Nervous new owner--is he sick?

[Silverlava]

Hello everyone. My boyfriend and I are first time chameleon owners, so we're not sure if this is normal behavior or not. We would greatly appreciate feedback.

We have a male Jackson's chameleon who we purchased last week Wednesday (1/21). Our concern is that he is always sleeping whenever we see him. Day, night, evening, morning, noon, etc, he always seems to just sit in one place at the top most branch of his enclosure. His eyes are closed, but he opens them as soon as he notices you're in the room. However, he seems to go back to sleep shortly after that. Is this something we should be concerned about?

A bit on the specs for him. He is in a 30 x 18 x 36 enclosure that is very dense with foliage for him to hide in. Half the cage is fake plants and the other half is a money tree in a pot with the soil covered by rocks. There is a brand new uvb bulb in a fixture hanging about 8 inches from the top of the cage. The highest branch is about 3 inches from the top of the cage. The temp is 77 in his warm spot and the room temp is 65. We have put small crickets in there and several superworms. We have seen him eat 1 superworm, but have not found any poop to see if that looks normal. We mist the cage (so everything in there is dripping) by hand at 6 am, 4 pm, and 11 pm. We will mist between 6 and 4 if I am able to get home early. I've never seen him drink, so I'm not sure if he is getting anything. We are saving up for a mistking system, but in the meantime we are adding a dipper to get him from 6 to 4. The chameleon is about 5 inches long from nose to butt, not including the tail. We don't known how old he is but would guess a few months.

I've done my best to attach photos of him and his enclosure.

 

[SaintJimmy]

I would just attempt to fatten him up honestly. He looks a tad skinny. But maybe if you just got him he is stressed.

 

[Silverlava]

Any specific way to fatten him up or just stick with crickets and superworms?

 

[kinyonga]

I'm wondering if his basking area is too cool. Try making the basking area in the low eighties and see if that helps. If he continues to keep his eyes shut then he might be sick. Do you have a substrate in the cage?

Can you post a closeup of his head please?
What specific supplements do you use and how often for each?
What do you feed / gutload the insects with?

 

[zlew]

Variety is key as well as gut loading. Forum member sandrachameleon has a great blog about gut loading. As for your misting, how long are you misting him for each time? Dehydration could be contributing to whatever is ailing him. You should mist him until he starts to drink and keep going until he stops, or for at least four minutes, jax need the humidity anyway. Sleeping during the day is a sign of sickness, so as soon as he poops get it straight to the vet for a parasite fecal check. Check for asymmetries and abnormalities on his body, mainly around his mouth, Jacksons are particularly susceptible to mouth-related problems. If you find anything, post a pic.

 

[Montium]

What is your relative humidity in your house? The hand misting may not be long enough. Also what kind of water are you using and what temp is it when you spray. He looks a bit dehydrated to me.

 

[jajeanpierre]

We have a male Jackson's chameleon who we purchased last week Wednesday (1/21). Our concern is that he is always sleeping whenever we see him. Day, night, evening, morning, noon, etc, he always seems to just sit in one place at the top most branch of his enclosure. His eyes are closed, but he opens them as soon as he notices you're in the room. However, he seems to go back to sleep shortly after that. Is this something we should be concerned about?

Yes, closed eyes are indicative of a problem, often a serious problem.

 

[Silverlava]

Update!

Our little Jackson's was visibly drinking water when we misted last time so we misted for an extended amount of time. He is moving around a lot more today, and he went number 2. The color was a healthy white and brown.

He seems to be doing much better now so I think he may have just been a little dehydrated.

Our MistKing system is on its way now and we are going to get some kind of container under his tank for overflow water.

thank you so much for all the replies!

 

[zlew]

Glad to hear he is doing well! Next time he poops, still bring it in for a fecal. It can't hurt, and you can catch something before it becomes a problem.

 

[Silverlava]

One thing We have noticed is he doesn't seem interested in any of the food we offer him.

So far all we have tried is crickets and super worms. he ate one super worm a couple days ago but i haven't seen him eat anything since then.

 

[mvad]

Great news!! Miskings are excellent!!!

 

[junglefries]

A daytime sleeping jacksons NEVER points to good news. Especially one bought from petdumb or pet©°. You will need to address his issues. Figuring it out may not be as easy as fixing it, or vise versa. So many variables. Good luck.