New Jackson chameleon died looking for advice.

[Gloriousone]

Hello guys I recently purchased a male rainbow Jackson chameleon from underground reptile in Florida. I'm located in Pennsylvania got the little guy overnighted 3 days ago. Unfortunately today he seems to have passed away. He was moving around fine this morning from Branch to branch and a few hours later I seen him laying on the bottom of the terrarium stiff as a board but still brightly colored, I currently have him in a bowl of warm water in front of his basking light, but I don't see him coming back. This is the second company that I purchased one from this last week the other one came from California and was DOA.

I done my research and purchased all the needed accessories , but I'm not sure if I did something wrong or if it was just too stressed from the travel and new environment or was in poor health . But I do want to try again with another chameleon Maybe a different type I used to have a veiled years ago that lived for years but wanted a Jackson .

I attached photos of my terrarium setup and of the chameleon.

I got a glass terrarium 36x18x36 it has the two glass swing doors in the front and a ventilated lid.

I used a Reptisun hood T5 HO with a 5.0 UVA UVB light and a 75 watt heat bulb with UVA as well for his basking lamp

I also have a automatic mister I have it set to go off for 5 minutes every 6 hours . I have a thermometer hydrometer and it's digital the temperature is usually mid 80s during the day and high 70s at night , the humidity stays around 75 to 80 and goes up at night around 85.

As far as what's inside the enclosure I have jungle mix bedding with Galapagos green moss and a few live plants pathos and a fern I also have isopods in there. I used some tree branches for climbing.

I only had this guy for 3 days but I gave him some gut loaded crickets and I seen him eat a few of them the first day. I put about three crickets in there and he ate them and then two days later I put three more in there and he tried to capture a few of them but couldn't so they've been alive in the enclosure for about a day now. I fed the Crickets Castaway Organics insect load and also fluckers Cricket quencher but I also misted their enclosure as well just for the extra water. I also put some apple and banana in with the crickets.

I did see him urinate the white substance a couple times the first and second day and his fecal matter was a brownish sludge.

So my question is now what do I need to do to better my enclosure and if you guys have any advice where to purchase. I would prefer something shipped to my home as it's easier though some may be against that. Neither one of the places I ordered from even with the Dead on Arrival will not refund me so I don't want to go through that again either as I'm already out quite a bit of money due to the unfortunate loss of two chameleons. Thanks guys.

 

[MissSkittles]

I’m so very sorry for all the loss that you’ve had in such a short amount of time. I don’t know Jackson’s care very well, but I do see some issues with your husbandry…but I doubt you hadn’t had him long enough to cause him to pass. I can definitely tell you that Underground Reptile has earned their very poor reputation here on the forum. Try doing a search of their name and you’ll see that too many others share a story similar to yours. Honestly, you’d be better off buying a chameleon from Petco than UR. If you are looking to try again, you’ll need to completely and thoroughly sanitize and/or replace everything as you have no idea if the poor little jackson’s had parasites. I’m asking @elizaann2 to help you with Jackson’s husbandry and perhaps she knows of a reliable source for the breed. The forum sponsors are wonderful breeders who work hard to maintain their solid reputations, but I don’t know if they have Jackson’s.

 

[JACKO ChaMELeon]

Underground Reptile is garbage, get your money back from them and buy from a good breeder.

 

[Gloriousone]

I’m so very sorry for all the loss that you’ve had in such a short amount of time. I don’t know Jackson’s care very well, but I do see some issues with your husbandry…but I doubt you hadn’t had him long enough to cause him to pass. I can definitely tell you that Underground Reptile has earned their very poor reputation here on the forum. Try doing a search of their name and you’ll see that too many others share a story similar to yours. Honestly, you’d be better off buying a chameleon from Petco than UR. If you are looking to try again, you’ll need to completely and thoroughly sanitize and/or replace everything as you have no idea if the poor little jackson’s had parasites. I’m asking @elizaann2 to help you with Jackson’s husbandry and perhaps she knows of a reliable source for the breed. The forum sponsors are wonderful breeders who work hard to maintain their solid reputations, but I don’t know if they have Jackson’s.

Thank you for your reply. Yes I made the unfortunate mistake twice from going with what shows up in the Google search results as a good establishment. The first one I purchased from was backwater reptiles that showed up DOA and even after following their policy of contacting them right after signing for the chameleon and sending them pictures of the deceased they refused to replace or refund. As far as underground reptile they did just contact me back and offered to send me a replacement if I pay shipping. What places do you recommend that would ship to my home? Also please let me know what's wrong with my enclosure, I only want to make it the best it can be. Thank you

 

[Gloriousone]

Underground Reptile is garbage, get your money back from them and buy from a good breeder.

Thank you for your reply. Who do you recommend? And any advice for my setup?

 

[Gloriousone]

Thank you for your reply. Yes I made the unfortunate mistake twice from going with what shows up in the Google search results as a good establishment. The first one I purchased from was backwater reptiles that showed up DOA and even after following their policy of contacting them right after signing for the chameleon and sending them pictures of the deceased they refused to replace or refund. As far as underground reptile they did just contact me back and offered to send me a replacement if I pay shipping. What places do you recommend that would ship to my home? Also please let me know what's wrong with my enclosure, I only want to make it the best it can be. And you're saying I need to get rid of all my plants and bedding? Thank you

 

[BleuSaphir]

Their source is field collected. He might have parasites of some sort. They are Montane, so extra attention to temperature should be looked into. They don't want it too hot. I would have planted a house plant shrub of ficus or any suitable live plant. Need more cover and help with humidity and bring micro climate of cooler areas to seek...
----
I stand corrected, Farm bred.

 

[Gloriousone]

Their source is field collected. He might have parasites of some sort. They are Montane, so extra attention to temperature should be looked into. They don't want it too hot. I would have planted a house plant shrub of ficus or any suitable live plant. Need more cover and help with humidity and bring mice climate of cooler areas to seek...
----
I stand corrected, Farm bred.

They told me they bred them locally so I don't know. Is there a way for me to tell if it had parasites? I would like to preserve the plants and the isopods I didn't want to have to destroy everything else but if I have to. You're saying I should get a ficus for more shade, I bought the ivy plants but it's going to take them a while to grow up. I have like four and a half inch deep soil for the plants in there right now. But yeah whatever plants you think I should get and where to place them. I just set all this up and I know it looks barren with the branches. Thanks for the advice

 

[BleuSaphir]

They told me they bred them locally so I don't know. Is there a way for me to tell if it had parasites? I would like to preserve the plants and the isopods I didn't want to have to destroy everything else but if I have to. You're saying I should get a ficus for more shade, I bought the ivy plants but it's going to take them a while to grow up. I have like four and a half inch deep soil for the plants in there right now. But yeah whatever plants you think I should get and where to place them. I just set all this up and I know it looks barren with the branches. Thanks for the advice

Only way to know of parasites, is collecting fecal matter and give it to the vet.

They are bred mass produce somewhere. Perhaps not locally.

 

[Gloriousone]

Only way to know of parasites, is collecting fecal matter and give it to the vet.

They are bred mass produce somewhere. Perhaps not locally.

I'll look into some better plants for shade, Is a 75watt for basking, ok? is 100watt to much? Its 85.6 with 80 Humidity right now 5pm in the day. I tried to get information from Underground before I purchased and explained my setup and they said it was perfect and then again after contacting them today about the death and they said the same thing and offered me no advice and wouldn't tell me the setup conditions of theirs so I could compare, all I got was just shit happens... So hard to get good information from these places. Any place you recommend purchasing from? Thank you for your help!

 

[BleuSaphir]

I'll look into some better plants for shade, Is a 75watt for basking, ok? is 100watt to much? Its 85.6 with 80 Humidity right now 5pm in the day. I tried to get information from Underground before I purchased and explained my setup and they said it was perfect and then again after contacting them today about the death and they said the same thing and offered me no advice and wouldn't tell me the setup conditions of theirs so I could compare, all I got was just shit happens... So hard to get good information from these places. Any place you recommend purchasing from? Thank you for your help!

I do not own this species. I hope someone can chime in for suitable choice of wattage for lights.

 

[Beppo]

Hi there, I’m so sorry for what happen to you, I believe some already tagged @elizaann2 but you can also check out the link below for the chameleon academy as he has a ton about Jackson’s

https://chameleonacademy.com/the-jacksons-chameleon-trioceros-jacksonii/

 

[GrannyK]

I don’t know Jackson’s very well but that temperature over 80 could have been what did it possibly so quickly. They are very heat sensitive I think and max out around 76-78 I believe. With it being very small that extreme heat may have been too much.
I’m so sorry about your experiences so far. They capture our hearts quickly.

Please read up on chameleon academy, it is a wonderful resource!

 

[BleuSaphir]

I would opt maybe like 65 w light. Or don’t bother proving heat light if room can stay in the 70’s range.

 

[Gloriousone]

I would opt maybe like 65 w light. Or don’t bother proving heat light if room can stay in the 70’s range.

He was definitely basking in the 75 W even at that temperature. But yeah I'd say the room stays about 70ish.

 

[Gloriousone]

I don’t know Jackson’s very well but that temperature over 80 could have been what did it possibly so quickly. They are very heat sensitive I think and max out around 76-78 I believe. With it being very small that extreme heat may have been too much.
I’m so sorry about your experiences so far. They capture our hearts quickly.

Please read up on chameleon academy, it is a wonderful resource!

Before I purchased I did the research on the temperature, most of the things I was reading said low to mid 80s during the day in the hotspot, the thermometer is behind where basking light sits, so I imagine it would be a bit cooler everywhere else, also in the 70s at night, the humidity at night needs to be about 100%, I couldn't get the humidity past the high '80s at night and it stayed around the high 70s to the '80s during the day. And I think the humidity needs to be lower for them during the day at like the 50 60%, so I'm pretty high with the humidity during the day. This is just going by one line stuff I read. But I can't think of what else I could have done wrong. I'll check out the information thanks!

 

[Gloriousone]

I have a fern and pathos in there right now, someone told me to get a ficus, but I'm reading that they give off sap in the leaves like an irritate the chameleon's eyes, is there any other plants recommended? I'm reading all kinds of different people's experiences with different plants online and it's going back and forth I don't see anybody guaranteeing anything LOL thanks

 

[MissSkittles]

They told me they bred them locally so I don't know. Is there a way for me to tell if it had parasites? I would like to preserve the plants and the isopods I didn't want to have to destroy everything else but if I have to. You're saying I should get a ficus for more shade, I bought the ivy plants but it's going to take them a while to grow up. I have like four and a half inch deep soil for the plants in there right now. But yeah whatever plants you think I should get and where to place them. I just set all this up and I know it looks barren with the branches. Thanks for the advice

You don’t have to destroy anything…you just shouldn’t use it again for any animal. I’m not even really thrilled with the design of that enclosure. I’m not seeing ventilation for the chimney effect, which is essential with glass and any fully enclosed. While heat and high humidity greatly increase risks for respiratory infection, lack of adequate ventilation will also. Unless you have super low humidity like a desert, using that enclosure fully planted as you have it is not at all good. I don’t know Jackson’s husbandry parameters without looking them up, but I do recall that they are very similar to veileds with the biggest exceptions being night time they must have a significant temp drop and humidity boost and supplements. I think daytime humidity should be maybe 30-50% and temps of 80-82. They are more sensitive to incorrect husbandry. I most definitely see the aesthetic of your current enclosure and imagine how gorgeous it will be once grown in. I just don’t think it would be so great to put a chameleon in there. Maybe a more humidity loving species, like certain geckos or frogs. You could even set it up as just a big natural terrarium with just plants and clean up crew. I have to ask as I can’t see one - do you have a drainage layer set up and a way to remove excess water? You’ve been given links to Chameleon Academy, who has a great section on Jackson’s husbandry.
Now with having said all of that, you bought very sensitive animals from perhaps the two worst places you could have. Underground and Backwater have caused lots of grief and I don’t understand how they are even still in business. I can’t recall one person having a good experience from them. You had no idea though.
We can and will help you however we can in trying again. @elizaann2 has already been tagged and she will be such a big help to you as she know’s and has Jackson’s. In the meantime, do check out Chameleon Academy…there’s tons of info there.

 

[GrannyK]

I use umbrella tree for a main plant, then pothos mostly, dracena (i think it’s called).

 

[Gloriousone]

You don’t have to destroy anything…you just shouldn’t use it again for any animal. I’m not even really thrilled with the design of that enclosure. I’m not seeing ventilation for the chimney effect, which is essential with glass and any fully enclosed. While heat and high humidity greatly increase risks for respiratory infection, lack of adequate ventilation will also. Unless you have super low humidity like a desert, using that enclosure fully planted as you have it is not at all good. I don’t know Jackson’s husbandry parameters without looking them up, but I do recall that they are very similar to veileds with the biggest exceptions being night time they must have a significant temp drop and humidity boost and supplements. I think daytime humidity should be maybe 30-50% and temps of 80-82. They are more sensitive to incorrect husbandry. I most definitely see the aesthetic of your current enclosure and imagine how gorgeous it will be once grown in. I just don’t think it would be so great to put a chameleon in there. Maybe a more humidity loving species, like certain geckos or frogs. You could even set it up as just a big natural terrarium with just plants and clean up crew. I have to ask as I can’t see one - do you have a drainage layer set up and a way to remove excess water? You’ve been given links to Chameleon Academy, who has a great section on Jackson’s husbandry.
Now with having said all of that, you bought very sensitive animals from perhaps the two worst places you could have. Underground and Backwater have caused lots of grief and I don’t understand how they are even still in business. I can’t recall one person having a good experience from them. You had no idea though.
We can and will help you however we can in trying again. @elizaann2 has already been tagged and she will be such a big help to you as she know’s and has Jackson’s. In the meantime, do check out Chameleon Academy…there’s tons of info there.

REPTI ZOO Large Reptile Terrarium, Vertical Reptile Tank, Wide & Tall Chameleon Cage with Top Screen Ventilation (36" W X 18" D X 36" H (Glass)) https://a.co/d/hSzwXZN

That's the exact terrarium that I have. The top is a screen cover for ventilation. Below the doors at the bottom there's a water line area where it holds water, above that there is small openings where the glass connects which also could be ventilating, but the Tank's not completely enclosed without any type of ventilation. As far as drainage all I have in there is the jungle mix bedding and the Moss that was recommended to hold the moisture. Like I said I'm a novice and I'm trying to learn. I don't see how this enclosure wouldn't work and I appreciate any help in getting it functioning better. I don't want tree frogs, I want a chameleon thanks