Late bloomer or in need of a name change?

[cubanbee]

Hi Everyone,

New to the forum, but have been reading here quite a lot and recently acquired a panther chameleon from a private owner, with a "full set up" at a very reasonable price. She didn't know a great deal about the chameleon other than she got him from a breeder, and said that it was male. She was mis/uninformed about a number of other things and I've done a lot with the info on this forum to improve diet, the diet of the feeders and pretty much just started from scratch with a 4x2x2 LLL enclosure and live plants.

So, meet the cham currently known as Pablo. Looking for help on sexing. Apparently 9 mos old, not very colorful at this point. Lots of white. These pics are as hot as it gets. I see a...small...lump at the tail base, but without finding any really good A-B from underneath comparisons in my searches, I'm still just unsure. Someday I'll have one of each and can inspect them properly... All things being equal, love this panther, great eater, drinking, hates the camera like me...will be an awesome pet and hobby for me and my family regardless. Will be happy to stop using "it" rather than he or she...

If anyone wants to take a stab at locale, I'm all eyes. Previous owner: "I think Ambilobe?" I think more Ambanja, but I'm a newb and it might just be impossible to tell at this point. Note that the second and third shots are under a yellow incandescent light. Natural color is more like the more vertical shot.

Thanks and look forward to talking with you all some more!
Kevin

 

[squeekz1992]

Hi and welcome
Looks like a baby boy ambilobe. Colors still develops until roughly a year/year and a half. Don't be too hard on him just be patient

 

[Olimpia]

Huh! The rostral process (nose ridge) and what looks like a bump indicate male, but he's a funny looking boy if I'm right. He almost has the colors of a girl.

I hate to take a leap (think horses, not zebras thing) but would anyone else think maybe Pablo is a hermaphrodite? For his age his bulge should be much more pronounced, as should his colors. But he's a little effeminate, so perhaps it's a possibility? We have come across them before, just usually with females.

Of course, this is assuming he is indeed 9 months old. But I've never seen colors like this on a boy, and he should look more mature at this point.

OP, could we get photos of him on your hand or something to get an idea of size?

 

[cubanbee]

Hi and welcome
Looks like a baby boy ambilobe. Colors still develops until roughly a year/year and a half. Don't be too hard on him just be patient

Patient I can do, thanks so much for your input!

 

[cubanbee]

OP, could we get photos of him on your hand or something to get an idea of size?

Here we go, from the first day home about 2 weeks ago. In the "I'm so white I'm a ghost" state...

 

[Olimpia]

Man, he's gorgeous. I mean that!
The face is definitely male and his tail is thicker than a female's, so I'd still call him Pablo but I do think he's a bit of an odd-ball.

 

[cubanbee]

Thanks Olipmia! Odd-ball is cool with me, now I'm really interested in seeing how he evolves. I just read your blog from another post comparing how Daedalus and Cerberus matured. Good stuff thanks for the insights.

 

[Lathelia]

I agree with Olimpia. Definately not a female, but possible it's hermaphrodite. Either way, he is gorgeous! Cap est males fire up white, but they have more of a 'U' bar then 'Y' like your boy.

 

[AngieL]

By the look of the tail in the last pic he's def a he! His colours are beautiful!

 

[cubanbee]

Thanks everyone, I'm going to go tell him how pretty everyone thinks he is now.

 

[djfishygillz]

Im going to say ambanja, and they are always the latest to color up.

 

[cubanbee]

Just thought I'd post an update. Pablo had his first shed in my care and.. wow! There are the colors!