So where am I at on this?

[Solid Snake]

Hey people,

A bit long,
but this is the only erronius bit...

I recently purchased my first reptile
a Jacksons Chameleon
While I had been wanting a reptile, this was a total impulse buy.
Found out how deep a mess I was in when I went home and googled
"Jackson Chameleon"

This site has been great help! Thank you.

Am not having "issues" but would like to ask a couple questions, and have my setup revwied by somone with experience so I can get this right.

Any input on anything below is appreciated...

Your Chameleon -

Male Jackson. Not baby, quite young. Owned for 1 month.
Rostal horn=4mm
Ocular horns=2mm
Total animal length=Steched out when moving limb to limb 20cm


Handling -

Strictly bussiness, three times in the month owned. (I moved after owning him two weeks)

Feeding -

Two to four, 2-4cm crickets a day. Gutloaded with cheerios, and carrot.
I offer a superworm about every other day for variety. He takes it about 50% of the time.
He acts like the superworm tastes better, but I think they are too big and probably hard to digest for him,
even though I select the smaller ones.
At present, this is ALL I have access to.

Supplements -

Rep-Cal Herptivite=Once a week
Rep-Cal Calcium=Every other cricket

Watering -

Distilled only.
Constant fresh drip.
Misted 2-4 times a day. Mostly twice a day.
(My habitat is setup with no substrate, and collects water in the bottom which I leave there to help increase
humidity, this is drained daily as well. The next day the process of collecting the drip/mist starts again.)

Fecal Description -

Not tested.
All feces has looked the same since purchase and has been regular. (about once a day)
I have observed him defecating once. He hung his rear of his perch to one side a bit, extended his leg and let it drop.
Alot of clear liquid, a small white or slightly yellow pellet, a large medium/dark brown pellet, and usually a bit of orangish material(gel?)
(I assume from carrot gutload?)


Cage Info:


Cage Type -

Exo-terra Terrarium: L=25" B=18" H=18"


Lighting -

Main: Reptisun 10.0
He loves it. Stays all up in it. As much as possible,
A red bulb basking, he hates it it seems. Stopped using it.
He was getting a few hours natural light in the mornings since he was by a huge window.
In my new place this is inappropriate, so a tree is being scouted for my balcony.

Temperature -

A dial humidity and temp gauge, as well as an electric that records highs and lows of bolth.
This has been my second biggest problem, its up to 106 F here outside, top level stays about 80-85 F
Bottom at 60-65 F

Humidity -

My main problem.
At top of cage about 40-45%
Bottom of cage 55-75%
I have a constant drip, and let water stand in the bottom of habitat(this is drained daily, and stays about a cm at
deepest, and there is always dry area after misting has evaporated.
Mist= Heated water in a misting bottle, for 3-5 min.
I mist at least twice a day, first about 30min after his light comes on, second about 4 hrs before his night time.
This is for a workday, I usually work a 4 on, 4 off schedule, I work at home on my days off and he gets more attention,
up to 4 mists a day.

Plants -

Two live plants:
A "Moon Valley" Needs little light, and collects water nicely.
A small tree, that I visually examine to be ficus Benjimin, but am actually usure of its actual type. He seems to like this plant but it has quite small branches
so cant get much "use" of it.
His main "perch" is a random brach that had been leftover from the city trimming trees, I dont know what type, but it has been baked,
he epic loves it, it seems to have the perfect branch size range. He only "basks" and sleeps on this.
Fake foliage for reptiles of various types.
Fake vine.

Placement -

Bedroom corner.
I am 5' 10" Mid-cage is almost eye level, his main perches are above my head level.
This is a low traffic area( Yes I just called my bedroom low traffic DX )
There is a vent on the wall about 2-1/2' above his cage. This vent expells a/c to combat the heat issue, is not directed AT the cage at all, but is close to it.

Location -

Amarillo, TX - USA

Ill be getting a humidifyer to increase humidity, and getting a better gutload
setup.

I do have a few direct questions:
Maybe 4 times now Ive witnessed him taking a DEEP breath, realy puffing up his neck, and then he starts moving slowly back in forth and then looks like he is being electrocuted in the most painful way, it looks very violent.
This ends and then immediatly after stopping, there is a sharp jerk to one side, all the while, firm grip on the branch, mouth open. He then goes back to being super happy acting. The first time I thought he was dying, right when he first got home. The other times its happened have all been either moves, or a stessfull situation, and I am thinking hes "just showing off" I couldnt find any other info that sounded applicable, but I would like to clarify what mouth mucus would look like, so I can rule out pnumoninia, he has what looks like saliva IN his mouth when he opens it, but thats it.
I have researched and found nothing helpful...

Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for any thoughts that may have arisen...

 

[jannb]

Extra saliva in the mouth and puffing the chin could be the sings of an RI. How's he doing now?

 

[melric]

When do you notice him doing this? After feeding?

 

[melric]

Just a lot of things I want to point out.

You need a better gutload than cheerios and carrots. Try cricket crack, or a wider variety of veggies.

He will prefer a superworm over a cricket. They taste better.

If his poop is yellow it's not from carrots it's from dehydration. I understand you mist enough to have run off below the cage, but the cage should actually dry out in between mistings.

Your lighting is too much. A 5.0 UVB bulb would suffice. And with an exo terra a very low wattage house bulb would be good for basking. Try a 30 watt for an exo terra. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but basking temps should be about 75 for a Jackson.

Humidity doesn't have to be a constant as long as you're able to reach the higher levels when you mist.

 

[kinyonga]

Gutloading needs improvement IMHO and your supplementing needs some help too. See the rest of my post for information about this.

Glad you stopped using the red light. Is the reptisun a long tube light? A 10 may be too strong for the chameleon....but it might be fine as long as it can move in and out of the light. (BTW...light passing through glass or plastic will not provide UVB.)

IMHO you need to make sure that the air from the air conditioning vent does not blow on the cage. It could give him an RI.

Here's some information that will explain supplements, gutloading and a few other things....
Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.

Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.

A wide variety of insects that have been well fed and gutloaded should be fed to it. At that size you only need to feed it every two or three days. Feed it enough that it doesn't get fat (and, of course, doesn't get thin either).

Since many of the feeder insects we use in captivity have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium). Not sure how to tell you to dust WC insects if that is what you will be doing.

If you also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).

Dusting twice a month as well with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite which has beta carotene.)

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.

Here are some good sites for you to read too...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
If you can't access the sites above that have the word "archive" in you can do it through the WayBackMachine.

 

[melric]

Kinyonga aren't there different dusting rules for Jackson's though?

 

[kinyonga]

I've used that same dusting with Jackson's merus and with Fischer's and a few others...and it seems to be fine. I think its things like prEformed vitamin A and excess D3 that they might be more sensitive to.

 

[Elizadolots]

Maybe 4 times now Ive witnessed him taking a DEEP breath, realy puffing up his neck, and then he starts moving slowly back in forth and then looks like he is being electrocuted in the most painful way, it looks very violent.
This ends and then immediatly after stopping, there is a sharp jerk to one side, all the while, firm grip on the branch, mouth open. He then goes back to being super happy acting. The first time I thought he was dying, right when he first got home. The other times its happened have all been either moves, or a stessfull situation, and I am thinking hes "just showing off" I couldnt find any other info that sounded applicable, but I would like to clarify what mouth mucus would look like, so I can rule out pnumoninia, he has what looks like saliva IN his mouth when he opens it, but thats it.
I have researched and found nothing helpful...

In my admittedly limited experience, such displays are usually reserved for extreme displeasure. Possibly there's something he sees that is freaking him out? If there a giant "angry birds" pinata hanging from the ceiling or anything that would seem like a threat?

I think there have been pictures of animals with URIs. Are you seeing bubbles when he breaths? Or "stringy" looking mucus when his mouth is open? Neither of those would be good signs.

 

[Solid Snake]

!!!Update!!!

Hey! Thanks everyone!

First, his gaping/seizure behavior I described is definately his reaction to me being in his "bubble"

I have moved his intire setup into an area with virtualy no traffic, and no vents near.

I am using lots of greens now along with the carrots, no more cheerios, I use flukers cricket food to keep the crickets alive/growing, then 3 days of greens and such before feeding.

I have decided to name him Damon.

Damon now gets 2-4 hours of sunlight a day, I move his cage onto the balchony before sunrise, and he stays there until it hits 80F.

While my camera is outdated, here are pics of Damon...

http://s618.photobucket.com/albums/tt263/davidfishman/Damon/

 

[Solid Snake]

Oh, and if anyone has an opinion on his age please let me know, I know thats a highly variable thing, but some ballpark would be nice!

 

[Trace]

I do have a few direct questions:
Maybe 4 times now Ive witnessed him taking a DEEP breath, realy puffing up his neck, and then he starts moving slowly back in forth and then looks like he is being electrocuted in the most painful way, it looks very violent.
This ends and then immediatly after stopping, there is a sharp jerk to one side, all the while, firm grip on the branch, mouth open. He then goes back to being super happy acting.

I call this the morning stretch and is quite normal.

I think you have a female as well; even at this age the males should have larger occular horns than just 2mm. I can't quite decide from your pix which sub-species you have but am inclined to say the nominate jacksonii jacksonii. Perhaps some jax keepers could verify this.

Here is a good article on jacksonii care for you: http://chameleonnews.com/10JulManchen.html

 

[Solid Snake]

Thank you,

"Morning stretch" is perfect!
See, ive been looking at lots of pics since Ive got Damon, and I never see another jackson thats that same size with same size horns, and have been growing strongly suspicious of its sex, anyone elses opinion?

 

[Carlton]

In my admittedly limited experience, such displays are usually reserved for extreme displeasure. Possibly there's something he sees that is freaking him out? If there a giant "angry birds" pinata hanging from the ceiling or anything that would seem like a threat?

I think there have been pictures of animals with URIs. Are you seeing bubbles when he breaths? Or "stringy" looking mucus when his mouth is open? Neither of those would be good signs.

Other signs of a RI include sitting dark and still under basking lights much of the day, not eating or drinking, resting with snout tipped straight up, inflating the gular area over and over with heavy gulping and gaping.

 

[rockndiver]

Thank you,

"Morning stretch" is perfect!
See, ive been looking at lots of pics since Ive got Damon, and I never see another jackson thats that same size with same size horns, and have been growing strongly suspicious of its sex, anyone elses opinion?

I kept A few Jacksons at one time and the female I had looked pretty much exactly like yours. A male of that size would have well developed horns.

 

[Carlton]

Thank you,

"Morning stretch" is perfect!
See, ive been looking at lots of pics since Ive got Damon, and I never see another jackson thats that same size with same size horns, and have been growing strongly suspicious of its sex, anyone elses opinion?

Female. I've seen pics of females who have that single horn.

 

[Lizardlover]

Generally Tr. jacksonii jacksonii females only have one horn. I'm also leaning towards this subspecies as to what you have.

 

[Solid Snake]

They are hard to see because of the quality but there are 3 horns, I havnt seen very much growth in the ocular, compared to the rostal though, will get some clear pics up, and hopefully get this straight. So much for deciding on the name Damon