Your Jackson's chameleon can't tell you the room has crept too warm or that it's dehydrating. baskr watches the pattern across your logs, temperature, humidity, weight and feeding, and shows you what needs attention before it becomes a problem.
Free forever for your first 3 animals · Works offline · No app store
Health today
Doing okay
Jackson's Chameleon
Too warm
Averaged 30°C vs the cool ~27°C ceiling it needs. Cool the room, heat is the main risk.
Basking spot
27–29°C · 81–85°F (no hotter)
Ambient
21–24°C · 70–75°F
Night drop
13–18°C · 55–64°F
Ideal ranges for Trioceros jacksonii, the same targets baskr scores your logs against.
Basking and warm figures are surface temperatures at the spot; cool and ambient are air. Measure with a probe or infrared thermometer at the animal's height.
Diurnal
Active by day
Highlands of East Africa
Wild climate. Cool, humid montane forest of the Kenyan and Tanzanian highlands; mild days and genuinely cold nights.
Why the care is what it is. This is why baskr keeps it cool (basking no hotter than 27 to 29°C), insists on a real night drop and high humidity, and flags heat, which is this montane species' main danger.
Logging is the input. The product is spotting when a single off reading becomes a pattern worth acting on.
Basking no higher than 27–29°C (81–85°F), ambient 21–24°C
Heat is the primary danger, sustained warmth above ~29°C stresses and kills this montane species.
A genuine cool night drop into the teens °C
No night cooling, common in warm homes, wears the animal down over time.
50–60% by day, higher at night, with misting or a dripper
Dehydration (sunken eyes, dark urates) is a top problem.
6% over the basking branch, filtered through foliage
Weak UVB risks metabolic bone disease.
Varied gut-loaded insects, dusted with calcium
An unvaried, poorly-supplemented diet causes deficiencies.
Steady; watch gravid females closely
Frequent live births can wear a female down, monitor her condition.
Safe to include
Avoid
Heavy live planting holds humidity, gives shaded retreats (vital for a cool-running species), and supports drinking droplets.
Staples
Occasional / treats
Never feed
Supplements. Calcium at most feeds (with D3 lightly, per your UVB) and a multivitamin occasionally.
Good to know. An insectivore that drinks droplets, not from a bowl. Variety, gut-loading and calcium are everything.
The right kind of kit, pick brands you trust.
UVB lighting
A 6% T5 HO tube (Ferguson zone 3) over the basking branch, filtered through foliage, replaced every 12 months.
Gentle basking heat
A modest basking source to reach 27–29°C, or none if the room already runs warm enough, on a thermostat. The usual challenge is keeping it cool, not warm.
Cooling for summer
A way to keep the room cool in hot weather (a cool room, fans), overheating is this species' main risk.
Misting or dripper
Essential for drinking, since it won't use a still bowl.
Thermometer + hygrometer
To prove it's staying cool and to track humidity.
Screen enclosure
A tall, ventilated screen enclosure for airflow.
Grounded in your own logs and the ideal ranges above, plain language, never a diagnosis.
Enclosure has averaged 30°C this week, too warm for a Jackson's. Cool the room and ease the basking bulb, heat is the main danger for this montane species.
Nights aren't dropping. Give a genuine night cool-down, Jackson's need cooler nights to stay healthy.
No drinking logged and urates look dark. Add misting or a dripper, dehydration is common.
Enter your own readings for an instant care score, the same check baskr runs for you every day.
Enter a reading or two above to see Jackson's Chameleon's care score.
A quick guide, not a diagnosis. Ideal ranges vary with age, morph and setup, and individual animals differ, so confirm anything critical with an experienced keeper or a reptile vet.
They're a montane highland species, evolved for mild days and cold nights, and they can't handle sustained heat. Overheating is a leading killer, so keeping the enclosure cool (and cool at night) is the whole game.
No, they give birth to live young (ovoviviparous), an adaptation to cold high altitude. Females can be worn down by frequent births, so monitor their condition.
Not really. They're solitary, easily stressed display animals; house one per enclosure and let it drink from moving water. Enjoy watching rather than handling.
They're an intermediate choice. The cooling requirement, especially in warm homes and summers, trips people up more than lowland chameleons do.
Log your jackson's chameleon's care in seconds and baskr does the watching. Free for your first 3 animals.
Start freeLast reviewed August 2026. General husbandry guidance, not veterinary advice, and ranges vary with age, morph, subspecies and setup. Confirm anything critical with an experienced keeper or an exotics vet.