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I have a 10 week old Mt.Meru Jackson chameleon who is seemingly doing fine. He has been eating regularly (fruit Flies), and doesn't seem to have any of the dehydrated symptoms. His cage is 2x2x3 and is set at a average temp of 85-90 during the day and 78-80 at night. misting frequently as well as a drip system. My Problem has just started. As of this morning he has been sleeping up in the vines I have all day. when I mist the cage he moves but that seems to be the only time. Is this something I need to be concerned about?

Its usually a concern when a chameleon sleeps during the day.

Can you describe your set-up...lighting including brand and type (spiral, compact, long linear, etc.) of UVB light, temperatures, supplements (which ones and how often for each), gutloading, etc.

setup: 2x2x3 glass side cage with vents on the front and back and a screen top, I also rigged a fan to push air through so it does circulate pretty well. the lights I have a a 5.0 uvb reptiglo spiral bulb and a regular 40 watt household bulb used for basking. the uvb bulb is sitting directly on the cage about 5 inches away from the nearest perch and the basking bulb is 11 inches away giving that it is much hotter. It stays a steady 85-90 during the day and 78-80 at night. 50-60% humidity (misting 3-4 times daily plus a dripper). I feed him D. Hydea fruit flies and I dust them with repticalcium (without D3) 2 times a week. He Was only 10 weeks old. He died this morning but what I don't understand is what could it have been...he literally was a peak condition 24 hours ago by that I mean he was walking around eating exploring and drinking then yesterday morning he was so lazy but when I misted his cage he moved around a bit but always went back to sleep.

The tank didn't really cool off at night. Possibly he was unable to rest without the cool down and was metabolically exhausted.

Actually the whole setup may have been too hot.

maybe but he never showed any signs of sleep deprivation, or heat exhaustion. no gaping mouth or odd colors, plus he was very active up until that 24 hour time span. This is a run down of the day before he started acting odd. I cleaned his cage because it was due. I used warm water only. I did rearrange some of the plants to give is better decor but nothing serious. I also order a different kind of fruit flie (D.Hydea) because they were bigger and lived longer. he ate two really fast and threw it up but immediately ate another and kept it down. I figured he was used to scarfing down the little melangaster flies so he just ate to fast. then he started acting odd. I somewhat think the flies were the culprit but I have no proof.

First of all sorry to hear about your loss. Unfortunately this is all too common for all of us when we first start the hobbie. I would have to agree the problem was exaustion and dehydration. He could no longer gape his mouth either to cool off because it went on for too long. You probably missed that stage of his hot behavior. If you ever get inspired again...remember to create a true cooler area...about 70 degrees or just keep the heat around 85...and then let it drop at night, but not below 65...that I feel is too cold for my veiled.hopefully this will be the only time you lost a buddy.

check a GOOD resource on that ssp on temps. sounds way high.

First 8 years ago I had a number of C j j not Mt.Meru Jackson. But I would seriously look into those temps. if my large cages got above 78 my adults would go down to the floor. and for babies I always read heat was even more an issue and I rarely had temps in their main are about 75-76. Again a diff sub species.

I got an order of WC jacksons and had them on my porch in a large screen cage thru Sept. I live in NE Ohio. it was so strange to be 55 degrees and the lights go on and they all start eating. I had far far more issues with temps to high and humidity not high enough. I recall babies need 90-100% humidity or their lungs dry out. Or what ever issues would be created from improper setup.

Following others suggestions I was never successful in rearing babies. i lot a lot of them So I got out of jax. My last setup was the best. Small screen cage tight metal screen. it slows evaporation. A Schefflera that world squeeze in the cage in a large pot with 3/4" gravel covering the dirt so they cant eat the dirt. and a drain in the bottom of the pot out of the cage. My watering system was high tech. A pail of water with 2-3 pin holes to allow drips. you can also add ice in the pail as the bucket allows the water to warm a bit before dripping. The drips went into the plant pot. if to much water the drain was there. KISS.

pins of course, but I found by accident that real fruit flies really excited the babies A LOT. So I would open my fruit fly containers near real fruit flies and put that culture in the cage with a small hole for flies to get out. So in the acge were a cinstant feed of wingless and regualr fruit flies. I also added some calcium to the media. I was never sure about that. but it seemed logical.

Adults were similar, but far far easier to do. They just ate me out of house and home lol.

Good luck. I hope to do a few jax again some day.
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Thanks for reading. Peace
Tom

www.HerpZillA.com