Kaiju eating pattern?

Gtcrazy

New Member
Hey everyone anyone that can tell me if it’s normal for a juvenile rainbow Jackson to be eating one cricket a day some days doesn’t even eat…. She seems healthy no sign of health warning on her so I’m confused from day one she eats like this… she doesn’t seem skinny at all that’s what confuses me and is active and barley drinks water witch is given to her everyday through dripping… she has all the uvb and heat at appropriate levels from help from before on here. She also seems to be aware and not sleeping during the day and falls asleep right away when the lights go out. I don’t know if I should be worried or just keep going. I can post pics of that helps! Thanks!
 
Maybe that could be the issue I do give her large crickets they about the size of her mouth when she eats then it’s a mouthful… maybe I should try small maybe they will be more enticing?
 
Sending pics would definitely help. Also, send pics of the enclosure.

How often are you feeding her crickets? And is the dripper the only way she has access to water? Do you mist or fog?
 
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Looking at her now I can see ribs showing 😩 and she has a water spray mister dropper set for every hour during the day time… I feed her once a day and sometimes try to see if she’ll eat again towards later at night.
 
Can you send more pictures of her? Ribs aren't a good indicator of malnourishment. Particularly, getting pictures of her casque (top of the head) should be a good indicator. Is it sunken in? A full body picture would also be ideal. But make sure that she is taking up the majority of the picture.
 
I could get a better gauge on her body condition if I could see a picture that shows the top of her head and her tail base more clearly.

I still have concerns with the way her lights are set up and the length of her linear light bulb. I know you are limited by the height of your cage and the ceiling distance but maybe you could find a lower table for a base.

Since I am already being a bummer. I'm not a fan of mossy vines for chameleons. They stay damp and can lead to foot infections and if they eat insects off of the vines they risk ingesting the moss that can lead to digestive or obstructive problems.
 
Also, I would put the most energy into fixing up her cage. Fake plants aren't the best, though they also aren't the worst. Best case scenario, you purchase live plants like pothos, secure them up high, and let them drape down into the cage. Worst case scenario, but still better than your current set up, you purchase fake plants and secure them in a similar fashion to what you have going on right now, but have the fake plants be of a variety with broader leaves than can better hold water to drink off of and better hold in the humidity. Ideally, you can replace the fake plants with live plants. You will find that she will do a lot better.

I also agree with @JacksJill about the lighting. Are those basking bulbs on the side of the cage? How are you monitoring those temps?

Also, are you utilizing anything to keep in the humidity (e.g. shower curtain or window insulation)? How are you monitoring humidity?
 
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Hopefully these help! And I have that t5 strip on top and a uvb bulb that came with a set of uvb and daylight basking I have those other 2 lamps on the side to keep the top tier at 85 all 3 are daylight bulbs not basking heat bulbs but do crear enough heat but not over 90. I didn’t know the moss branches could do that! I want to find a tree tall enough like a ficus to replace them but no luck yet… and I keep the humidity up by having the mister go off every hour for 1 minute during the day. I have 3 fish tanks in the same room that add humidity to the room and don’t turn on the AC during the day also only at night to have a cool temp for her.
 
She isn't particularly fat or thin but looking at her it's hard not to think she's pregnant. She may be eating less because she is full of babies or ova and does't have room for much food.
 
I'm not too familiar with T.j. jacksonii size, but she looks close to full-grown if she's not already. They stay pretty small compared to their larger cousin xantholophus. Her horns are pretty developed. She is definitely no juvenile, so being gravid is definitely a possibility--especially if @JacksJill says she suspects so.

How long have you had her for? It's common for them to be housed together in pet stores or by the breeder the pet store bought from. On top of that, they can retain sperm for additional clutches down the road. So they can go a long time without seeing a male and still have viable clutches.
 
Wow I did not know that… I’ve had her since march and I ordered her online from backwater reptiles I originally asked for a baby rainbow male but they send me a full grown female… haha it irritates me that a breeder would have people not even knowing what to package but regardless I’m happy with her and feel like it was a great accident when I found out. If she is going to lay I have read into how to set that up. If anything I’ll try to hatch them!
 
They give live birth so be prepared for babies. Check out the blogs here on the forum. @jackshas an excellent blog on how to set up baby enclosures with plastic tubs.

And backwater reptiles doesn't have a good reputation. They constantly send out mislabeled animals that sometimes are already sick. I'm glad your female is doing great even if you were supposed to get a male. It's great that you love her just the same!
 
@jackshas an excellent blog on how to set up baby enclosures with plastic tubs.
Well I fumbled that one lol. Meant to type @JacksJill and it looks like she posted the link above. That blog is kind of like the baby cage bible IMO. Definitely give it a read. Very informative.
 
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