Jackson's Chameleon

Jackson's Chameleon

By Devin Edmonds


Jackson's Chameleon is a challenging reptile to keep. It needs to be fed every other day, they can be difficult to get them to drink ( wild caught ones any way ) and they need rather complex cage needs. On the other hand, they're colorful, attractive, interesting, a flexible feeder, exotic, and can tolerate cool tempetures. Males and females are both green or brown in there relaxed color. If they are scared or stressed they will turn blackish or any other strange color. Like all chameleons there hands and feet are like toes that are attached to gether, they kind of look like lobster claws. The males have three horns on their head, one on there nose and two above there eyes. They look like miniature triceratops. The female, on the other hand, usually has no horns at all although there are some individuals with one horn on the nose. When acquiring your chameleon make sure it is captive bred. Captive bred ones most likely won't refuse to drink and it won't harm the environment when getting one. Also, look for ones with good coloration and ones that don't have any scratches or strange marks. One adult Jackson's chameleon can be kept in a wire cage that measure 23 inches long, 18 inches wide and 24 inches high, at the minimum. You can either make the cage on your own or you can buy one at a pet store. Aquariums can be used for jacksons chameleons if they are big enough and are very well ventilated. The size for an aquarium should be bigger than the size described above since the chameleon won't be able to climb the walls. A bubbler bowl or prefferebly a drip system should be kept in a corner of the terrarium and the whole cage should be misted twice a day. The cage furnishings should consist of a Ficus tree, fake plants and a couple tall pieces of drift wood. You can also make small arboreal bubbler bowls or food bowls by cutting a piece of wood so it will fit in the corner of the screen cage. Then cut a hole in it big enough for the bowl to slide into and attach the peice fo wood to a higher corner of your cage. For a substrate you can either use reptile and small mammal bedding or a potting soil sand mixture. Change the substrate every month or so. The tempeture of the cage should be 75-84 farenhight during the day and 50-65 farenhight at night. These chameleons are not vary piky eaters. There main diet should consist of medium to large sized crickets but they should be given mealworms, giant mealworms, waxworms and other various insects regularly. You can also collect insects outside for your chameleon. Make sure to dust the crickets with vitamin and mineral powder at every other feeding. This care sheet is only an over view for there care. For more information you can read the following books: R. D. Bartlet and Patricia P. Bartlet, Chameleons, Barron's 1995. Le Berre, Francois, The New Chameleon Hand Book, Barron's 1995.

Care sheet by Devin Edmonds:Mantella Homepage