The Jackson's Chameleon, scientifically known as Trioceros jacksonii, is native to woodland and forested areas of South Central Kenya and Northern Tanzania. These chameleons are captivating creatures, and proper care, especially concerning their diet, is crucial for their health and well-being in captivity. Understanding the dietary needs of Jackson's Chameleons at different life stages, along with appropriate supplementation and feeding techniques, is essential for any keeper.
Distinguishing Features of Jackson's Chameleons
Males are easily identified by the three horn-like appendages protruding from their face, a feature that distinguishes them from other chameleon species. Females generally lack these three horns; they typically have a single small horn or only small traces of the rostral horn. The two genders also differ in appearance by color, with the males ranging from dark green, with a turquoise head and bright yellow patches on their flanks.
Natural Diet and Replicating It in Captivity
As insectivores, Jackson's Chameleons primarily consume insects. In the wild, they are opportunistic hunters, consuming a wide variety of insects, including flies, bees, wasps, and small beetles. They will pretty much eat anything that they come across. Replicating this diverse diet in captivity is essential for their nutritional needs and overall health.
Nutritional Needs at Different Life Stages
Various factors come into play when choosing the correct diet for your reptile; chameleons need a diverse mix of insects to meet their nutritional needs and to keep them healthy. The nutritional requirements of Jackson's Chameleons vary depending on their age:
Babies (1-3 months)
Babies (1-3 months) need to eat as much as they can twice per day, as they are growing fast they need the protein and will burn through it quickly as they use it for their growth. Offer x-small insects only. Do not provide them insects that are bigger than the space between the eyes for most live feeders. For some, this rule can be relaxed; for example, in the case of hornworms or silkworms, they can manage slightly bigger. The best staples for them are extra small dubia roaches and black soldier fly larvae.
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Juveniles (3-6 months)
Juveniles (3-6 months) can be fed slightly larger insects, extra small will now be too small, so you will want to offer them small dubia roaches, black soldier fly larvae, small crickets, and other small size insects.
Sub-adults (6-12 months)
You can now offer your chameleon medium bugs, they should be eating 8-12 medium dubia roaches or the equivalent per day.
Adults (over 12 months)
Adults can have large insects, so you can now give them 6-8 large dubia roaches or the equivalent per day. The smaller the insect, the more they will need to eat, so in the case of BSFL, for example, you will need to give them more like 20-25 per day if feeding BSFL solely.
Suitable Feeder Insects
A varied diet is mentally stimulating, and key to helping your chameleon get balanced nutrition. A staple diet is like between eating grilled chicken and salad for every meal - it may be nutritious, but you get tired of it over time and you’ll probably end up with a nutrient deficiency.
Here's a list of appropriate feeder insects for Jackson's Chameleons:
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- Flightless fruit flies (Drosophila hydei) - for babies only
- Black soldier flies and larvae
- Blue bottle flies and larvae
- Crickets
- Hornworms and sphinx moths
- Locusts
- Mantis hatchlings
- Roach nymphs (banana, dubia, discoid, orange-head, red runner)
- Silkworms
- Snails, preferably with shells (captive-bred only)
- Stick insects
Offer treats like mealworms, superworms, butterworms, and waxworms no more than once a week. Superworms contain cancer-fighting peptides, which makes them a super treat! For the record, the whole thing about superworms chewing their way through a chameleon’s stomach is a MYTH! So crushing the superworms’ heads is unnecessary, and will only reduce your cham’s feeding response.
Insects to Avoid
Never feed your Chameleon wild-caught bugs, yes they eat wild insects in their natural environment, but where we live is quite different to their natural homes with different flora and fauna.
Avoid feeding fireflies, wild-caught insects, newborn rodents, and adult roaches. Adult cockroaches have high uric acid levels and may cause gout when frequently fed to chameleons.
Supplementation
As with most insectivorous reptiles, Jackson's Chameleons need to have extra vitamins and minerals added to their diet to stay healthy. Even in the wild, getting enough calcium in their diet can be a problem due to the high phosphorous:calcium ration of more feeder insects, so it is up to you to add a little extra to give them what they need. The main supplements you will need are regular calcium powder without vitamin D3 added, calcium powder with D3 added, and also a multivitamin supplement. Calcium is required to support and maintain healthy bone growth and development; vitamin D3 is used by the body to help absorb the calcium. Their UVB will help them to produce their own vitamin D3, but they should still be given a little extra to ensure they are getting enough. A multivitamin helps to add a balanced range of vitamins and minerals they may be missing with an insectivorous diet. To administer the supplement, simply put your choice of feeder insects into a baggie, add a pinch of the supplement being used that day, and shake the bag up to coat the insects evenly. Then feed the insects to your Chameleon as per usual. Do not add too much supplement; you're not looking for powdered donuts, just a pinch for alight coating will do.
Chameleon expert Bill Strand recommends the following supplementation schedule for Jackson’s chameleons:
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- Every feeding: Arcadia EarthPro A
- Once per month: Repashy CalciumPlus LoD
Vitamin A
Vitamin A is a bit of a hot topic in the chameleon community. In the early 90s, a rash of vitamin A toxicity cases were found in captive chameleons, and as a result the entire reptile community switched to beta carotene (a precursor to vitamin A) in supplements rather than retinol, preformed vitamin A. In 2003, “Chameleons and Vitamin A” was published, disproving the assumption that preformed vitamin A was a danger to captive chameleons, and asserting that it is actually necessary for optimum health. However, like the “vaccines cause autism” myth, widespread hearsay based on the initial scare means that many of today’s captive chameleons are vitamin A deficient. Despite this paper’s publication, many of today’s chameleons are vitamin A deficient. It is yet to be found whether chameleons are capable of converting beta carotene to vitamin A, but studies and keepers have noted that beta carotene supplementation does not prevent vitamin A deficiency symptoms.
Bee Pollen
Bee pollen is another item that can also be used on your bugs as an appetite stimulant but also for added health benefits. Reptiles tend to be attracted to the sweet smell so it can be used as a tool to help fussy eaters to eat their bugs by sprinkling the powder on them, it can also be fed to insects as part of the gut-loading process.
Bee pollen contains a variety of key nutrients: amino acids, vitamins, minerals, trace elements, enzymes, fatty acids, and carbohydrates, as well as natural antioxidants and antibiotics. As a result, it boosts a chameleon’s immune system and acts as a natural multivitamin “supplement.” Unlike multivitamins, pollen should be provided with each meal.
Bee pollen can be purchased in powder form or granules. Use it to gutload your feeders and in your dusting as well!
Gut-Loading Feeder Insects
Gut-loading your live insects is the process of passing on essential nutrients through your feeder insects onto your pet chameleon by feeding your bugs a nutritious diet. This will make them full of vitamins and minerals, which will then be absorbed by your pet once they have been eaten. To properly gut-load your feeders, you can use commercial products that have been designed for this purpose, or you can simply feed them salad items that would be safe for your pet to eat themselves. Think of it as a way of tricking your Chameleon into eating stuff they usually wouldn't touch giving it to their bugs instead.
Feed lots of collard and Turnip greens to your feeders, along with other fruits and veggies.
Hydration
Since chameleons pretty much flat out refuse to drink still water from a bowl or dish, the only way to give them water is to try to mimic the way they way drink in their natural environment. This involves misting their enclosure, including the walls and the leaves with water multiple times per day, to ensure that there are always droplets available for them to drink should they need to. You can choose to do this by hand if you have the time, but the best way to do so is to use a "ripped" to do this automatically. You always want to make sure that the water you give them is clean and treated, so using a product to dechlorinate the water is a good idea.
Feeding Schedule and Quantity
Here are some general guidelines for feeding Jackson's Chameleons:
- Babies (1-3 months): Feed as much as they can eat, twice a day.
- Juveniles (3-6 months): Offer 10-12 small crickets or the equivalent per day.
- Subadults (6-12 months): Feed 8-10 medium crickets or the equivalent per day.
- Adults (over 1 year): Provide 6-8 medium or large crickets or the equivalent every other day.
If you’re not sure how many bugs to offer after bringing your new chameleon home, it’s okay to put the bugs in a cup so you can count how many your cham will eat in one sitting. Babies have been known to eat as many as 20 pinhead crickets per day!
This is just a general rule to go by, based on averages. Use this as your template until you get a sense for your chameleon’s individual biorhythm and physical condition. Offer more bugs if your cham is losing weight, and fewer bugs if it’s gaining too much weight (adults only).
Recognizing and Addressing Feeding Problems
It is common for a chameleon to refuse to eat certain foods.
- Your Chameleon is not hungry - We typically feed chameleons in captivity many more calories than they need in their safe cages. They are not having to hunt for food or evade predators! This means they just might not be hungry! And, what do we do when we are not hungry? We eat the food that is fun to eat! So, if your chameleon is not hungry they may still eat the worms or flying insects, but ignore your crickets or dubia roaches. This is not something to panic about. This is just a response to being well taken care of!
- Your Chameleon got used to crickets - Chameleons can get used to a certain food and not feel the need to change. Usually, chameleons are excited about seeing a new feeder insect. But, every chameleon is different. And sometimes they will eat the same thing for months and then, suddenly, be open to something new. If your chameleon gets stuck on a certain feeder then let them eat that feeder (as long as it is nutritious) but keep trying variety. Eventually, they switch over. Two things to keep in mind. First, chameleons have been raised their whole life on gut loaded and supplemented crickets so, if that is their choice, you do not have to panic.
- They had a bad experience - Feeder insects sometimes fight back. If your chameleon got bitten by a feeder insect they may be scared to try and eat it again.
If your chameleon starts refusing food then first, go to the schedule published above. If they still turn their nose up at what you feed them then skip a feeding or two until hunger comes back. A healthy chameleon can easily go a week without food. They can go longer in times of hardship, but a week without food is usually enough to get them back to a state where they eat because they are hungry.
Feeding Methods
To feed your chameleon, put gutloaded feeder into a cup or bag that has the proper supplementation powder and given a tumble to coat the insect with the powder. These feeder insects are then put in the cage with the chameleon. There are a variety of methods to feed your chameleon. Another thing to take under consideration is how long you leave your feeders in with your chameleon.
- Bowl feeding is where you place a container in the chameleon cage where the feeders cannot get out, but the chameleon has a clear shot for its tongue. These can be as simple as bowls or plastic mini tote boxes with a branch network above. A Chameleon Feeder Run Cup is a modification on this idea where a vertical side is extended so the feeder insects will climb up and be much more visually stimulating to get the chameleon’s attention.
- Controlled Release is where you release one or a couple of feeders up the screen side of the cage. The insects scatter and you chameleon hunts them down. This is the method of choice for chameleons that just don’t embrace a bowl feeding. To produce a hunting response, feeder insects are released in the cage for the chameleon to hunt down. Usually this takes the form of releasing the insects to climb a wall that is near the chameleon. To do this, I place my feeders in a deli cup that has the appropriate mineral/vitamin powder, gently shake to get a coating of powder, and then tip the cup up against the screen side of the cage. I sometimes give a tap to get the feeders to go to the cup opening. The feeders will generally start climbing the screen and you just let them climb up. I do this in tongue range of the chameleon, but as far away from him as possible. Ideally, this is done below him and the feeders are allowed to crawl up the screen. Doing it below him will make the activity less stressful as chameleons have a security when they are looking down on things. The main challenge with this method is the stubborn feeders that decide they want to climb down. Dubia roaches can have this tendency. Obviously, this method is problematic in that the feeders can then come in contact with poop and possibly spread any parasites that are in the cage.
- Hand feeding is an enjoyable interaction you can have with your chameleon. It is a way to get him to be comfortable with your presence. Do this with a special feeder treat and hold the treat between you and the chameleon.
Vertebrate Prey and Vegetation
Chameleons will take vertebrate prey such as lizards, pinkie mice, and small birds. If it moves, and can fit in their mouth, then it is fair game. Depending on the size of your chameleon, occasional vertebrate prey is a benefit. Obviously, the larger the chameleon the more likely that they will eat another lizard or even pinkie mouse. We generally don’t make a regular occurrence of feeding vertebrates, as you could easily give their bodies too much of a good thing. But an occasional feeding of an appropriately sized vertebrate is acceptable. There is no determined schedule as to how much is too much. A bi-monthly vertebrate feeding has worked well for me for my larger chameleons. If you are unsure, then stick with an insect diet. A very few chameleon species will eat the leaves of the plants in their cage. Most notably, the veiled chameleon. There are many ideas as to why they do this. Nutrition and hydration really don’t make sense considering what they eat and when they eat it in the wild. The one explanation that does make sense is that they use the leaves as roughage to help their digestion. This idea was put forth by Petr Necas as he observed veiled chameleons in Yemen eating leaves when there was ample food and water around. Their poop showed leaves undigested, but wrapped around the poop.
In captivity, there is no need to feed vegetation and, especially, do not feed fruit. This has been a common practice, but not for the right reasons. Veiled chameleons are programmed to eat anything and everything to grow up as quick as possible before the dry season comes and kills them all. But, if your chameleon does take bites out of your cage plant then do not worry. It is just nature’s programming.
With the exoskeleton feeders we feed in captivity our veiled chameleons are not as dependent on roughage. They apparently had no need, in the wild, to ever not eat plants. The cynical among us would point out that that is the effect of living only one season. Living for years is a new dynamic on their evolutionary development. But this does highlight that if you have a veiled chameleon, replace any plastic plants with real plants as plastic leaves may be eaten and cause health issues. Since the veiled chameleon does not have much in the way of discernment, we need to make accommodations. Pothos (Epipremnum aureum) has been shown to be a safe plant for veiled chameleons to live with and nibble on.
General Care Tips
- Don’t worry if your Chameleon chomps on your plants.
- Remove uneaten food after 30 minutes. All of your gutloading and supplementation dusting efforts go to waste if the insect is eaten after it is starving and has lost its coat of powder. For many reasons, it is best to remove the feeders if they are not eaten. And do not put the feeders back in the feeder bin with all the other insects. The feeder may have picked up a pathogen or parasite in the chameleon’s cage and you do not want that spread around. These feeders should be destroyed and not reused. This is especially true of feeders that have had any contact with poop. This is the exact way that parasites rely on to be spread. Your goal is to have everything you offer be eaten.