Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have had a Jackson cham for a year now. He lives in a 3x2x2 enclosure with a giant umbrella. ambient temp 75-77 basking 85. He has a dripper that goes about 6 hrs and is misted 2 for 5 minutes a time and a cool mist humidifier that goes off every 3 hrs for 20 minutes and every 2 hours overnight to cool him down at night. Anyway lately he has been staying on a branch directly under the dripper. so the water runs over him all day. Today I took him out from under that just to see if he is o.k. His skin temp was 60 degress.I use a temp gun. Is that to cold? Should I be worried, He barely goes in his basking spot. He is eating, yesterday he ate alot.Can this mean he is dehydrated? Thanks in advance Matt

Hi Matt,

Luna would often sit under her dripper or seek out the mist when the humidifier went on. Thsi was usually in the winter when the air was dry, but she loved showers, too. I knwo that there are some diff. b/t veiled and jax (don't jax need higher humidity anyway?). I cannot say about the temp, but I would think 60 skin temp is way too cool and he may not be digesting well, which then means food ferments in his belly. Maybe just turn the dripper off and place him on his basking branch to see what he does? How's his poop looking?

Hopefully more experienced keepers will reply, too.

lele
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Chameleon Help & Resource Info

0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.1 Mad. Hissers and she is on the loose!
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

Thanks for the response lele. I got some hornworms in so his poop has been white and not as solid and today he was basking for a couple hours and then parked himself back under the dripper. What would be some signs of not digesting well? and also what would be some things to look for that are potential danger/ Thanks again.Happy Holidays Matt

Maybe move the mist source closer to the basking area and the bakcing area closer to the mist source?
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CANADIAN CHAMELEONS

not pooping would be one sign. Are his urates nice and white? His eyes look OK re: dehydration? I am not sure about others. I think we need Carlton and other keepers who have had chams forever to chime in.

Hmmm...now that I think back about Luna's situation there were some thoughts on why she was not hydrating properly even though she was under her dripper all the time. I ended up having the vet give her fluids. She had so many problems that they are sort of a blur in my head now I would have to search back thru the forums (not easy with this search setup here). I'll try to find or remember...
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Chameleon Help & Resource Info

0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.1 Mad. Hissers and she is on the loose!
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

POOP IS NICE AND WHITE,HE DID GO TO HIS BASKING AREA FOR A WHILE TODAY. I RARELY SEE HIM DRINK. AND I SPRAY FOR A LEAST 5 MINUTES. MAYBE I AM A BIT PARANOID. CARLTON WOULD BE A GREAT HELP,HE HAS HELPED IN THE PAST THANKS MATT