Not sure if this is ok

[Jacksonneedshelp]

This is my Jackson's urine. He's been acting up lately. He stoped eating crickets. He used to eat at least 3-4 in the morning and afternoon. He slowly started going down to 1 and now none. I put some meal worms in and he's eating them. We changed his cage to a larger one because he was getting to hot, kept opening his mouth. Thats ok now, now its cooler in the room. But I read that Cameleons go on strike and not want crickets. Is this so? and his pee never looked like this either. His color is realy good and he walks around all day. Just doesnt eat crickets and his urine doesnt look normal.

 

[Cham30]

It looks like from the picture your crickets are under the light in the dish? I would suggest moving that dish where it's shaded and under some cover a little bit. Jackson's hate the heat- so also make sure he's not gaping his mouth any longer. I've done great keeping them at 78 and below. I would also suggest some type of humidifier/fogger on the cooler side. I would try to get him back on crickets as that's a sturdier diet then just meal worms. Keep us posted on his progress!

This is my Jackson's urine. He's been

acting up lately. He stoped eating crickets. He used to eat at least 3-4 in the morning and afternoon. He slowly started going down to 1 and now none. I put some meal worms in and he's eating them. We changed his cage to a larger one because he was getting to hot, kept opening his mouth. Thats ok now, now its cooler in the room. But I read that Cameleons go on strike and not want crickets. Is this so? and his pee never looked like this either. His color is realy good and he walks around all day. Just doesnt eat crickets and his urine doesnt look normal.

 

[Jacksonneedshelp]

we have a cool mist humidifer that we put on a couple times a days next to the cool side of the cage and his water dripper. It's not on a timer, should we have it running all day? Have you see this puddle of urine in your Cameleon's cage? This was found this moring. Thanks for the quick responce

 

[christineacero]

Please fill this out so we can get a good idea of your husbandry. There might be a few reasons why this has happened, or why your Jax is on strike.

http://https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

 

[Cham30]

I unfortunately have not seen it that runny before but I have seen it a little more loose then it should be. I usually see that in ones that are dehydrated and not eating "solid" meals. While a meal worm is food, it's not substantial enough for firm defecation. As for the link- I was unable to open it and check it out, where you able to see it?

 

[christineacero]

sorry! It posted wrong. Try again:

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

 

[Cham30]

Christine- that's an awesome form- thanks for sharing! Jacksonneedshelp- fill that out! You'll get some great feedback!

 

[Jacksonneedshelp]

All About Jackson Husbandry

Your Chameleon - He's a Jackson had him for 4 month now. He's a male that messures over 13 inch with his tail extened
Handling - He doesnt like to be handled he turns dark so we try to not stress him, only to change his cage this week and clean the bottom.
Feeding - He was eating 3-4 crickets in the am afert turning on lights then again around 3:30 when I get home from work 3-4 crickets some meal worms to for a snack on weekends. But now he doesnt want crickets
the crickets eat Oragne Cube by FLUKER's
Supplements - Was dusting crickets every other day with Reptivite with D3
Watering - dripper yes we see him suck on leaves, not had time to actully see him since Saturday
Fecal Description - brown pod looking thing the urine today tho was very wet
not been testing for parisites
History - none
Cage Info:
Cage Type - screen 18x18x36
Lighting - 10.0 usv and 75w Zoo Med
Temperature - cool part of the cage is 70 -75 the basking area 80-87 the highest
Humidity - 40 to 60 when we get home we turn on the cool mist humidifer
Plants - not sure of the name the reptile place sugested it
Placement - His cage is in a room in the corner to open sides then there is a back wall and a side wall at least a foot apart
Location - East Coast Massachusettes

 

[christineacero]

Your Chameleon - He's a Jackson had him for 4 month now. He's a male that messures over 13 inch with his tail extened
Handling - He doesnt like to be handled he turns dark so we try to not stress him, only to change his cage this week and clean the bottom.
Feeding - He was eating 3-4 crickets in the am afert turning on lights then again around 3:30 when I get home from work 3-4 crickets some meal worms to for a snack on weekends. But now he doesnt want crickets
the crickets eat Oragne Cube by FLUKER's
Supplements - Was dusting crickets every other day with Reptivite with D3
Watering - dripper yes we see him suck on leaves, not had time to actully see him since Saturday
Fecal Description - brown pod looking thing the urine today tho was very wet
not been testing for parisites
History - none
Cage Info:
Cage Type - screen 18x18x36
Lighting - 10.0 usv and 75w Zoo Med
Temperature - cool part of the cage is 70 -75 the basking area 80-87 the highest
Humidity - 40 to 60 when we get home we turn on the cool mist humidifer
Plants - not sure of the name the reptile place sugested it
Placement - His cage is in a room in the corner to open sides then there is a back wall and a side wall at least a foot apart
Location - East Coast Massachusettes

Okay there are a few things going on here that should be rectified asap. The Flukers orange cubes are probably the worst gutloads on the market. Stop using them. 2 commercial gutloads that are good are Repashy Bug Burger and Cricket crack. I'd get my hands on one of those as well as supplementing your commercial gutloads with fresh fruits and veggies. sandrachameleon has a wonderful blog on here that goes far in depth of what you should be feeding your feeders. I suggest you check that out for more information.

Your supplements are way off. Jacksons can overdose really easily on supplements so you have to be really careful with what your dosing and how often. Calcium WITHOUT D3 should be given a few times a week, and calcium WITH D3 maybe once or twice a MONTH at the most should be given to jacksons. Also, a multivitamin should be given once or twice a month . DO NOT give calcium WITH D3 that often. This could potentially be the cause of the hunger strike or the runny BMs, among many other things that could go wrong in the future if you continue this supplement schedule.

Jacksons need high humidity, so 40-60% on average is not high enough. I'd look at the range of 60-90%, 60% being the lowest, and 90% spikes throughout the day (after misting). Is he in a glass enclosure or screen? Jacksons should be in a screen cage for optimal airflow, but screencages have a harder time holding the humidity. In that case, tarping off 3 sides should help retain it. I would consider purchasing a misting system to help keep the humidity up. Mistking is a great product, and it really does help if you're not home to mist 3-5x daily. Fill your enclosure with live plants as they also help retain proper moisture levels. I would also maybe consider purchasing a larger terrarium for him. Jacksons love to roam, and need a lot of space. I'd go with a 2'x2'x4" enclosure for optimal room for him. Reptibreeze has a great one, that is relatively inexpensive compared to glass enclosures.

This is a lot of information, I know. But it should help your situation. Take it one step at a time, but I would really start with upping your humidity levels at all costs, as well as fixing your supplement schedule asap. Then work on proper gutloading and then move onto a larger enclosure. Hope this helps!

Christine

 

[christineacero]

Also, check out this caresheet on jacksons chameleons. This has a lot of valuable information:

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/jacksons/

 

[Jacksonneedshelp]

thanks a bunch for all you insite, we stoped the dusting because he stopped eating crickets, but at lunch time I skipped home to check on him and he eat a small cricket for me. I used tweezers to hold the cricket. My son doesnt like me to he said he could damage his toung. But I like it cause I can sneak in with it. We have large crickets some even have wings... gross. We will start with no worms till he starts eating crickets again. The only thing he had so far today was 1 cricket. When we get home we will try again. I hate not seeing him eat. How long do they stay on strike? thanks again for all your help

 

[Jacksonneedshelp]

It looks like from the picture your crickets are under the light in the dish? I would suggest moving that dish where it's shaded and under some cover a little bit. Jackson's hate the heat- so also make sure he's not gaping his mouth any longer. I've done great keeping them at 78 and below. I would also suggest some type of humidifier/fogger on the cooler side. I would try to get him back on crickets as that's a sturdier diet then just meal worms. Keep us posted on his progress!

he eat one today I,m excited

 

[Cait0420]

Okay there are a few things going on here that should be rectified asap. The Flukers orange cubes are probably the worst gutloads on the market. Stop using them. 2 commercial gutloads that are good are Repashy Bug Burger and Cricket crack. I'd get my hands on one of those as well as supplementing your commercial gutloads with fresh fruits and veggies. sandrachameleon has a wonderful blog on here that goes far in depth of what you should be feeding your feeders. I suggest you check that out for more information.

Your supplements are way off. Jacksons can overdose really easily on supplements so you have to be really careful with what your dosing and how often. Calcium WITHOUT D3 should be given a few times a week, and calcium WITH D3 maybe once or twice a MONTH at the most should be given to jacksons. Also, a multivitamin should be given once or twice a month . DO NOT give calcium WITH D3 that often. This could potentially be the cause of the hunger strike or the runny BMs, among many other things that could go wrong in the future if you continue this supplement schedule.

Jacksons need high humidity, so 40-60% on average is not high enough. I'd look at the range of 60-90%, 60% being the lowest, and 90% spikes throughout the day (after misting). Is he in a glass enclosure or screen? Jacksons should be in a screen cage for optimal airflow, but screencages have a harder time holding the humidity. In that case, tarping off 3 sides should help retain it. I would consider purchasing a misting system to help keep the humidity up. Mistking is a great product, and it really does help if you're not home to mist 3-5x daily. Fill your enclosure with live plants as they also help retain proper moisture levels. I would also maybe consider purchasing a larger terrarium for him. Jacksons love to roam, and need a lot of space. I'd go with a 2'x2'x4" enclosure for optimal room for him. Reptibreeze has a great one, that is relatively inexpensive compared to glass enclosures.

This is a lot of information, I know. But it should help your situation. Take it one step at a time, but I would really start with upping your humidity levels at all costs, as well as fixing your supplement schedule asap. Then work on proper gutloading and then move onto a larger enclosure. Hope this helps!

Christine

This is all great information, definitely up the humidity and proper gutloads/supplements

 

[christineacero]

How old is your Jax? If the crickets have wings then they're probably too big for him to eat, which might be the reason he's not eating them. Try 3/8" or 1/2" crickets instead

 

[Jacksonneedshelp]

He's around 8 months of age. and I told my son to get medium crickets so Jax can start eating cricks again. There was one more with out wings and I got him to eat that one too. So he ate 2 today. Those others are too big, I had my son read everything today when he got home from work. Thanks again for all your help. I'll keep in touch on our progress with Jax.

 

[Devokid]

I would highly recommend that you pick up some dubias for him. My Jacksons are all not very fond of crickets, but love dubias and the occasional snail. They are a much better way to go than crickets and meal worms.

 

[christineacero]

He's around 8 months of age. and I told my son to get medium crickets so Jax can start eating cricks again. There was one more with out wings and I got him to eat that one too. So he ate 2 today. Those others are too big, I had my son read everything today when he got home from work. Thanks again for all your help. I'll keep in touch on our progress with Jax.

Yes, please do! I'm glad to help! And if you are not in canada, get some dubias if you can! They're illegal to sell up here so unfortunately my guys haven't been lucky enough to try 'em!