Exploding Chameleon!!

[ZiggyStardust]

I have had a male Veiled Cham for 6 months now, and when he sheds, it can take absolutely days....

You see him start.... usually on his head, and then the rest of him gradually peels off, but it can be a lengthy, drawn out process. Sometimes his head sheds.... and then nothing for 3 weeks, and then his body follows suit. I always make sure, when I see him start to shed on any part of his body, to up the misting and make it as easy for him as I can... but, bless him - it always seems like a loooong process until he is finally finished.

I have never owned a Panther Cham, but got Ghengis, three month old Blue Bar Ambilobe three weeks ago.

Last night, his eyes looked a bit "flaky". Misted him, before he went to bed.

This morning, his eyes were the same and he had a whisper of a shed just behind his shoulders.

Misted him, waited 20 mins, fed him and then went to get a shower.

Was in the shower for about 15 mins max.

When I came out and looked in the viv, he had literally exploded out of his skin! The entire body was hanging off him, he had showed no signs of this AT ALL before, but when I looked again, his entire body skin, including the tops of his legs and his head was just hanging off!!

I wasn't expecting this at all - Ziggy my Veiled takes forever to shed - Ghengis has just chucked the lot off in a matter of minutes!!

Why? Is it a species thing??

Ghengis tonight has no spare skin on him anywhere, whereas Ziggy is still shedding..... although his humidity and misting are exactly the same???

I'm just curious really!

 

[kevbek]

Im assuming your veiled is older than you panther. Species doesnt matter as far as i know (someone please correct me if im wrong), but the older a cham gets the longer it generally takes for them to complete a shed.

 

[pigglett79]

They take longer when they are older, but I have also noticed that my panthers shed much quicker and easier than my Jackson. The Jackson takes days to get everything off.

 

[kplatvoet]

One of the first times that Chumley shed my daughter was home from work and called me to tell me he was looking all strange and gray - he popped off his shed while she was on the phone and she actually thought he had exploded - he had done it a couple of weeks before for me thank goodness-
I've found that my Panther is faster than both my Jackson & Flapneck - Jackson takes the longest - the Flapneck has the habit of pulling off sticking pieces with her tongue - shooting at pieces hanging from her tail to get it off -

 

[ZiggyStardust]

hahhah! Thanks you guys!!

I guess I'm just so used to Ziggy the Veiled taking DAYS that this shocked the hell out of me this morning!

Also, when Zig is about to shed, he goes to ground, doesn't eat, basks the least amount of time that he absoultely can and just goes into "even more pissy lizard" mode than he is normally.

To see Ghengis up, about, basking, drinking and eating everything that I put in for him, as well as shedding, threw me into a tailspin!!!

Thanks for your posts, folks.....

x

 

[kplatvoet]

The great thing about a panther is how much the colors really start to come out each time they shed- at 3 months it took Chum about 3 weeks for his first and then it was about every 2 or three weeks for a while - the change was quick and stunning -- enjoy -
(pictures are good too- I wish I had taken one after each new shed)