Dark Lateral Line?

Kinoki

Member
I've had Chronic, my male Nosy Mitsio Panther for 9months now. When I got him initially he refused to eat crickets for a month or two and only ate fruitflies and the occasional mealworm (stopped feeding these). This kind of stunted his growth a little I think.

Eventually I got him on a steady diet of crickets and silkworms, dusted with rapashy calcium Lo D. Lately I've been reading that the all in ones aren't the best, and I should take a day or two off to avoid too much D3.

So I am a little concerned because my guy is starting to really bulk up and grow and he's getting his green coloring. Though a lot of the time he's still very brown and recently I've noticed his lateral line which was at times bright white, is dark brown.

I've read that D3 toxicity can cause darkening and also that stressed chameleons will be dark. His basking spot hits 93 and his shadier areas hits 76 ish. His night time temps don't drop as much as I want, but it probably circles 75. I'm trying to feed him daily still too catch up on some of the starving times stunting his growth. Got 5.0 uvb bulb and linear t5 on his cage, which I'm going to upgrade to the 4 ft cage soon.

I don't know if anything is wrong, he's changing so dramatically I can't tell what's a bad sign or him just growing. Any tips or advice are welcome!
 

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He is pretty cute.
I think a basking spot of 90s is too high. I wouldnt recommend anything over 85.
As for the all in 1...I used that repashy and it was great for the younger ones who were growing so quickly, but as soon as my female veiled got a little older it started causing edema in her. So I switched to a phosphorus free calcium with no D3, and 2 times a month I use reptivite with D3.
 
My guess is he wants you to shed more light on the matter
Ahh haha my bad... So he looks a lil young still so i wouldn't stress. He is like JUST getting to the stage where he will start developing colors around 10 months and he will be full color at 18 months. As long as you have husbandry and proper supplementation you should be fine. Look how dark my guy was when he was a babe
 

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Its hard to tell from your pictures, its also harder to tell when they are younger. Can you get better pics of the back face of the feet? I know it can be tricky. I'm leaning towards male just from What i CAN see and your saying he's getting bigger which could also indicate he's a male
 
He is pretty cute.
I think a basking spot of 90s is too high. I wouldnt recommend anything over 85.
As for the all in 1...I used that repashy and it was great for the younger ones who were growing so quickly, but as soon as my female veiled got a little older it started causing edema in her. So I switched to a phosphorus free calcium with no D3, and 2 times a month I use reptivite with D3.

"Panther Chameleons prefer to bask at temperatures between 90 and 95 degrees, although in a large enough cage a basking spot in the 100s is not out of the question."
https://www.lllreptile.com/articles...day, Panther Chameleons,of the cage should be.

I'm going to consider switching from the all in one, still gotta figure that whole feeding schedule out. Thanks for the advice!
 
"Panther Chameleons prefer to bask at temperatures between 90 and 95 degrees, although in a large enough cage a basking spot in the 100s is not out of the question."
https://www.lllreptile.com/articles/14-panther-chameleon/#:~:text=During the day, Panther Chameleons,of the cage should be.

I'm going to consider switching from the all in one, still gotta figure that whole feeding schedule out. Thanks for the advice!
Most sites I find recommend 90-100 max basking temp for panther chameleons?
90-100 is too high.
 
Is he always so dark in color? What are his resting colors?

He has been mostly a brown, with dark brown bands, red eyes and few green scales behind them, and a white lateral stripe. He's started really putting on the size the past few weeks and has completely transformed. He started showing a strong green coming through the brown and his lateral stripe is dark brown a lot of the time. If you look in the photos you can see what he looked like leading up to the big jump.
 
Most sites are wrong too about the husbandry info. Hotter basking temps leads to shorter lives...

Most keep their males no hotter then 85 max at basking.

Everything on this site is correct info done by Bill Strand... There is an image guide that will tell you specifics. https://chameleonacademy.com/panther-chameleon-care/

Remember if you drop using the LoD at feedings you have to replace it with a calcium without D3. Feeders must always be supplemented because of the high phosphorus levels they have. So we balance those levels out with plain calcium without D3.

I am concerned about his size. He is very small for a 9 month old. Personally I would get a fecal sample run to make sure he does not have a parasite load. This is a very common reason for them to not get to the size they should be at.
You have a male because you can see the bulge in the first image you posted.
 
I'm really thinking that if you have him 9 months then he is at minium 10 months. (I'm no expert either but a think you may have a gravid female) only my opinion. @Kamikaze Chameleon

I received him super early, like 2 weeks old. I'm pretty sure he is a male, but it's still up for debate. No one can give me a straight answer, because he's been kinda been behind in development since he went on a hunger strike so young.
 
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