General Personality Differences of Jackson, Panther and Veiled (Just a Discussion)

[Dynasty]

About the jacksons

I have a male and female Jacksons. They both stay in separate terrariums in different rooms. The male is a little more relaxed for me, when it's time to handle them to move something around the female doesn't cooporate as much and tends to get fired up and almost try to bite me. But they both let me hand feed them the first day I brought them home from the breeder so they're very lovable. They won't give you a hassle and are pretty relaxed. But i've only owned jacksons since I live in hawaii so I wouldn't be able to tell you much of the difference .

 

[Murrdox]

I have had a male of all three species mentioned.

Jacksons: Very timid, yet very friendly demeanor. He would shy away from being handled, generally by trying to hide from your hand. Once picked up would generally be calm. He never once hissed at me. He always readily hand-fed. When I came home from work, he would come down from his basking spot and wait by the entrance of his cage for me to feed him. It was so adorable. It seemed like he was always hanging out somewhere different in his cage. Never slept in the same spot twice.

Veiled: I don't have anything much to add beyond what's been said. He was tolerant of others until he was approximately 8 months old, and then quickly became extremely territorial. While a Jacksons will attempt to avoid being handled by hiding, the Veiled would simply try to intimidate you from trying. I never was bitten, but I think that's just from being experienced and careful. He'd have bitten me if I gave him the opportunity. Never hand-fed after 6 months old. I don't see them as being particularly active either. They tend to pick a lounging spot, a basking spot, and a feeding spot. Then they sit there and get comfortable and lounge there all day.

Panther: Very similar to the Jacksons. Is not quite as timid though. If upset, he'd gape at you, but would never actually try to bite. Most times would tolerate being picked up when necessary. Readily hand-fed up until he was about 8 months old, and then abruptly stopped. When he was about 10-11 months old my wife acclimated him to hand-feeding again and he hand-fed for the rest of his life. He tended to be pretty active. He would explore his cage quite a bit. He did have favorite sleeping spots though. He'd pick a spot to sleep in, and every night that's where he'd be. Then once in awhile he'd change his mind and pick a different spot, but usually his sleeping spot wouldn't change until I cleaned his cage and his plant got shifted around on him. When people approached the cage to look at him, he tended to be very calm. He wouldn't puff out and hiss like a Veiled, and he wouldn't try to hide like a Jacksons. He'd just sort of look at you, and check you out while you were checking him out. When I had the rehearsal dinner for my wedding at my house, his room was pretty crowded. I tried hand-feeding him with about a dozen people crowded around his cage, and he was absolutely fine with it. I was actually really surprised.

I've got a soft spot for Jacksons, but I love Panthers.

 

[LucasD]

I have never owned a veiled, but according to YouTube, they seem to be sociopathic demons bent on the destruction of mankind. My panther however, won't think twice about hand-feeding or climbing onto me.

 

[CamiGirl89]

I think I am just very lucky with my female Veiled. She is wonderful. While she spits at me in her cage, the worst I have ever received was a head-butt. The picture I attached is one of her at a "Tangled" themed birthday party. She has done alot of this with me in her past 12 months with me. When out of her cage, she is so docile, and loves the attention she receives. I just think that this picture is a great statement of how wonderful Veileds can be

 

[jmwhitel]

I had a male Jackson years ago that was friendly from day 1. My new female veiled isnt. She just wants to be fed and left alone. I respect her wishes

 

[theresaintucson]

All 4 of my panthers have never bitten, hissed or even gaped at me.

 

[Shawntea]

I've only had pygmies and a jackson, but love the jackson. He is very curious about what's happening around him. at 6 months old he hurries to the door of his enclosure and watches me. Timid when it comes to picking him up, but chill once settled, and loves riding on my shoulder.

 

[Dynasty]

I have both a male and female Jackson. The male seems to be a lot more active when inside his cage compared to the female. They're both in separate cages in different rooms, but once they're both out the cage they both are very active. Walking around exploring, trying to crawl up everything. Little rascals

 

[Dr O]

I'm just giving a shout-out to the 3 carpets that I recently acquired, 2 WC and 1 CBB. They are sweet, chill, and amusing as hell. My house is full of Panthers, but the lateralis are just much more active and always up to something.

 

[tdismang]

I have never owned a veiled, but according to YouTube, they seem to be sociopathic demons bent on the destruction of mankind. My panther however, won't think twice about hand-feeding or climbing onto me.

LMAO! I'm in for a treat, then!

 

[Carlton]

The thing that bothers me a little about these discussions is that someone is going to be disappointed if the cham they choose doesn't happen to behave like others they read about here. There are TOO MANY variables to be able to predict their adult personalities! That is the reality. Those of us who have kept a number of chams over the years can probably claim an exception to each species "rule". We can tell stories and talk about generalities all we want, but it comes down to chance and acceptance of what you happen to get.

IMHO, pick the species you want based on what appeals to you visually, biologically (some species might appeal to you more because of where they originate from or how they live in the wild), and what will fit best into your particular situation (size of housing, temp and humidity requirements, how fussy they will be about supplements and nutrition, patterns in health problems, etc). Read about the likely aspects of ending up with an aggressive or shy indiviudal of each species and decide if you can live with it.

For example, if I choose to keep a B. fischeri I know generally I will have a beautiful green leaf-like lizard with gorgeous rostrals and pearly skin. I know I'll have to be prepared for an active, space-loving, higher humidity, cool temp, supplement-sensitive flying insect lover. I also know that most likely I'll end up with a fairly shy reactive one but, if I end up with a raging angry dude I am OK with that too. I would not expect that my fischeri conform to what other people describe...my cham will be my cham forever.

 

[LusiTrainer413]

I have had a Male Veiled (now passed on R.I.P) and currently a Male Jackson (although he is sadly sick right now but he's taking some medicine! I hope he gets better he's my favorite ! )
My veiled was always very moody, someday a he was fine being around me and being handled other days he'd hiss at anything that moved or came near him! My Jackson is a way different story, he's super use to me but if I pet him and let him know the person I'm let hold him is good he doesn't mind, I've never seen him mad he usually just stiffens up or leans away if he doesn't feel like coming out, but if he's really wants freedom he climbs right on lol, he's a odd ball though, he likes drinking from a bowl and is chill about 90% of things, but he does hate his medicine right now lol and he has a bad habit of wanting to climb clothes and hair (he'll go up your face if you give him a chance XD !) hope this helps I haven't seen much on this form about Jacksons.

 

[Bush baby]

Jacksons are generally more laid back, and passive. The one i have seems to be the exception o the rule. He hisses and acts like he's going to bite just like a Veilded does, and hates being handled.

 

[Vinyonga]

I've only had Jackson's, out of that list. It really differs from chameleon to chameleon - but I'd say that in my experience, males are more friendly. (I've had very friendly females, but the majority of friendlier ones have been male.)

 

[MissLissa]

I work with 41 Jacksons and 38 Veileds. I can honestly say there is no "one true personality" for either. We have shy Veileds, fear-aggressive Veileds, territorial Veileds, and super sweet Veileds. We have shy Jacksons, fear-aggressive Jacksons, territorial Jacksons, and super sweet Jacksons. While our Veiled population does tend towards being more reactive than the Jacksons, that is a population-wide generalization and does not at all apply to a given individual.

Saying "Panthers are like this" is like saying "Labrador dogs are friendly goofs": never mind that the worse bite I've ever gotten was from my neighbor's highly aggressive lab.

I'd go through the caresheets and find one that suits your lifestyle and care preferences best and if you get more than one match, chose the one you like the look of best- especially since chameleons aren't really handling pets anyways.

 

[Carlton]

Saying "Panthers are like this" is like saying "Labrador dogs are friendly goofs": never mind that the worse bite I've ever gotten was from my neighbor's highly aggressive lab.

The only dog I've been attacked by was a golden retriever. This dog cornered me on a porch (a stranger on its street) and lunged right for my face repeatedly. So much for their general reputation of being simple to train (or not even requiring much training) sweet and great with everyone.