Temperature

[Camiboy]

Hi! I have a question regarding Cam (my Jackson) and his temperature preferences.
A little back story on him; I live in Hawaii and back in late March of 2020 my father-in-law found him trying to cross a street in our neighborhood. He was very small but not aggressive or defensive so we don’t know if he was wild or if he had been a pet. I did all the research and learned everything I could about how to care for him and we’ve had him now almost a year.
I’ve only ever had mammal pets so this is all still new to me but I’m doing my very best to give him a good life.
Hawaii in the winter time still stays in the low 80s but we’ve had a bit of a cold front the past week where it got down into the 60s at night. Today is the first really hot and humid day we’ve had and I noticed that mid day he got really dark and had his mouth gaping. He does the gaping thing somewhat regularly and when he does I spray him down or give him a shower. So I brought him into my room with the AC on which really doesn’t bring our room temp down very much at all but at least he’s not baking. I sprayed him down a bunch and now he’s regular green.
From what I read, if they’re overheating they’ll turn super light/pale. So I was wondering if anyone had any idea what he was dark?
Thank you!!

 

[Livingstons Lizards]

Hello,
Nice looking male, he's a Yellow Crested Jacksons Chameleon (Trioceros jacksonii xantholophus). Jacksons like most montane chameleons prefer it cooler. Usually low 80s, 70s daytime & 60s/ 50s at night. A good resource is the chameleon academy. They have a xan care guide Xantholophus Car Guide and the podcast on the same website has several on Jacksons care & the Hawaiian population.

 

[kinyonga]

@JacksJill and @Kaizen have Jacksons....perhaps they have some advice.

 

[Camiboy]

Hello,
Nice looking male, he's a Yellow Crested Jacksons Chameleon (Trioceros jacksonii xantholophus). Jacksons like most montane chameleons prefer it cooler. Usually low 80s, 70s daytime & 60s/ 50s at night. A good resource is the chameleon academy. They have a xan care guide Xantholophus Car Guide and the podcast on the same website has several on Jacksons care & the Hawaiian population.

Awesome thanks so much!! I’ll definitely check that out. That’s super helpful about the preferred temperature as well. I’ll keep being cautious with how hot/cold his area in the house gets.

 

[Camiboy]

@JacksJill and @Kaizen have Jacksons....perhaps they have some advice.

Thank you!!

 

[JacksJill]

I find that Jackson's tend to like more heat than is actually good for them. That is a situation when they are kept indoors.
Your situation is a bit different. For your outdoor cages you need to provide a lot of live plants and the cage needs to be in a partially shaded area so it isn't in the sun during the hottest part of the day. I suspect he was just beginning to get too warm but was not overheated. They survive in Hawaii well enough on their own but by moving in and out of the shade as they hunt.

 

[Camiboy]

I find that Jackson's tend to like more heat than is actually good for them. That is a situation when they are kept indoors.
Your situation is a bit different. For your outdoor cages you need to provide a lot of live plants and the cage needs to be in a partially shaded area so it isn't in the sun during the hottest part of the day. I suspect he was just beginning to get too warm but was not overheated. They survive in Hawaii well enough on their own but by moving in and out of the shade as they hunt.

Thank you! Mine is actually kept inside. He’s just outside my bedroom door in the hallway. But we are upstairs and so it does get a bit hotter. If it’s ever too uncomfortable for me in the hallway I bring him into my room to cool off a bit. I was just curious about his color being dark rather than light.

 

[Kaizen]

Hi! I have a question regarding Cam (my Jackson) and his temperature preferences.
A little back story on him; I live in Hawaii and back in late March of 2020 my father-in-law found him trying to cross a street in our neighborhood. He was very small but not aggressive or defensive so we don’t know if he was wild or if he had been a pet. I did all the research and learned everything I could about how to care for him and we’ve had him now almost a year.
I’ve only ever had mammal pets so this is all still new to me but I’m doing my very best to give him a good life.
Hawaii in the winter time still stays in the low 80s but we’ve had a bit of a cold front the past week where it got down into the 60s at night. Today is the first really hot and humid day we’ve had and I noticed that mid day he got really dark and had his mouth gaping. He does the gaping thing somewhat regularly and when he does I spray him down or give him a shower. So I brought him into my room with the AC on which really doesn’t bring our room temp down very much at all but at least he’s not baking. I sprayed him down a bunch and now he’s regular green.
From what I read, if they’re overheating they’ll turn super light/pale. So I was wondering if anyone had any idea what he was dark?
Thank you!!View attachment 292813

Showers aren’t the best, and get him cold at night...like below 50.

 

[JacksJill]

Thank you! Mine is actually kept inside. He’s just outside my bedroom door in the hallway. But we are upstairs and so it does get a bit hotter. If it’s ever too uncomfortable for me in the hallway I bring him into my room to cool off a bit. I was just curious about his color being dark rather than light.

He maybe trying to absorb more UVB what are you using for light? Stress can make them darken.

Showers aren’t the best, and get him cold at night...like below 50.

I know that will be difficult in Hawaii but go as low as you can at night.

 

[Camiboy]

Showers aren’t the best, and get him cold at night...like below 50.

I’ve heard really good things about showers. Why is that?

 

[Camiboy]

He maybe trying to absorb more UVB what are you using for light? Stress can make them darken.

I know that will be difficult in Hawaii but go as low as you can at night.

Yeah he’s very expressive with his color and most of the time he’s bright green. There wasn’t anyone or anything around that afternoon when he was dark so maybe he was agitated from being too warm? I just don’t know. I’ll post a pic of the tag on his lamp.

 

[Camiboy]

Also he’s in a hallway that’s made up completely of windows so he gets a ton of fresh air and sunlight from there as well

 

[Kaizen]

I’ve heard really good things about showers. Why is that?

There is a ton of history and ink spilled over whether showering is good, or even helpful. In any case, it’s a high stress situation to give your Cham a shower. Why not just keep him/her hydrated using proper misting, fogging and humidity cycles?

 

[Camiboy]

There is a ton of history and ink spilled over whether showering is good, or even helpful. In any case, it’s a high stress situation to give your Cham a shower. Why not just keep him/her hydrated using proper misting, fogging and humidity cycles?

He doesn’t seem to like being misted. He walks away quickly and turns spotty whereas in the shower he spends time drinking and sitting with his eyes closed and turns bright green. He seems very content in the shower and our vet said showers are a good source of hydration