Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello,everyone. i have a jacksonn and he lives in a 3x3x2 enclosure with an umbrella plant. he is misted 3 times daily with a cool mist humibifier on that goes off 3 times a day for 20 minutes. he has a exo-terra uv bulb which i have had for 6 months(ready for a new one) he eats crickets, lobster roaches mealies as a snack waxies as a snack and since it is summer i have been collecting spiders grass hoppers potato beetles on occasion. i dust them once or twice a week. his basking spot is 85 and his ambient temp is 75-78. any way he is constantly pacing the cage. never in his tree. always on the screen. he has been showing some of his stress colors. he eats and drinks without a problem. i live in new jersey and this half of the week is the only time i can take him outside the temp has been no higher than 82. should i be worried? he also has a dripper for at least 4hours a day. thanks matt

Sounds like he's not happy in the cage, my panther
will do the same thing if he's not 100% content with his surroundings. There are a few things you can try...
Raise the cage up as high as possible (top of the cage at least 6' or higher--higher the better.) When they feel like they're at the highest point in the room, they tend to want to stay there.
He could be seeing something outside the cage he want's to get to..(sunny window, large plant etc.) If this is the case,
try moving the cage to accommodate where he want's to go,
or setup visual barriers to block his view.
I read a post recently about a jacksons who had an entire
free range room setup, but would walk all the way down a flight
of stairs to the kitchen window to get the level of light he liked. The trick is experimenting with different setups until
he seems happy and looks green green all the time. Free range setups work great if you can get the conditions right.
I've noticed the best colors in my chameleons when placed high off the ground next to a filtered bright window.
Hope that helps
Garrett