New to the group, thanks for the add

[Chimney]

I'm Chimney, mommy's new Jackson's Chameleon, pleased to meet you.

Mom says I'm her first, so she's got loads of questions, cuz she wants to take great care of me and make sure I'm living my best life.

He's a couple pics of the house and accouterments that she got for me. They look pretty good, but mom's just wanting to make sure all the timers on my lights and foggers are set right and that she's got the sensors in the right spots.

Any help or advice would be great. Thank you in advance!

 

[kinyonga]

Welcome to the forum and the world of chameleons!

Nice looking little chameleon!

I'm sure you want the best for him...so can you answer the questions in the following please...also...I'm going to tag some people who keep jacksons... @JacksJill @Mendez @Kaizen

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

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Please Note:
The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
Photos can be very helpful.

 

[Lindasjackson]

Hi there and welcome! That’s a handsome Jackson’s you have there! It would be great if you can answer the questions in the form Kinyonga posted for you. Then one of the people mentioned can go over your set up and care with you. do you run your fogger during the day or only at night? It really only needs to be run at night to Give your guy the high humidity he needs. Also make sure you give him the temp drop into the low 60s or 50s that he needs at night. If you run a fogger when temps are in the 70s it creates warm fog and that’s a recipe for an upper expiratory infection. I can see you have a dual light fixture. Do you also have a long linear t5ho fixture with either an Arcadia 6% or reptisun 5.0 uvb light? That is what you need. The compact uvb bulbs aren’t effective more that 2-3 inches from the bulb. The long linear uvb needs to be 8-9 inches above the basking branch. You could use more foliage cover. I recommend a central tree with other plants around it. That way your Cham can hide and it makes them feel more secure. You want a live tree and plants because they help with humidity and chams like them better because it’s what they’re used to. The carpet in the bottom should be taken out as it will collect bacteria etc. you want a bare bottom in your cage so it’s easily cleaned as needed. No water dish is needed, again it will just collect poop etc and breed bacteria. Lots more branches of differing diameters going horizontally would be awesome as well to give your guy places to walk and explore. I go out to the fields near my house where there are trees and collect branches there and then I wash them with dish soap and water and allow to dry then place them in my cage. These are just some suggestions from the things I see so far with your cage. I also have a Jackson’s Cham and I love watching these guys! They’re so cool!

 

[MissSkittles]

Welcome Chimney and Chimney’s mom! Very happy to have you here.

 

[Chimney]

Holy crap! Thanks for all the quick responses! I'll try to get all the answers I can for now, more when I get home from work.

Someone mentioned having a dual light fixture plus a longer bulb style one. Yes, we do have that on the top of the enclosure.

Your Chameleon - Chimney is a make jackson's, not sure if exact age, we were told juvenile.
How long has it been in your care? About 3 months
How often do you handle your chameleon? I try to handle him at least a few minutes every day, and we give him some free roaming time in a coffee plant we have in a very large pot in the living room.
What are you feeding your cham? Live crickets dusted with calcium powder, about 6-8 every other day, otherwise they just go around in there until they die.
How are you gut-loading your feeders? Cricket food that we bought with them and pieces of fresh fruit.
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Unsure
Watering - we have a bubbler going 24/7 and must him 3-4 times a day. His reptifogger is on a routine (easy to set up with Alexa and a smart plug) so that it runs for an hours 4 times a day.
What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist?
Do you see your chameleon drinking? I've seen him living the leaves a few times, but not many.
Fecal Description - little brown/greenish poops and a white urate (that's what my wife calls it). Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? IDK
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - 2'x2'x4' high mesh enclosure that I put plastic panels on the outside to hold in moisture because we couldn't keep it humid enough. It's ReptiZoo brand cage
Lighting - Reptizoo 24" light with the T5 bulb. And the dual bulb setup in the picture with basking lamp and USB bulbs. All lights are on 7am-7pm schedule.
Temperature - we try to maintain mid-70's. Our temp/hygrometer only has the one probe for each, so we can't tell what it is at different levels. What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp?
How do you measure these temps? Combined temp/humidity meter
Humidity - trying to maintain 60+% humidity via the fogger schedule and misting.
Plants - no live plants right now. Just a small orchid i got for the wife for valentine's day, but pretty sure that's already dead.
Placement - located in corner of living room, not under our in the path of any fans.
His cage is 4 foot tall, sitting on nightstand about 2 foot tall, so to is about 6 foot from floor.
Location - St. Louis area

Current Problem - Just looking for any pointers, advice or nudges in the right direction towards making his enclosure the best little kingdom he can have and be healthy and enjoy life.

One bad part: he does occasionally get barked at by one of our Great Danes that I think confuses him with the frogs she eats in the yard.

Once again, thank you all for the responses.

 

[Lindasjackson]

Did you see my advice above? Please take note about when to use the fogger and the humidity levels you need. You really need a night time temp drop into the low 60s or even the mid 50s. This allows your Cham good deep sleep which they need. Your humidity should be 80-100% at night as well. jacksons Actually absorb water through their lungs this way while they’re sleeping. During the day the temp should be mid 70s with the basking spot being around 79. Humidity during the day should be 30-50%. You can get temp/humidity monitors that have probes that you can put in different levels of your cage that give you constant read outs. They’re fairly inexpensive on Amazon. I have 3 of them. i have the temp probe of one of them zip tied to the basking branch in my cage to make sure the temp doesn’t get too high. As for supplements, you’ll need a plain calcium to dust your insects 2-3 feedings per week. I use reptical NO D3. Then you’ll need a multivitamin for dusting once per month. I use the reptivite with D3 because you also need D3 Once a month. You want your insects to look slightly dusty, no powdered donuts look, that’s too much.

 

[Lindasjackson]

You should be gutloading your insects with fresh veggies like beet greens, carrots, squash etc. there’s a safe foods list for gut loading feeder insects but I’m not sure how to post it but perhaps @Mendez or @JacksJill can do that. There’s also safe plants list for plants you can use in your enclosure but I don’t know where to find that at the moment either. Perhaps they can post that as well. It’s not a good idea to handle your Cham. It really stresses them out.

 

[MissSkittles]

Here you go.

 

[Lindasjackson]

Here you go.
View attachment 322354View attachment 322355

Thank you so much @MissSkittles