Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My male j.cham. was digging a burrow in the corner of his cage and i was wondering why? he was sticking his head deep into the soil and was just digging away and would just stop and stay there, theres no heat or anything i can see that he might be trying to hide from (besides me that is). I just wanted to ask all the cham fans if this is unusual or not. THANKS EVERYONE!!

Hi -
Couple questions:
- why do you have soil in the bottom of the cage? There is no need for it and it can harbor pathogens.
- are you SURE it's a male? Sounds like female gravid behavior.
- how big is the cage and old/big is the cham?
- what are the rest of the setup particulars? (light, heat, food, etc.)
- is this the cham that was fed the nolvasan?
if so, is he OK otherwise? (i posted below looking for you)

lele
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica the j sisters were sent to freedom last month
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

I don't know thatmuch about jackson's or anything, but even if it were a female, why would she be digging? Jacksons are live-bearers. Just curious why would a female jackson's still dig?

oops...my error! I own a veiled and even though he said jackson I forgot that they just drop their kids so you are right...which makes his dilemma even more baffling!

lele

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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica the j sisters were sent to freedom last month
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

Male Jax have horns, females don't. It's fairly easy to distinguish between the sexes on them. Females are live bearers, dropping their babies- definitely don't dig to lay!
So why would a male Jax be digging? And you're right, why would there even be dirt in the cage for him to dig in in the first place. If this is the male that was given the disinfectant orally, perhaps its just trying to dig its way to freedom...
'I gotta get outta here! They're trying to kill me, maybe I can tunnel my way back to Hawaii.....' JK!!!
I dunno, but this is quite odd.
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi.tripod.com/sdchamkeepers/
gomezvi@yahoo.com

Funny!

You would think this would be a sign of some type of stress. It really sounds like something he would do if he was too warm.

Who knows? Maybe the Nolvasan made him insane. I know a guy who accidentally washed his kitten with medicated dog shampoo, and from then on the kitten walked around in little circles, all day, all the time. Kinda sad.

Yeah you guys are too funny, look i'm in a tight spot, and i dont feel like i should lie to all of you. About 5 weeks ago was my birthday and my dad thought it would be cool to get his son a chameleon (knowing i have other lizards) so he buys me one. Well at the time I have an iguana, 2 frilled dragons, and some other pets. Well I thought how neat my dad's cool, and I had just put the finishing touches on my new 55 gallon frog setup (with no frogs, just the setup) with big aquarium rocks at the bottom, spagnum moss on top, soil, then green moss you can buy at any pet store on top of that. Well as I'm saving my money to buy a setup for jose my chameleon I notice he's not acting like most lizards walking around with the mouth open and walking extremley slow (even for a cham) so i go to the vet spend 300$ (and thats not an exagerated amount) so now I have to save up a little longer to get jose a better setup (I know I might need one now but he set me back a lot of money and I have other bills, how crucial is it?), and as the vet I'm trying to talk to a friend of my father who says he'll see what he can do about the nolvasan incident. And the chameleons doing great except for eating, but I'm sort of helping him out bc he hadnt eatin in a week and a half.

>>Yeah you guys are too funny, look i'm in a tight spot, and i dont feel like i should lie to all of you. About 5 weeks ago was my birthday and my dad thought it would be cool to get his son a chameleon (knowing i have other lizards) so he buys me one.
Yikes!!! Buying a chameleon for someone else without that person knowing about the care of chameleons is NOT a good idea. Not trying to harp on your dad or you.
>> Well at the time I have an iguana, 2 frilled dragons, and some other pets. Well I thought how neat my dad's cool, and I had just put the finishing touches on my new 55 gallon frog setup (with no frogs, just the setup) with big aquarium rocks at the bottom, spagnum moss on top, soil, then green moss you can buy at any pet store on top of that.
So are you saying you have a Male Jax in a 55 gallon frog setup? Not a good idea. I understand you're in a tight spot here, but an aquarium is not at all a good place to put your Jax. He needs a full screen cage with plants. If you REALLY REALLY have to (ie funds are kinda tight) what you can do (and I'm going out on a limb here) is buy a macrame pot hanger and plant, and put your Jax in this, being very careful to monitor the surroundings. If you do this, place in a room with very little traffic (ie your room) and secure, in case he starts wandering. Of course, use a basking light and be sure to mist regularly. Just be SUPER careful. Now that I'm thinking about it, this is probably a stupid suggestion on my part (suggesting to someone with little experience with chameleons to free-range a chameleon), but I'm only suggesting it as an alternative to keeping your Jax in a frog environment!
>> Well as I'm saving my money to buy a setup for jose my chameleon I notice he's not acting like most lizards walking around with the mouth open and walking extremley slow (even for a cham) so i go to the vet spend 300$ (and thats not an exagerated amount) so now I have to save up a little longer to get jose a better setup (I know I might need one now but he set me back a lot of money and I have other bills, how crucial is it?), and as the vet I'm trying to talk to a friend of my father who says he'll see what he can do about the nolvasan incident. And the chameleons doing great except for eating, but I'm sort of helping him out bc he hadnt eatin in a week and a half.
The mouth open thing could be because he's overheated, or because he has a mouth infection. Your Nolvasan incident comment leads me to think its the infection. If you're gonna assist him to feed, there's a recipe floating about for some bug juice. There are others who know where this recipe is (I know too, but my mind is elsewhere at the moment, sorry!), perhaps they will chime in with that info.
Please don't be afraid to post questions comments or concerns. We'll try not to come down on you, but even when/if we do, its out of concern for the chameleon. Best of luck to you and Jose.
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi.tripod.com/sdchamkeepers/
gomezvi@yahoo.com

Yeah well thanks, i did tell my dad i liked jose but he should've said something before, and as for the cage I was wondering on what I can use to build one (besides wood) is screen ok, i know the little guys finger could get stuck my iguanas does sometimes, and does anyone have any pics of some. I'm thinking since I have time on my hands this weekend, tomorrow morning i'm just going to get started and it shouldnt be that hard (i mean i'm housing a chameleon not a monster monitor). I just wanted to buy a nice one but i guess looks can wait, my chameleon is more important. Thanks Everyone!!

You still haven't answered...is the cham who drank nolvasan OK? Did you (or parents) personally approach the vet and her ------ --way of doing things??

OK, on to cage design. I have never personally made one (wish I could find the time!) but here are a couple links for you. Also search the forum for this subject as it is one that comes up often. To find it on any KS cham page press the "ctrl" and "f" keys at the same time and type in cage or whatever word you choose in the dialog box. This will locate it on that page. Go back pages and do it, too. But here are some links...

lele

www.chameleonparadise.com/2x2x4DIYCage.htm
cage design

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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & Jetta
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica the j sisters were sent to freedom last month
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

i was wondering maybe he was diggin for crickets i've seen them burrow in the soil