werecat
Established Member
So, obviously this is not a health problem, but I have been wondering if it's possible for a 2.5 year old panther chameleon to have a growth spurt at this age.
Our panther has always been on the small side for an adult. Even other cham keepers have commented on this. Also, in the year that he has been in our care, he was never a big eater. He would usually eat no more than 4 prey items every 2-3 days. He would also hunt these prey at his leisure, often saving a couple for the end of the day. In the past month or so he has had a very robust appetite and has increased to eating 6-7 items every 2-3 days. He also hunts with a gusto I've never seen. He usually takes everything out in about 20 min - an hour unless they hide well. Also, he has had 2 full-body sheds in the last 4 months (and none prior to this in the year we have had him).
One thought we had is that prior to us, he never lived in one place for more than 6-8 months. He had 2 owners (besides the breeder) prior to us. We are thinking maybe he never was "settled" enough. Maybe there was always a slight stress factor that prevented/stunted his growth at that point (although I know he was very well cared for by his last owner)? Another thought is that it has taken him a year to settle with us and get to a point where he can be himself? Guess I'm just curious if anyone has seen this before.
Our panther has always been on the small side for an adult. Even other cham keepers have commented on this. Also, in the year that he has been in our care, he was never a big eater. He would usually eat no more than 4 prey items every 2-3 days. He would also hunt these prey at his leisure, often saving a couple for the end of the day. In the past month or so he has had a very robust appetite and has increased to eating 6-7 items every 2-3 days. He also hunts with a gusto I've never seen. He usually takes everything out in about 20 min - an hour unless they hide well. Also, he has had 2 full-body sheds in the last 4 months (and none prior to this in the year we have had him).
One thought we had is that prior to us, he never lived in one place for more than 6-8 months. He had 2 owners (besides the breeder) prior to us. We are thinking maybe he never was "settled" enough. Maybe there was always a slight stress factor that prevented/stunted his growth at that point (although I know he was very well cared for by his last owner)? Another thought is that it has taken him a year to settle with us and get to a point where he can be himself? Guess I'm just curious if anyone has seen this before.
