sick baby jacksons?

[rscftw]

* Your Chameleon - 2 jacksons, about 1 1\2 weeks old maybe 2 weeks..
* Handling - when i change the bottom out
* Feeding - feeding them pinheads.. as much as they want.
* Supplements - reptical and vitamins..
* Watering - fogger, mister and no i never get enough time to see if they are drinking.
* Fecal Description - black and white poo, no fecal exam
* History - none, havent had them but a week or so..


Cage Info:

* Cage Type - 10 gallon glass.
* Lighting - uvb tube bulb... 75 watt heat bulb
* Temperature - 85 in basking spot and lower in other places
* Humidity - not sure.. i use a fogger and mist 2-4 times a day
* Plants - no
* Placement - they are in a 10 gallon, they are about 1 1\2 weeks old.
* Location - eastern kentucky


Current Problem -they are laying around with there eyes closed and look weak.

 

[bigcappa]

Can you post any pics? Baby Jacksons, esp that young, can be very hard to keep. I noticed you have an aquarium, baby jacksons need a lot of air flow. If you have something available to move them to that would get more airflow could help. How are the they acting, are they staying away from the heat source? If so temps could be too high, it's easy for temps to be to high in such a little enclosure. 75 watts seems a lil high, do you give them a 12 on and 12 off light cycle?

 

[Elizadolots]

85 is probably too warm. Jackson's are mountain chameleons that don't really thrive in high heat. I'd bump that back to no more than 80.

 

[jdog1027]

I would lose the 75watt bulb on a 10 gallon aquarium. That is going to be a little too hot for them, especially if you don't have any plants in their enclosure as you mentioned. The plants will give them a place to escape from the radiant energy that bulb will produce. It will also help with humidity and provide some natural surface area for water droplets to form. I've seen people on here who have had success with keeping babies in aquariums, but I choose to go screen with all of my chameleons. If your providing the right amount of water/hydration for baby Jacksons, that is going to create a problem with drainage in an aquarium that can lead to bacterial growth, mold etc. Be careful with supplements with Jacksons and any other montane species of chameleons. I am VERY reserved about supplementing mine. I give mine Sticky Tongue Farms Miner-all O with no D3 once every 6th feeding. The key is providing nutritious feeders. I give my crickets turnip greens every day and a dry gutload I make that contains wheat bran, spirulina, brewers yeast and bee pollen as the core ingredients. The turnip greens will help provide calcium and the spirulina is a very good source of protien. Both of those are important for growing babies. I also give the crickets apple and carrot, but I only give them carrot once or twice a week. A good gutload is important for all chameleons but I am very particular about what my montanes get because of the dangers of over supplementing them. I like to go natural.

I would also recommend getting some fruit fly cultures. They are very good for baby Jacksons. They are very easy to maintain and require almost no work. I see you have a UVB bulb- good deal. Be sure it is a 5.0 UVB bulb. The fogger is a good addition for Jacksons, as they come from high elevations were they enjoy high humidity. Don't let the humidity get below about 50%. The high elevation they naturally occur in experiences cooler temperatures as well. Don't let them get any warmer than 80F at the most in the basking area, but I would recommend the ambient temperature in the rest of the cage stay in the mid to lower 70s. When they get a little larger and have reached the point that I call 'well-started', you can let the basking area reach slightly higher temps, but I still only let all of my Jacksons basking areas get no warmer than 83-85F. If they are displaying an extremely light ash grey coloration, they are more than likely too hot. They should stay a medium to dark grey with lighter crossbands. Here are a couple of threads I have put up in the past showing my baby Jacksons cage set up. Hope this helps and hope they get better. You have observed them eating? I think getting yourself a good screened cage is the most important thing you could change, as well as getting some plants. Good luck.

Some time line photos of some of my babies,...
https://www.chameleonforums.com/baby-jacksons-growth-59613/

Cage set up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OPIWMtPA5c