looking for some help with my Jackson

[vette4life04]

I got my Jackson about two months ago, and shortly after, i noticed that it looked like he developed a case of mouth rot. I also noticed that he wasnt really eatting or drinking, but i cant be sure on the drinking part. so i took him in to my local vet, who i personally dont really care for. He gave me some bytril and told me to give him about .1 CCs once a day, and then to also swab the sides of his mouth where its swollen with some benadine? ok so that sounded about in line with what i read on some other posts.... the other thing that really threw me off, which is why i dont care for this vet, he told me i needed to feed him pinkies, and put him in a closed aquarium.... um yeah, not going to happen.

anyways ive been giving him the antibiotic and swabbing his mouth. Ive also been hand feeding him for the last week or so with Waxworms. Hes has been eatting the worms. Now today, i noticed that he completely refused to eat anything, his been kind of lethargic and keeping his eyes closed, and hes been rather dark. The temp of his cage looms anywhere between 60-80 during the day time, with humidity is staying around 40-80, but more closer to 60-80%. He has a constant dripper, a monsoon sprayer, spraying for about 30 seconds every hour, and then a fogger going 24 hours a day. The reason for the temp and humidity changes is just between sprays it drops, and then increases again....

The mouth rot is looking better, but i dont think its completely gone yet... any help? should i be concerned? he always has a source of food just in case he deciedes he wants to eat, but i dont want him to get used to being hand fed. more concerned with him keeping his eyes closed, and staying a darker color.... any help or advice would be great! Thanks!

 

[vette4life04]

i forgot, now it seems like he wont open his left eye. his right eye is open and hes looking around, but his left eye is just shut.

 

[vette4life04]

heres a couple pictures of my current enclosure.... tell me what you guys think, or what i can improve on....

 

[ISA my Veiled]

You need a ton more foliage man, that is not nearly enough. I would also up grade the cage to a larger one, that one looks pretty small in my opinion. Although Jacksons dont run as big as a Veiled/Panther, the more space the better. And also fill out the help form please regardless of what you posted above. It will help some of the more experienced people who have jacksons help you.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/
Paste this into a reply and fill it out thank you!

 

[vette4life04]

i would like to get a bigger cage, just waiting on the funds.... planning on going to a 2x2x4 foot cage.... as far as the foliage, i dont know what else to do but to wait for my tree to grow? ive got some seeds that i planted in the pot that are just starting to sprout, thought itd look good for color and help asorb water from the sprayers.... ill fill out the form though, thanks.

 

[ISA my Veiled]

i would like to get a bigger cage, just waiting on the funds.... planning on going to a 2x2x4 foot cage.... as far as the foliage, i dont know what else to do but to wait for my tree to grow? ive got some seeds that i planted in the pot that are just starting to sprout, thought itd look good for color and help asorb water from the sprayers.... ill fill out the form though, thanks.

Use fake plants, I use them. If you go to a goodwill and shop in the floral sections sometimes you can find a lot of decor for cheap, just make sure you wash it lol

 

[DavidBuchan]

I don't know Jacksons, but lethargy and eye closing makes me say vet. And a better one than you went to last time (if you can). Intuition is usually right.
Seems to me you have a good idea what you are doing. Better than the vet is a bad sign. I hope he perks up for you soon.
The first thing that popped into my head was don't let him get too addicted to the waxworms. Fussy eating has been a problem with my Veiled and i partly blame the waxworms. If he was seeming healthy I would say let him hunger strike until he eats crickets again. As it stands I do think vet opinion would be worth having before trying that..........

 

[vette4life04]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male Jackson, had about 2 months, unsure of age, maybe 5-6 months old. been in the cage since i got him
Handling - currently daily since i have to administer him his meds and food.
Feeding - mostly sticking with waxworms, but i also have been giving him some small crickets, and meal worms. ive been hand feeding him about 3-4 wax worms a day.
Supplements - I use Reptivite with D3 been giving it to him every other day or so....
Watering - i have a Monsoon rainfall system that sprays for 20 seconds every hour, plus i have a dripper that drips all day long. i dont exactly see him drinking mostly because ive been helping him drink by putting water on his face after hand feeding him.
Fecal Description - not really sure of the last time i saw any fecal mater in the cage, whether thats because it falls in the potted plant material or what.
History - Currently getting over a case of mouth rot.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - 30x16x16 screen cage, with a shower curtain on 3 of the sides to help with humidity control.
Lighting - Reptisun 5.0 bulb, with a regular 60w incadessent bulb, on from 8:00 am to 9:00 pm
Temperature - top of the cage ranges from 75-85 degrees, bottom of the cage is about 80 degress. usually drops about 10 degrees at night. measured with a standard analog gauge.
Humidity - bottom of the cage is 80-95% and the top of the cage is about 60-80% i use a fogger to help increase the humidity, as well as covering 3 sides with a shower curtain. I also just use a calibrated analog meter. Plants - I have a benjamin ficus in there as well as some non-toxic smaller flowering plants that are just starting to sprout.
Placement - The cage is located in our loft, and its not directly under any are vents or anything but in a high traffic area, close to the top of the stairs. The top of the cage is about 5 feet above the floor.
Location - We live in whats considered the high desert (Victorville) of California. relatively dry area.

Current Problem - please refer to the first post.

 

[vette4life04]

i do have some fake plants from a previous chameleon that didnt live... so maybe ill wash those up and attach them to the top of the cage....

 

[vette4life04]

well so far, my jackson seems to be doing ok.... although he still keeps his left eye closed.... today i gave him his meds, but i noticed as im trying to hold his head still and get his mouth to open that maybe i pushed on his eye a bit... maybe the cause?? i hope that it gets better. Today i did notice he opened his eye all the way... but most of the time it appears that it has it just open a little bit, he moves his eye normally, and appears to focus on me with it... so i dunno... but today he ate quite a bit... about 4 meal worms and a couple of wax worms.... i need to get some crickets, but its almost impossible to hand feed those to him... but i dunno, seems like my pet shop is always out... ill see what i can do.

Oh, i also found some fecal matter last night in his plant pot... i am kind of concerned, because it appeared to be just a bunch of undigested wax worms... can anyone shed some light on this?? am i over feeding him maybe? please help! just looking for some info if anyone has some please! Thanks!!

 

[Elizadolots]

Hi! I think you are overdoing the D3.....as long as you have a good UVB light (which you do), you really don't want to give D3 too often. For a Jackson's I would say the maximum is 2x per month. I think a strong case could be made for once a month.

You need to get calcium without D3. Call around to the pet/reptile stores around and see if you can find it locally. You might need to order it online. As a stop gap, you can buy a bird cuttlebone (I can get those in my grocery store!) and grind that up.

I think you want to look at other food options...can you hand feed him crickets or roaches?

 

[DavidBuchan]

Hi! I think you are overdoing the D3.....as long as you have a good UVB light (which you do), you really don't want to give D3 too often. For a Jackson's I would say the maximum is 2x per month. I think a strong case could be made for once a month.

You need to get calcium without D3. Call around to the pet/reptile stores around and see if you can find it locally. You might need to order it online. As a stop gap, you can buy a bird cuttlebone (I can get those in my grocery store!) and grind that up.

I think you want to look at other food options...can you hand feed him crickets or roaches?

Definitely agree about the calcium - Jacksons are very sensitive to over-supplementation. Waxworms are much too fatty to use them as his only food. If you can order some silkworms online that would be much better. Crickets or roaches are the cheaper/ easier option.

 

[vette4life04]

ok ill head over to my local pet store and try to get some reg. calcium... not exactly sure where i can get roaches small enough for him to eat.... hes not very big yet.... but thanks for the tips... is it possible to have to high of a humidity level in his cage?

 

[Elizadolots]

Again, if you can't find the calcium without D3 buy a cuttlebone and grind it up really fine.

Anything is possible, but it would be difficult to get the humidity too high for Jackson's.

 

[vette4life04]

That's what I did. Bought a turtle cuttle bone. ill use that... Ok, I didn't think so, but wamted to make sure.... How long does mouth rot typically last? I've been giving him .1 cc of bytril for the last week... Just wondering how long I need to give that to him. Also, any tips on keeping crickets in his food bowl?