Wild Caught Jacksons

[colinmelsom]

Hello Iam new here and would appreciate your comments.A shipment of C.j.meramonatus is due here soon .Are they worth investing in as they are expensive?You hear of all kinds of horror stories with wild caught chameleons.I should state that I am in the U.K. and we dont have access to captive bred jacksonii.All comments are welcome.

 

[Rocky]

If you feel that you have enough experience and time I would say go for it. There are a few things you should expect of them though.

1. They will be dehydrated and will probably need to be misted constantly for the first few days.

2. They will probably have parasites so you will need to either take them to a vet for a fecal, do one yourself, or have a dewormer that you can give them.

3. Females that you get have a high possibilty of being gravid. Alot of people think this is a good thing, but unless you find a way to bring their health up to 100% they probably won't survive child birthing. Also, if thy are gravid you should make sure that if you deworm them you use something that won't hurt the babies. Jacksonii give live birth so that takes a lot more out of them then just laying eggs. But, if you do get a gravid female and her health comes back up to normal, you will also need to be prepared to take care of babies

WC animals are usually not pet quality animals, so if that's what you want I would advise against it. If you have the experience and want to start a breeding project, I would say good luck meru's are my favorite!

 

[colinmelsom]

Thanks for the reply.I have no experince with Chameleons but I do keep Phelsuma and Dentrobates so I am used to high maintenance herps.I do not want to keep them as pets I would like to breed them,if I wanted a pet I would go for a Veiled.
Its nice to get some opinions as these would be a new project.

 

[sarroca808]

i live in hawaii and have a wild caught male jackson im looking for a female to breed, if you guys want ill sell you a jackson for 20 bucks but you pay for shipping. i mean i see them for a 100 bucks i just want them to have good homes. im just gonna breed them once so this is gonna be a one time thing i dont like excessive breeding i want my female to live long

 

[Olimpia]

I do not want to keep them as pets I would like to breed them,if I wanted a pet I would go for a Veiled.

I hate to sound rude or something, and that's not my intention, but that comment doesn't really sit well with me. I have a WC Jackson's and a love him to death, and it just seems so cold to just want to get a couple for the sole purpose of breeding without actually loving the species, you know?

That being said, having a WC male myself, I think they're great, and they can do really well with some care. He was my first chameleon and I didn't find his care any more challenging than that of any of my other reptiles. It just takes proper research and a little work - the biggest difference is the amount of water they need compared to other typical pet reptiles.

 

[colinmelsom]

Sorry if I upset you ,I keep lots of reptiles and amphibians but I wouldnt say they were pets,they are an obsesion.I keep them to find out about the animals themselves.The one true pet is my Boxer Dog.
Anyway back to the main point I have wanted to keep this species since I was a kid as they were regularly imported back in the 70s and wanted to gain some first hand experience from people who have kept imported chameleons.Over here people usually keep the Veiled and to a lesser extent the Panther both of which are captive bred.Imports come in from West Africa and Tanzania but we rarely hear of any captive bred of these animals which implies that most of them die within a short time of importation and therefore do not breed.

 

[sarroca808]

i love my jackson more then i love the family dog lol.. i know dis sounds pretty weird but ive been watching him for hours on end seeing how he climbs around his cage. today i went to get more branches for his cage i climbed about 30 feet up are mango tree lol felt so jacksonlike lol i dont want to send jacksons to peoples soul reason is to breed and make money im sorry guys

 

[colinmelsom]

Oh dear, I am not looking to make money out of this.I cannot import them from you as your in the States and I am in the U.K.,its not worth my while.I merely want a new project and dont want to buy a few half dead chameleons that will not last a couple of months.I would prefer to let others take the risk and then buy the captive bred young in a few years.

 

[sarroca808]

ok well if you ever visit hawaii let me know i can get u some baby jacks u can import them in ur undies lol

 

[satch4684]

on this subject, i know WC is always a risk and know what I may be getting myself into since I've just bought one, but is it a large difference if you buy WC from reputable companies like FLChams, etc?

 

[czer]

on this subject, i know WC is always a risk and know what I may be getting myself into since I've just bought one, but is it a large difference if you buy WC from reputable companies like FLChams, etc?

i bought a pair from them last month and one died within 3 days, but they do have a health guarantee if you get it with the complete kit set up.

 

[Warrix642]

I got a WC Mt Meru Jackson 4 months ago and he is THRIVING!!!! I guess its luck of the draw

 

[kinyonga]

If you buy WC's you always risk losing them...but sometimes they are gems. No way to know because even if they look terrific...seem to have nothing wrong with them...well hydrated and all...and then crash. Some of them just don't acclimatize well.

Regarding parasites...I usually let them settle in for a few weeks before having them treated....as long as the health seems to be okay.

They are difficult to get to reproduce...the last pair I had the male showed no interest in the female, but didn't show any aggression towards her either. She was indifferent to him the whole time I had her.

 

[satch4684]

I got a WC Mt Meru Jackson 4 months ago and he is THRIVING!!!! I guess its luck of the draw

guess thats about it, not something worth taking chances with really, of all reptiles chams are probably one of the worst to get WC. but i did, hopefully he'll do alright.