New Jackson Chameleon Owners.

[TonynJanee Henderson]

I got Rex-a-Million for Christmas last year. We love his handsome butt soo much and are trying to do what needs to be done to keep him healthy and looking for all the advise we can find. We JUST watched Jdog1027 video and fear we are only doing 20% of what we should. At the pet store we got him told us to get the glass cage with screen top for him. We did not ask his age when we bought him, judging from what we have researched he is approx. 8-10 months old. We have the bendable vine and some fake plants in the cage which he rarely visits. We are not able to get the heat above 72 without increasing it to high 80's (which we learned the hard way, is too hot). Any advice you can give us would be GREATLY appreciated, as we love this lil guy and wanna see him live for as long as possible. In our area there has been a cricket shortage, and at times we have seen his ribs. We have purchased mealworms several times and put them out for him, he is not interested. The humidity however WE CAN NOT GET ON POINT..... sad for our baby! Thinking we are bad parents, without trying to neglect him I FEAR WE ARE!!!!

PLEASE HELP US!

 

[ChamHoudini]

Hi and welcome to the forums. I am sorry to hear you are having some trouble with your chameleon. If you can fill this out https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/ it will let us know what you might need some help with.

Also here is a video regarding jackson chameleons from a forum member
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKTbUaOQ0aA

 

[pigglett79]

Jacksons need high humidity. We used a walgreens cool mist humidifier that we modified to pipe it in to the cage. You can Google diy fogger for ideas. We also mist 4 times a day with a mist king that has been set up as a rain nozzle. 15 minute for the first two, then 10 then 5. Ours also loves a wide variety of feeders. He gets picky. He loves blue bottle flies, silk worms, horn worms, dubia roaches, crickets etc. We keep his basking temp around 82. He also really loves his little dripper.

 

[Carlton]

I got Rex-a-Million for Christmas last year. We love his handsome butt soo much and are trying to do what needs to be done to keep him healthy and looking for all the advise we can find. We JUST watched Jdog1027 video and fear we are only doing 20% of what we should. At the pet store we got him told us to get the glass cage with screen top for him. We did not ask his age when we bought him, judging from what we have researched he is approx. 8-10 months old. We have the bendable vine and some fake plants in the cage which he rarely visits. We are not able to get the heat above 72 without increasing it to high 80's (which we learned the hard way, is too hot). Any advice you can give us would be GREATLY appreciated, as we love this lil guy and wanna see him live for as long as possible. In our area there has been a cricket shortage, and at times we have seen his ribs. We have purchased mealworms several times and put them out for him, he is not interested. The humidity however WE CAN NOT GET ON POINT..... sad for our baby! Thinking we are bad parents, without trying to neglect him I FEAR WE ARE!!!!

PLEASE HELP US!

One thing I hope you do is rip that pet store a new one because of the poor information they gave you in order get the sale. This causes the death of way too many chameleons! If more customers who realize (many too late) that they were given bad info and useless supplies would go back and complain loud and long maybe more of them would listen.

It is normal to see a cham's ribs somewhat as they move around. Mealworms often don't attract a cham's attention because they don't move much. Chams hunt by sight and movement. Mealworms aren't a good staple feeder anyway so don't really pursue that. Crickets (gutloaded well), cultivated Dubia roaches, some waxworms, fruit flies, houseflies, Zophobas larvae (superworms), silkworms, hornworms (NOT off your tomato bushes!) are much better.

Glass tanks with screen tops are notoriously hard to regulate properly for a cham. They either get too warm overall, too dry, or sit stagnant with too much moisture and no air exchange. And, unless they are HUGE (much larger than the typical tank you can get at that type of pet store) there is no real variety of temps and humidity allowing the cham to thermoregulate itself.

In addition to the link you were already given, check the sticky messages at the top of this forum for "basic husbandry" information. They will help you a lot!

 

[Lovereps]

Welcome to the forum!
Glad you've found it, since there are plenty of knowledgeable people who are willing to help you.
As ChamHoudini said, the best way for us to help is if you cut and paste the questions from
https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/ and add your answers to them.
The more complete your answers are, the better the quality the help can be.

It is very important to get the temperature and humidity into the range that your cham needs and answering the https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/ questions will help us to let you know how to do so. It could be much easier than you might imagine.

For a little added info there is a helpful caresheet to keep on hand:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/jacksons/