Please help, Newborn Baby Jackson's!

[TJKbeachbum]

To our surprise Patty gave birth this morning to 7 live adorable baby jackson chameleons. I am in tears because they don't want to eat fruit flies and it has been close to 10 hrs without them eating.

Vets just want us to bring them in and collect money, no real answers.

We need to know how to feed them fruit flies successfully without all the flies escaping as well as other various questions.

Please call 847-445-5162 or post advice on the forum.

I am hoping someone can help.

 

[draco11]

They may wait a couple days to start eating. I'd leave a few in there as you may spot one trying to catch one up. Have you separated them out of mom's cage? Pics. of the cuties would be great.
An easy way is to put some moist paper towel on the bottom of a critter keeper with some vines. and keep them round 80-84 deg.

 

[TJKbeachbum]

Hi Draco, yes we have separated them form the parents and we will be keeping them at 80-84 degrees. Thank you for your help any any other advice would be great.

 

[TJKbeachbum]

Should we keep it at 80-84 degrees day and night?

 

[little leaf]

Should we keep it at 80-84 degrees day and night?

congrats on your new babies - it can be very nerve wracking if they are a surprise - so were mine - but they will be 5 mo old on the 23 rd
you want to turn off all the lights at night - they still need the temp drop, and the dark to sleep - to keep the flies in, I used "bridle vale " - you can get it at any fabric shop, its a really fine netted fabric - and you can also offer them pinhead crix - you can order them from our sponsors, or if there happens to a reptile show, you can sometimes find them there - keep alot of live plants in w/ them- it will help with the humidity in the cage
it will be ok you will worry, but it will be ok, and you will so enjoy watching them grow

 

[TJKbeachbum]

Thank you

Thank you sooooo much for giving us Hope, sooooo needed

 

[TJKbeachbum]

What temp should we get to at night?

 

[little leaf]

What temp should we get to at night?

they can go down to the mid 70's - if they are in your house, what ever it is should be fine -

 

[SMCNARY]

I keep mine at a max basking temp of about 82 and down to 70 at night. I like using a tub with a screen top with a frame structure of dowels and artificial plants and watch out for even the pinhead crickets for the first 3 weeks or so as they will bite the baby's at night. Fruit flys are safe and can't hurt them while they are so young. I have some pictures of my neonate tubs posted but if I can help I will be happy to send you some. I have had a 100% success ratio so far with 1 batch at 2 months and another at about 3weeks or so and all are doing well. Good luck and if I can help just let me know!
Steve

 

[Lovereps]

Also good for keeping the fruit flies from wandering is to put a small piece of fruit in the enclosure.
Josh's Frogs has excellent 32 ounce fruit fly cultures---far better than any that I found in local stores.
They have 2 types of wingless fruit flies--Melanogaster and the somewhat larger Hydei.
Your babies can eat both types.http://www.joshsfrogs.com/

I like the extra small size Phoenixworms/Calciworms as feeders, too.

Another suitable enclosure is an Exo Terra terrarium, which is a properly ventilated glass enclosure that can be used for the babies.
What is nice about this enclosure is that you can stick bamboo shish kebab skewers in the foam background, making many horizontal basking sites and also creating a means of climbing from top to bottom.

A plant or two helps to keep the humidity levels suitable with frequent mistings of the enclosure ---NOT the babies themselves.
A humidity and temperature gauge is essential.
The inexpensive electronic ones found at Lowe's, Home Depot, Walmart, etc. are reasonably accurate, in my experience.

Keeping the babies well hydrated, not overheating them and not giving them too much UV while very young are all important.

My 2 month old Jackson's xanth baby has been raised since birth in an Exo Terra terrarium with only an already used for 6 months Reptisun 5.0 bulb as both a basking and UVB source.

He is the sole surprise baby born to a tiny, much too young to have been bred female.
No, I did not breed her and she was supposedly captive bred.

Congrats on the babies!
I hope this has helped.

 

[laurie]

First Congrats. I love babies, even ones I had not expected.

You have been given a lot of advice, and while the advice is different, all are successful methods for raising your babies. You need to determine which you want to use. I know and have used most of them, and am happy to answer questions.

If you have any problems, or are like me, and just need lots of reassurance , we are here. Asking lots of questions will help a lot with this group of tiny jacksons.