| Scientific Name: | Chamaeleo jacksoni | |
| Origin: | Africa in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda up to an altitude of 2000 meters (6600 feet). They have also been introduced to Hawaii. | |
| Size: | Males get up to 13 inches | |
| Sexing: | Males have three horns on their head. Females generally have less developed horns, only one horn, or no horns but sometimes may look just like males. | |
| Temperament: | Although males and females can be kept together, they do best caged singly. Males will fight each other and may harass females. Jacksons should be handled very minimally because they are stressed easily. They are not hand tame pets. Their only defense is biting and they have a very strong grip. | |
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| Habitat: | Tank: The smallest enclosure you can use for one or two Jacksons should be about 24 X 20 X 32 inches. A 25 gallon high tank would work just fine as long as it has a screen top so it is well ventilated. All wire cages work well too if you can keep the humidity up.
Substrate: To keep humidity up, use reptile substrate that is mostly soil or bark. Moss works well. Heating: Temperature during the day should be 75 to 80 degrees. This can be accomplished with a day light bulb or ceramic heater. At night, the temperature must drop at least ten degrees to as low as 60 degrees. Lighting: Use a fluorescent UVB light at least 12 hours a day. Allow 12 hours of darkness. No special heating lamps are necessary during the night unless the temperature naturally drops below 60 degrees. Other: Chameleons are arboreal (live in trees) so provide branches for them to climb on. Also provide plants, fake or live. Ideal live plants for use with Jacksons are pothos, fiscus, and hibiscus (which all do well in the tropical conditions the chameleons require). The more foliage you have the better; the cage should be crammed with plants and branches. Keep the humidity up by misting the cage, using running water, or placing an airstone in the water dish. Humidity should be tropical. (50 to 80 percent). |
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| Food And Water: | Jacksons eat only live food. Their diet should consist of crickets, mealworms, and waxworms. They will also eat the beetles and moths that mealworms and waxworms become. If you want, you may use other insects, but only if you are certain they are not carrying any harmful toxins. Pinky mice may be taken when they are large enough to eat them. Gut load crickets and worms by feeding them fish food, cat food, fruits and vegetables, or prepared cricket food. Always dust crickets with a calcium supplement (chose a powder that contains no phosphorous) and dust worms with other multi-vitamins. Feed daily. A large adult Jackson should eat three or four worms or crickets at a time. They should have about 50% crickets, 40% mealworms, and 10% waxworms. Chameleons rarely drink from water dishes. Provide water by spraying the cage two or three times a day. A drip system is also beneficial. Drip systems can be found at pet stores and slowly alow water to drip—the moving water attracts chameleons. You only need to run the system for about an hour in the late afternoon. Provide a shallow dish of water, to keep humidity up and because some chameleons will learn to drink from dishes. |
