is my nosy be a male or female?

alchemy

Established Member
Hey all,

I got my nosy be from a local exotic pet store in late december when I was told that my little buddy is a male. Well, a few months have passed, and while I've seen some bluish-green on its head, the rest of the body is a neutral "brownish" color when relaxed, and I do not see any bulge where the tail starts. Ive read stuff that said sometimes they look like they will have lots of color at a really young age, but turn out to be female. What do you all think? Link to the pic is below. Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Jim

https://www.chameleonforums.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=1716&c=3
 
I'm guessing girl

pic is a little blurry, but I looked at your other one, too and my guess is a girl. How old is it? I found that panthers develop more slowly than veileds in the first 3-5 months. I was shocked at how tiny Cy was at 2 months - looked like a newborn! You can see pics of him here Cyrus. Look at the album called Cyrus and look at end of page 1 and then page two for his baby pics. There are a few when I questioned if he was indeed a male. The last pic on page one and the first three on the second page. They were taken when he was 3 months and in hindsight it is clear he is a male as you can see his hemi-penal bulge.

Hope you are not too disappointed if it is a girl, just keep in mind that they have the ability to develop infertile eggs and you will need to be aware of signs and be prepared. If you can post a close up of vent area we can tell you for sure. Wait for other more experienced opinions

Btw, generally speaking (there are exceptions), pet shop people know nothing and even less about chameleons!
 
Hey lele,

Thanks for the reply. I see what your saying.... she is about 3.5 months.

Im not disappointed if it is indeed a female, but the only reason I didn't want a female was because of the eggs, as I believe I wont have the "extra" time that females require, and Im not entirely familiar with...I hope I'm not sounding selfish about it, but life is quite busy and a male is enough work for me.....worst case scenario is that "she" goes to a new home and is kept healthy by someone who has the time and understands a female chams needs. I'd rather not keep it and take my chances, only to find it dead one day after getting home from work :(

I'll try to get another picture with a close up of the vent to verify her gender.

Yeah, I agree with you on most pet shops, but the one I went to actually does care and do a great job with their reptiles surprisingly. The specific person who sold it to me actually has a few chameleons and has been quite successful raising them properly. I guess I shouldnt have thought it was certain that my cham was a male because I got him at 1 month of age and thats still quite young to know anything for sure.

Thanks again.

Jim
 
Setting up a laying site is quite easy so dont worry. The female will start to hang around the bottom of the cage a day or so before she is ready to lay. I use pay sand from home depot...it has to be damp so it can make a clump in your hand because they need to tunnel in it and not have it colapse. When you see her hunting the bottom of the cage you just put her in a huge bucket of the sand...at least 14'' deep and leave her alone for the day.
 
Thanks ChamTree, you make it sound really easy:) ....one question though, how early can a panther lay eggs? I dont think mine is old enough yet at 3.5 months but I just want to make sure. Thanks again.

Jim
 
ok, well here are two more pictures....one is a profile view showing the lack of a bulge, and the other is when he got "colorful" on my hand...that pic doesnt do any justice because he was primarily "bluish" in reality, but "greener" in the picture you see. This gender thing is quite tricky!....help me establish a 1.0.0 or 0.1.0 with my panther. I'm not too fond of having a 0.0.1 :p thanks all!

By the way, maybe Im just paranoid, but its stomach looks funny to me in the profile view picture. what do you think? thanks again.

Jim

pictures
profile view
colorful
 
Hey Jim,

It looks like your nosy is a female. She looks nice and healthy, btw. My nosy females have the same blue on their heads as your little girl does. One of them gets very blue at rest, and at first glance, almost looks like a pale version of a male. Here is a pic of one of my females. She is about 7 months old here:

prettynosybefemale.jpg


I have some pics of a male nosy that is about the same age. As you can see, the stomach is normal.

Picture045.jpg


Picture046.jpg


Picture043.jpg
 
Thanks Heika,
Your post was quite informative...I agree, a "pale" male is what she always seemed to be so it threw me off. So female it is, unless anyone else wants to dispute it! :p

Btw, beautiful colors and patterns on your female panther!


Thanks again,

Jim
 
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