New little Jacksonii buddy :)

[hairmetalspider]

Got this little guy the other day, and he's a total blast. Considering he tried to take my hand off the first time I held him, he's mellowed out and been a sweetheart since. (Probably happy to be out of the pet store...*cough*)

 

[JohnEDove]

That is one type reptile I will not even both trying to keep, my hat is off to you, Chams just like things to quite to survive around our place.

 

[hairmetalspider]

That is one type reptile I will not even both trying to keep, my hat is off to you, Chams just like things to quite to survive around our place.

Haha.
Yeah, well I'm that crazy cat lady, so it's pretty quiet around here.
I did notice he took to jazz though...

 

[hairmetalspider]

more.

Alright so here's a few more pics of Hubert. (And me, shamelessly using his popularity for my own sake.)

He's such a handsome young man...hehe.

 

[dovii88]

Nice looking cham..makes me miss mine..Good luck with him

 

[spartybassoon]

Nice cham! Get him out of the exo-terra, though, and asap. Most chameleons, including Jacksons, need cross ventilation from mesh cages, and besides, the bacteria buildup form glass would be awful and possibly deadly.

You should check out chameleonforums.com, its the archnoboards of the cham world. And welcome to the cham hobby, btw!

 

[Scott C.]

Those exo tanks are highly ventilated and you can make them even more so by rigging up an intake/exhaust system with computer fans....

A buddy of mine is doing an open air set-up(hanging plants/branches/dripper) for his in an upper corner of his room.... What do you cham keepers think of that? Seems like a reasonable deal, but I'm not a cham keeper...

 

[hairmetalspider]

I see your point, but from the research I've done, I've have to agree with Scott. I know plenty of people who have kept, raised, bred, their chameleons in only exo terra and shown success. I will keep it in mind though.

He's a rascal. So cute.

 

[hairmetalspider]

Those exo tanks are highly ventilated and you can make them even more so by rigging up an intake/exhaust system with computer fans....

Maybe you could PM me and give me more info on this. That'd be awesome.

 

[spartybassoon]

The reason I say this is because the *limited* studies that have been done on captive chameleons show that they thrive best when they have ventilation from 3 or more sides of an enclosure, the more the better. Since chams are so sensitive to EVERYTHING, they need all the help they can get to thrive in captivity. However, I personally don't have the experience with Jackson's to back that up - I just regurgitate what I read day after day on the cham forums. I had my veiled in an exo-terra for a while, but he was more lethargic and didn't react to food quite as fast as he does now in his mesh tank. Who knows, it could have been something else, but the increased ventilation did no harm, I'm sure.

Oh, I totally forgot - the reflection thing is a biggy. I realize that many people may have kept and bred chams successfully in these conditions, but they are not correct. Lots of things can live and breed in less than optimal conditions - look at puppy mills. However, for your cham to be truly happy and live a full life, you may consider getting a mesh cage.

I don't want to come across harshly - I just want to help spread good husbandry tips for some amazing creatures.

 

[Nich]

Awesome cham!
I used the formentioned open air setups, suspended from the ceiling with a dripper.

 

[hairmetalspider]

The reason I say this is because the *limited* studies that have been done on captive chameleons show that they thrive best when they have ventilation from 3 or more sides of an enclosure, the more the better. Since chams are so sensitive to EVERYTHING, they need all the help they can get to thrive in captivity. However, I personally don't have the experience with Jackson's to back that up - I just regurgitate what I read day after day on the cham forums. I had my veiled in an exo-terra for a while, but he was more lethargic and didn't react to food quite as fast as he does now in his mesh tank. Who knows, it could have been something else, but the increased ventilation did no harm, I'm sure.

Oh, I totally forgot - the reflection thing is a biggy. I realize that many people may have kept and bred chams successfully in these conditions, but they are not correct. Lots of things can live and breed in less than optimal conditions - look at puppy mills. However, for your cham to be truly happy and live a full life, you may consider getting a mesh cage.

I don't want to come across harshly - I just want to help spread good husbandry tips for some amazing creatures.

I see your point.

He cannot, however, see his reflection because of the paneling on the sides.
And this is highly different from a 'puppy mill'...no offense.
He has ventilation on top and front of his cage, and the surrounding sides help keep in humidity which is prime for a chameleon.

All in all, Ill take what you're saying into consideration but from the searches and research I have personally done, including a membership into the chameleon forums, my set up is completely fine give or take a possible ventilation system.

 

[jshadowstalker]

your set up look's great, i got two kept pretty close to how your's look. I have a screen motel in the back yard that my guy's get to stay in for several hours a day, so i think that takes care of the ventilation i think. i will say your puppy mill is the best looking 1 i've ever seen ...

 

[spartybassoon]

Sorry, I re-read my posts, and they do seem a little harsh, but then again, we'd all do the same for n animal we love. Good luck with the little guy, and keep posting pics! I'm sure I'll see you around on cham forums.

 

[JayzunBoget]

Hey, sparty, how's life back in Illinois?
Hairmetal, I suggest you do as much reading as possible (always a good recommendation)
Chameleons in general have had a reputation for being sensitive and short lived. In reptile keeping, these are usually indicators that there is something about their natural environment that they need replicated to thrive in captivity. These are usually subtle things and they show up over time.
There was a time that chameleons were commonly kept in all glass cages and handled regularly (to get them use to it). They also had a reputation for dropping dead, or at best having a limited lifespan (3-4 years) compared to wild lifespan (10+).
Now there is very little about reptile keeping that is black and white, and most of it is just tips and tricks and little gleanings of understanding passed on along the way.
A couple of these "gleanings" that I would like to share with you are these;
Chameleons have very primitive lungs that are not used to working very hard to get fresh oxygen for circulation. Now those exo-terras and their zoo-med equivalents do offer more ventilation than an all glass tank, but it is still severely limited. The airflow that it creates does travel up that front pane of glass and works as a natural defogger, but it actually transfers the air form inside to outside little enough to have a slow escape of humidity.
That's okay, tho'! Because you have one of the chameleons that need a difficult to master combination of a need for high humidity and high air quality.
The answer to that combination? Does this sound familiar HairMetal? The answer is a lushly live planted vivarium that will naturally stabilize humidity and provide superior air quality to what you are breathing in the rest of the room!
I have to run now, I am watching the Uber-Tot (my 2 1/2 year old daughter) so you get the fast version on handling. Do not take my word for it, ask as many people as possible. There are many (including myself) who believe that handling a chameleon drastically increases its odds of getting ill and over time can have a tremendous effect of shortening the lifespan.
Oh, crap that sounded big and broken, gotta go now....

 

[Scott C.]

I used the formentioned open air setups, suspended from the ceiling with a dripper.

Worked out good then eh?

 

[UrbanJungles]

Technically, you have a C. jacksonii xantholophus...the more common form. C.j. jacksonii is less common and often referred to as "Tanzinian Jackson's" and are a smaller montane species. The one you have is collected in a more lowland type setting and can tolerate warmer temps and less humidity than others.

I have been breeding Chams for a few years now, I have f3 Jackson's on exhibit at my museum right now and I can tell you that with the exception of some of the smaller leaf chameleons you should never put a Cham. in a tank, even those exoterras (Your is too small anyhow, even for that guy).

A single male Jackson's should have a minimum of about a 2x3x4 screened enclosure that's heavily planted but yet has some exposed basking sites, preferably under the lights. Feed a varied diet but don't use any suppliments, try to gutload your feeders instead. These Chams are hypersensitive to vitamin overdoses which manifest in the form of eye infections.

Keep him very moist but do make sure you get good air circulation and if at all possible avoid fans, they are too drying!

Good luck
D.

 

[Nich]

Worked out good then eh?

They worked out great. I got duepd into a chameleon condo and then realized I could build my own for under $100. Ive had/bred (with much sucess) ambilobes, I kept all my breeders in condo'esqe setups with a drip and a nice HPS horticulture lamp. The jacks also loved the setup. Just saw more activity out of them.

 

[hairmetalspider]

Technically, you have a C. jacksonii xantholophus...the more common form. C.j. jacksonii is less common and often referred to as "Tanzinian Jackson's" and are a smaller montane species. The one you have is collected in a more lowland type setting and can tolerate warmer temps and less humidity than others.

I have been breeding Chams for a few years now, I have f3 Jackson's on exhibit at my museum right now and I can tell you that with the exception of some of the smaller leaf chameleons you should never put a Cham. in a tank, even those exoterras (Your is too small anyhow, even for that guy).

A single male Jackson's should have a minimum of about a 2x3x4 screened enclosure that's heavily planted but yet has some exposed basking sites, preferably under the lights. Feed a varied diet but don't use any suppliments, try to gutload your feeders instead. These Chams are hypersensitive to vitamin overdoses which manifest in the form of eye infections.

Keep him very moist but do make sure you get good air circulation and if at all possible avoid fans, they are too drying!

Good luck
D.

Hmmm.
So you own a museum, huh?

 

[Scott C.]

They worked out great.....

Cool.... I always thought that'd be a cool way to keep them since the recommended caging seems to be just an addition of some screen.

Thanks dude.