just wanted to know if his colors are okay because I have seen variety of colors about Jackson’s chameleons that I did research on and also if that pale spot on his mouth is mouth rot. He has had that spot since I got him and I just didn’t really see it as much before but I have a picture that’s old that shows it. He also recently had a black spot on his lip. Thats all and please let me know what I can do if I’m doing something wrong.

The pale turquoise blue on the cheeks and head is perfectly normal, and one of the things that set Trioceros jacksonii jacksonii apart from other jacksonii subspecies such as xantholophus which is a uniform green. And I don't see any swelling that would suggest that your jacksonii has mouth rot or a temporal gland infection.

He was completley different looking when I got him about nine months ago. He was always a normal green but now he is always these colors camo or dark which I know is to absorb heat. I just wanted to know if his colors are okay

How old was he nine months ago? How long of a period did you notice the color change? Or did it happen recently? Colder weather outside can translate to colder weather inside, so there may be a possibility that your husbandry parameters have change since and you don't know it. The good thing is that he still looks healthy. And I am not really worried about his colors at the moment. My suggestion is that you follow @Lindasjackson's advice full stop; I can almost guarantee you that you will see normal behavior again. I am glad that you are here asking questions and being proactive. Linda will get you squared away. Your cham still looks healthy, but that doesn't mean that your husbandry is perfect. Make the changes that Linda suggests and your cham will thank you for it.

 

[CJH]

Alright I’ll get on that and not yet I have work right now. I’ll fill it out when I get home im sorry.

Would you be able to link the plant holders you use and the uvb lights? It would help me a lot. Thank you for the help.

 

[Lindasjackson]

I’ll see what I can find. I’m not the best at adding links but I’ll try.