New Jackson chameleon owner.

JLSPLINTER

New Member
Hi I saw a male chameleon on a Petco store here in Puerto Rico and wanted to have one. I fallowed the sales man instructions and bought a chameleon kit that they had in the store with a 18x18x36 cage and prepared the housing but after that I started to look for care videos on youtube and most of them says that Jacksons should have a room temp on the 70F range and drops to 50 during the nights. That worries me because here the normal temp is always over 80F. In the las few days it has been between 85 and 89. Any ideas on what should I do to extend his life?
Don't know why they sell those creature in a place that the temp is way off their normal habitat. I definitively can't have air conditioning on all the time just to keep the temp low.

I was thinking off putting the cage outside with my plants. The place has a shade screen that block 30% of the sun and misters that go off 4 times a day for 5 minutes. That may keep the temp low, but humidity will be high almost all day.

Again any ideas are very welcome.

1 last question: If I take him outside, should I keep the lights on? I guess it will get the heat and rays from the sun...
 
You definitely have some challenges to meet his needs.
Outdoors if he can get direct sunlight in the morning daily while it is still cooler you will not need lights. Afternoon sun will be too hot. You will also not need to give a supplement with D3 if he gets direct sunlight. He will still need plain calcium twice a week and a vitamin supplement monthly.
He will do better the cooler you can make his his night time temps. If you air-condition at night then roll him inside this will also prevent ants or rats getting in his cage at night. You can also put ice/cold packs on the top of his screen cage at night so the cold from them descends over his usual sleeping spot. He doesn't need to go down to 50˚F at night, 60˚F would be great, 65˚F might do if the best you can do is 72˚F then he probably won't live as long as he could (5-6yrs).
Humidity is going to be an issue during the day. People here in California use a lot of misting to cool their outdoor chameleons but the humidity is lower to start. Hopefully good ventilation and natural sunlight will make up the difference. High day time humidity only needs to be in the 40-50% range and night time can be best in the 90-100% range. Excessive daytime humidity can lead to bacterial infections.
Make sure his cage has lots of live plants so he has spots to hide from the sun as needed and regulate his temperature.
 
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