My chameleon is unhappy?

[IAmTrashPanda]

Hi,
My Jackson chameleon has been relatively gray or light in color for the past few months and I don’t know why. I’ve tried everything to make him happier and hope someone can help me figure it out. But he seems pretty healthy to me (eats, sleeps, drinks, and is active). He should be about a year old now at least and he’s still fairly small, about the base of a thumb to the tip of a pointer finger in length, and he doesn’t look very skinny. He shed a couple months back and eats/ drinks everyday. He’s also very active. I have a long uvb bulb and a dome heat lamp for him. I mist at least twice a day and leave a homemade dripper on when I’m gone. He eats primarily Dubia roaches that I put in a cup for him. He has lots of plants including potted and plastic. He also has a large wooden branch. His substrate is paper towels that I rotate regularly. And for dusting: Cal w/o D3- 2x a week. Cal w/ D3- Once a month. Multivitamins- Once a month. I only ever take him out to get natural UV light or on special occasions (and when I take him outside, he seems to turn the right colors). I have him in a generally secluded area in the house to help him not get as stressed. He hasn’t acted sick, but I just worry because of his coloration. If anyone could help me, that’d be great.

 

[JacksJill]

I can't see any problems in your husbandry description. Will he let you get a picture of him? Both indoors and out for comparison would be helpful.
Has he ever been checked for parasites? A heavy parasite load can slow their growth.

 

[IAmTrashPanda]

Yeah I’ll get two pictures of him ASAP, thanks. And no he hasn’t been checked yet, but I’ll look into it now to make sure.

 

[JacksJill]

Some vets will let you just bring in a sample to get started but if parasites are found then he would need an exam prior to them giving you the prescription. Some will insist on the exam first it depends.
Once I got rid of the pin worms mine put on weight and grew. Jackson's don't fully mature forever a year and a half.
If you want to fillet the how to ask for help form I will see if there is anything else you need to do.
Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------

Please Note:

1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
2. Photos can be very helpful.

 

[IAmTrashPanda]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The Jackson, male, about a year old. Been in my care for about 6 months.
• Handling - I used to handle him more when I first got him, but noticed he wasn’t to fond of it, so now I only really handle him to bring him outside for natural UV.
• Feeding - I feed him Dubia roaches that are gutloaded. He eats about 3-5 a day. I gutload them with potatoes, carrots and broccoli. Sometimes I put some grape in there too.
• Supplements - I use repti-calcium for all of them. Cal w/o D3- 2x a week. Cal w/ D3- Once a month. Multivitamins- Once a month.
• Watering - I hand mist with a misting bottle. I also let a handmade dripper go on while I’m gone. I mist at least 2x a day, sometimes more for about a minute each time (sometimes longer if it looks like Louie starts drinking as I mist). I do see him drinking every once in a while and eat, but I know he doesn’t like me watching him so I try and leave him be.
• Fecal Description - It’s brown in color. And I find some about 2x a week. I immediately get rid of it when I find it. He has not been tested yet.
• History - The store I got him from, he was held in the back, not where the display cases were, I don’t know if that means anything, but that kind of stood out to me.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - XL, Zoomed screen cage.
• Lighting - Both zoomed, for UVB it’s the Terrarium hood, and the dome light heat lamp I believe is 50 watt, I don’t exactly remember. I turn on his lights when when I wake up (around 7-8) and turn them off when I go to sleep (around 10).
• Temperature - Usually nights are from 60-80 here in Texas. I don’t have a cage thermometer, so I just measured what I researched and put the basking lamp about 3 inches above the cage and the highest leaves about 3 inches below the top.
• Humidity - I’ve just been allowing the dripper and my mistings to keep the humidity up, along with my live plants. But I don’t really have a techincal way to measure my humidity right now.
• Plants - I have a hibiscus and a dracaena plant currently.
• Placement - Its located near the corner of my room. I try to keep my window open so it’s bright for Loie during the day. It’s very quiet there and there’s no fans or vents near him. He’s currently ontop of a chest that gives him an extra couple of feet off the floor.
• Location - I’m currently in Texas, which is pretty hot and dry, which is why when I take him out for natural UV I try not to leave Louie out there for too long.

Current Problem - I’m worried about his coloration.

If there’s any clarification you need, feel free to ask.

 

[IAmTrashPanda]

The first image is him in his cage.
The second is him when he first comes outside. (I also noticed that underneath his scales behind the side of the head the skin seems irritated and red, does that mean anything?) Also, he’s a bit dirty in this photo because he got into the planters in his cage.

 

[JacksJill]

I'll put my recommendations in Red

First you don't have the chameleon you think you have or I thought you had anyway. He is normal sized for the species. He is not a jacksonii xantholophus that would weigh 100-130 grams as an adult.
He is a jacksonii jacksonii and is right there in range for his age. He will probably max out at 7 inches tip to tip by the time he is 1-1/2 or 2 50-60 grams.

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The Jackson, male, about a year old. Been in my care for about 6 months.
• Handling - I used to handle him more when I first got him, but noticed he wasn’t to fond of it, so now I only really handle him to bring him outside for natural UV.
• Feeding - I feed him Dubia roaches that are gutloaded. He eats about 3-5 a day. I gutload them with potatoes, carrots and broccoli. Sometimes I put some grape in there too. Your gut load could be better. I would drop white potatoes and severely limit broccoli it is high in goitrogens swap in some items from this list. "Best - These gutloading ingredients are best because they are highest in calcium, low in phosphorus, oxalates and goitrogens. They should be the primary components of your gutload: mustard greens, turnip greens, dandelion leaves, collard greens, escarole lettuce, papaya, watercress and alfalfa.
  Good - These gutloading ingredients are good because they are moderately high in calcium and other vitamins/minerals. They should be used in addition to those from the previous category: sweet potato, carrots, oranges, mango, butternut squash, kale, apples, beet greens, blackberries, bok choy and green beans."
• Supplements - I use repti-calcium for all of them. Cal w/o D3- 2x a week. Cal w/ D3- Once a month. Multivitamins- Once a month.
  Nothing wrong with this but you could try Repashy Calcium plus LoD in place of your multi and D3 supplements and see if it helps his colors.
• Watering - I hand mist with a misting bottle. I also let a handmade dripper go on while I’m gone. I mist at least 2x a day, sometimes more for about a minute each time (sometimes longer if it looks like Louie starts drinking as I mist). I do see him drinking every once in a while and eat, but I know he doesn’t like me watching him so I try and leave him be. A misting system would make this easier for you but it depends on your schedule and if you ever take vacations. I would consider adding an ultrasonic cool mist humidifier directed into the cage at night to get his humidity up to the 80-100% mark as it would be in his home range at night. It would be nice to know if you are around 50% in the daytime.
• Fecal Description - It’s brown in color. And I find some about 2x a week. I immediately get rid of it when I find it. He has not been tested yet. He is likely wild caught so parasites are likely.
• History - The store I got him from, he was held in the back, not where the display cases were, I don’t know if that means anything, but that kind of stood out to me. I don't know if that was good or bad. Maybe they thought he was sick but not being on display was probably better for his stress level. Maybe they knew they had something special.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - XL, Zoomed screen cage.
• Lighting - Both zoomed, for UVB it’s the Terrarium hood, and the dome light heat lamp I believe is 50 watt, I don’t exactly remember. I turn on his lights when when I wake up (around 7-8) and turn them off when I go to sleep (around 10). His lights should be on a 12 on 12 off schedule so he gets enough sleep he is from the equator so the day night cycle is more even for them that it is here for us. I'm confused about your lighting don't terrarium hood use compact florescent bulbs not linear or long bulbs?
• Temperature - Usually nights are from 60-80 here in Texas. I don’t have a cage thermometer, so I just measured what I researched and put the basking lamp about 3 inches above the cage and the highest leaves about 3 inches below the top. A 10-15$ thermometer hygrometer placed mid cage will help you get his levels set more accurately.
• Humidity - I’ve just been allowing the dripper and my mistings to keep the humidity up, along with my live plants. But I don’t really have a techincal way to measure my humidity right now. As above Amazon has a bunch digital is the way to go.
• Plants - I have a hibiscus and a dracaena plant currently. Great choices.
• Placement - Its located near the corner of my room. I try to keep my window open so it’s bright for Loie during the day. It’s very quiet there and there’s no fans or vents near him. He’s currently ontop of a chest that gives him an extra couple of feet off the floor. Great
• Location - I’m currently in Texas, which is pretty hot and dry, which is why when I take him out for natural UV I try not to leave Louie out there for too long. Also good as long as you are careful and it sounds like you are.

Current Problem - I’m worried about his coloration.
I have several of Loie's species. I even have a wild caught that does exactly what he does. He spends most of his time in his patchy colors and is very rarely his nice greens with yellow stripe and blue cheeks. My captive bred males tend to spend more time yellow and green (see my avatar) but they do go splotchy when stressed. I can only suggest getting him up as high as possible in your room and keeping lots of plants in his cage to help him feel secure. The year mark is a stressful time because it is like their puberty and this may pass. Tune up your husbandry, get him dewormed and give him some time he may out grow this.

 

[JacksJill]

You might find this interesting.

• Resource Link - Jackson's In Captivity, by Kent Manchen

 

[IAmTrashPanda]

Thanks a lot. This helps big time and I plan to follow all your suggestions. And I’ll attach a picture of a UVB bulb/ hood like mine, maybe I named it wrong? And as for how long I’m there. I’m a college student right now, so Tuesday’s and Thursday’s I’m gone from 8-5. Then Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Weekends I’m nearby pretty much the whole day.

 

[JacksJill]

That light is fine.