New little Jacksonii buddy :)

[UrbanJungles]

Hmmm.
So you own a museum, huh?

Yes, 3 in fact. :liar:
You know what I meant...

 

[Brad Ramsey]

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.

I agree.
Montanes are hard (in my opinion) Good Luck!

-Brad

 

[hairmetalspider]

Yes, 3 in fact. :liar:
You know what I meant...

I know.

Thanks for the info though.

 

[UrbanJungles]

Anything for my favorite skunk rock girl.
:clap:

 

[hairmetalspider]

Anything for my favorite skunk rock girl.
:clap:

Haha. So I found an exo terra with a three screened side and one glass side with the opening.

Think the ventilation would be kosher on that one?

 

[spartybassoon]

The ventilation would be better, but the cage is still too small. Exo terra doesn't make a large enough cage for the larger species of cham, but they'd work great for pygmies.

 

[JayzunBoget]

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.

That's cool that you got Panthers to stay in that type of set up. They were the worst about being willing to jump, for us. Never had a Jacksons like that. Our Panthers were in a greenhouse. How did you keep humidity high for yours?
Our favorite for Chameleon Canopy style set ups (yeah, we only get suckered once, too) have always been veileds. Almost never willing to jump and can have house levels of humidity.

 

[hairmetalspider]

The ventilation would be better, but the cage is still too small. Exo terra doesn't make a large enough cage for the larger species of cham, but they'd work great for pygmies.

Lame. Boo exo terra.

I think I'm going to build one instead.

 

[spartybassoon]

In case you decide to ever buy another cage, I would just caution against the mesh reptariums. I'm not sure the brand, but I have the 65 gallon one for my veiled, and it really sucks a lot. Sure, they are affordable, but they also aren't easy to see through, and the zippers get stuck a lot. I've seen some really nice home made cages though, and if you do build one, I'd love to see the design. I'd like to build one someday, but am currently too busy to devote the time to the building - it would take weeks at my rate

 

[JayzunBoget]

Sparty, have you seen the cham cages that are panels of screening (just like you would have on a window) that are screwed together with some hinges for a door? We had a big one set up at Preuss. Those are not copyrighted and not that difficult to make, especially if you've worked with replacement screen parts before. Let me know if you are intrigued and I will try to send you pics of the one at Preuss.

 

[spartybassoon]

I bought one this February but have waited to set it up because I'd like to build a nice wooden base to store a bucket for drainage and to just look nicer than a cage on a table. Who knows when I'll get around to it, though.

 

[JayzunBoget]

I bought one this February but have waited to set it up because I'd like to build a nice wooden base to store a bucket for drainage and to just look nicer than a cage on a table. Who knows when I'll get around to it, though.

Don't we all know how that goes!

 

[UrbanJungles]

I would just go for one of the pre-made screen cages you can buy from most chameleon dealers unless you want to make one yourself...as mentioned already, forget about exoterra.

For all Jackson's I like to put a plastic sheet on the back and one of the side panels which gives me a "corner" to mist regularly. Stuff it with some nice live plants and strongly secured vines and you are in business.

 

[troglodyte]

When I was a kid my family kept a Jackson's Chameleon (not sure of which specific species, I was 10 when he died) in gigantic, home-made terrarium complete with live plants and a drip-system. It was probably 5ft tall and 2.5 feet wide/long, made of wood and the same screening used for patios on homes. It worked pretty well for the guy for a number of years before he got what the exotic vet called "rubberjaw" and passed away. His name was Jake and he was the greatest (and only) chameleon I've ever had.

 

[JayzunBoget]

When I was a kid my family kept a Jackson's Chameleon (not sure of which specific species, I was 10 when he died) in gigantic, home-made terrarium complete with live plants and a drip-system. It was probably 5ft tall and 2.5 feet wide/long, made of wood and the same screening used for patios on homes. It worked pretty well for the guy for a number of years before he got what the exotic vet called "rubberjaw" and passed away. His name was Jake and he was the greatest (and only) chameleon I've ever had.

"ruberjaw" is a common symptom of metabolic bone disorder, care must be taken to make sure that the chameleon is accessing enough UVB to metabolize calcium properly. Alot of commonly available UVB sources have pathetic penetration/distribution.
UrbanJungles, what live plants do you recommend? Do you recommend ficus, like almost every book I've ever read? I heard that ficus puts out a toxic sap, is this true?

 

[UrbanJungles]

Ficus does have a sap that is an irritant...alot of Cham breeders don't recommend it because if the milky sap gets into an eye it will cause major issues (blindness) although I have kept my panther on a ficus fo almost 3 years now. Chameleons do like to rub their eyes on the branches so you have to be careful.

I prefer Schefflera (Money tree) and Pothos combinations these days on my Chameleons. I also like to throw in some fake foliage along with the live stuff...

Good luck!

 

[Brad Ramsey]

The only chameleons I know of that have experienced eye problems with ficus are panthers.
Kind of funny, considering urban jungle has had his panther on a ficus for years.
I also use hibiscus, bougainvilla, spiderplant and date palm.
The important thing with a montane cham is dense planting to help maintain humidity.

-Brad
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

 

[hairmetalspider]

Awesome, thanks a ton guys.