new jackson chameleon questions

[walker297]

hi all!

im new to the forum as well as as owning a chameleon. iwas wondering if anyone could give some insight or just general ideas to getting my jackson acclimated to his cage and new living are in general.

he is a male, about 12" from nose to tail. cage is 18 x 18 x 36 and was reccomend to me by LLL reptile. i also purchased a ficas, vines and fogger to go with the cage along with humdity/ temp gauge.

is there any thing you could reccomend? to help get me started??
any info is greatly apppreciated!
thanks, Sean

 

[millerman6401]

that setup was the same as my first...along with the jacksons....i got all my supplies from lllreptile. just leve em alone and mist his cage for a week...id offer frood the first day but if he doesnt eat just wait he will.

 

[melrito]

Congratulations on your new cham! I have 5 adult jackson chameleons and 12 babies and can say that they're a great species. A good place to get started is the care sheet from FL Chams: http://jacksonschameleoncaresheet.com/. Be sure not to over-supplement this species, as they are prone to get problems from that. I'm sure others do differently, but I supplement my adults once a month with a good calcium with D3 and a multivitamin (I use herptivite). With this species, it is more important that the crickets and other insects you will be feeding them be well gut loaded (fed a highly nutritious diet), as they get their nutrition from these insects. Another important thing to remember with the Jackson's is that as they are a montane species, they do not like very hot temperatures (a basking area of 80-85 degrees and normal room temperature as the ambient temperature is sufficient) and they do really appreciate a good temperature drop at night. Hope this helps!

 

[heartben]

is he captive bred or wild caught? i dont know what to suggest for wild but i thought someone would find that information useful. make sure the information you use is for jacksons because youll find a lot of panther/other cham info that doesnt apply to jacksons. i think thats mainly temp and humidity but i could be wrong.

what do you have for lighting? supplements (calcium/vitamins)? are the gauges analog or digital? you might find some of them sticking on a number or not working very well (although a lot of people use them, im not dissing them - but some people dont like them)

i have a feeling by the time i post this someone will have a better post already up. what kind of forum member would i be if i didnt try though, eh?

oh yeah, he will be better off if you just leave him as alone as possible for a week or so. thats part of the acclimation process, lets him explore and not be so stressed out with you standing there. its hard not to watch but try and give him some space.

what are you going to be using as feeders? just curious.

have a good one! good luck!

 

[Cainschams]

http://chameleonnews.com/Home.html

Here is the home page for the E-Zine. You can find a nice article on Jacksons on the newest edition on the home page. Click past issues for many more awesome articles!

 

[walker297]

thanks you all for the help!!
he is captive bred.
im using crickets and will be sure to gut load them.
im using a dual light set up with a uv builb that was reccomended by joe the asst. manager at LLL reptile in escondido, CA.
analog gauges for now, but with how excited ive been about having this guy, im sure ill be upgrading and redoing everything to keep him happy lol

 

[walker297]

is he captive bred or wild caught? i dont know what to suggest for wild but i thought someone would find that information useful. make sure the information you use is for jacksons because youll find a lot of panther/other cham info that doesnt apply to jacksons. i think thats mainly temp and humidity but i could be wrong.

what do you have for lighting? supplements (calcium/vitamins)? are the gauges analog or digital? you might find some of them sticking on a number or not working very well (although a lot of people use them, im not dissing them - but some people dont like them)

i have a feeling by the time i post this someone will have a better post already up. what kind of forum member would i be if i didnt try though, eh?

oh yeah, he will be better off if you just leave him as alone as possible for a week or so. thats part of the acclimation process, lets him explore and not be so stressed out with you standing there. its hard not to watch but try and give him some space.

what are you going to be using as feeders? just curious.

have a good one! good luck!

thanks for the info about getting him acclimated, its very helpful!!