New Father to Panther Chameleon

LoneBridger

Member
Hey guys, I live in Washington State and I recently bought a beautiful Panther Chameleon for its size, male or female. I have multiple photos.
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^This is when it is under its ceramic heater and 5.0 UVB

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^This is it resting at night asleep at 72 degrees.

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^This is soaking up natural sunlight on a 90 degree weather day.

If anyone could help me out gendering so I can prepare my enclosure for whatever they end up as. I’m taking them to the local vet today because I bought them from Petco and I know store clerks sometimes don’t know how to care for them. Getting just a check-up I’m keeping them regardless of condition and going to make the best enclosure possible, male or female. Colors are beautiful teal and pastel, bright blue cheeks along with other mint greens. Length from head to cloaca is about 4 inches. I can’t really see a bulge at the end of that tail could be from young age though. Some Panthers are good about hiding their gender in early months so any comments are greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading! Any input to give will be taken with Gratitude. -Jacob
 
Okay in that case, how soon should I prepare for clutches!?! We have a project of cutting open 3/4 this water heater into a bigger enclosure with a bottom to fill with dirt! image.jpg
 
I am not the most experienced keeper but I am not sure that is a suitable enclosure -- it would depend on where you live.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/enclosures/ <-- there is some information on enclosures.

As far as when to be ready for an infertile clutch, that depends on your husbandry and your individual chameleon. Many keepers attempt to slow egg production in females by dropping the basking spot temp a couple of degrees and reducing feeding. My girl layed her first clutch at 1 year 3 months.

If you intend on filling the bottom of any enclosure you decide to use with dirt, I highly suggest you go Bioactive. Otherwise, the combination of moisture/dirt/possible dead feeder could result in some unwanted bacteria.

If you do not go bioactive and have a bare bottom enclosure, she will need a lay bin. For me, I use a large flower pot with organic soil mixed with play stand so that when moist it can hold a tunnel. I put a rock about 3-4 inches down as it is said that females like to lay up against a root ball or rock. Mind you -- when she layed she picked the potted pothos plant instead, but I still keep her lay bin in there year round so she has the choice.
 
Thanks so much! The idea was to go bioactive and get all the necessities! It’s gonna be plasma cut and have a mesh screen replace all the openings and adding an easy access door for cleaning. I’ll keep in mind the rock and try to get a tall enough tree to put in that won’t grow too wild
 
Thanks so much! The idea was to go bioactive and get all the necessities! It’s gonna be plasma cut and have a mesh screen replace all the openings and adding an easy access door for cleaning. I’ll keep in mind the rock and try to get a tall enough tree to put in that won’t grow too wild
oooooo well that sounds pretty cool!
 
100% female. Female Furcifer Pardalis can produce infertile eggs as soon as 5-6 months of age. She is at that or older. She could have a clutch at anytime. I would read up on keeping bioactive and female chameleons.
 
Here’s a layout of plans for that water heater.
Installing rubber washers through the top to allow my mist system to be slipped in and fastened, open the top for a full dome lighting with aluminum rubber mesh to prevent burns, side vent with sliding plastic door for easy access to let in feeders without escapes, rubber screen opening with larger holes to prevent toe damage.
Any other ideas will be implemented with space provided. Anything helps
 
2x2x4 is the minimum. Youre going to want to go larger if possible. Females can be in a bit smaller enclosures. If youre going full bioactive keep in mind that your soil is going to need to be deeper for her to lay clutches (see picture at the bottom for substrate to cage ratio). To get the size plants youre going to need to grow youre going to need it deeper and wider anyway (if your roots have no room to grow the plants wont grow larger). Myself, @Brodybreaux25 and couple of others are here to help if you have any bioactive questions. Also keep in mind we recommend you get the bioactive enclosure going for roughly a month, I say 2, before you put a chameleon in. This was a rough sketch I made way back when I was listening to Bill Strand talk about bioactive enclosures. The color represents the heat gradient needed in the enclosure. You'll want your plants reaching the mid "hiding zone". Also those sticky thermometers and hygrometers arent going to cut it, and they can get stuck on and hurt the chameleon. I recommend a simple combo from home depot or lowes for like 12 bucks. Welcome to the forums!
sketch1562032321084.png


Here are the links to the podcast episodes.

Episode 72 Bioactive environments part 1

https://www.chameleonbreeder.com/podcast/bio-active-part-1/

Episode 73 Bioactive environments part 2

https://www.chameleonbreeder.com/po...ronments-pt-2-with-john-courteney-smith-mrsb/
 
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2x2x4 is the minimum. Youre going to want to go larger if possible. Females can be in a bit smaller enclosures. If youre going full bioactive keep in mind that your soil is going to need to be deeper for her to lay clutches (see picture at the bottom for substrate to cage ratio). To get the size plants youre going to need to grow youre going to need it deeper and wider anyway (if your roots have no room to grow the plants wont grow larger). Myself, @Brodybreaux25 and couple of others are here to help if you have any bioactive questions. Also keep in mind we recommend you get the bioactive enclosure going for roughly a month, I say 2, before you put a chameleon in. This was a rough sketch I made way back when I was listening to Bill Strand talk about bioactive enclosures. The color represents the heat gradient needed in the enclosure. You'll want your plants reaching the mid "hiding zone". Also those sticky thermometers and hygrometers arent going to cut it, and they can get stuck on and hurt the chameleon. I recommend a simple combo from home depot or lowes for like 12 bucks. Welcome to the forums!View attachment 243067

Here are the links to the podcast episodes.

Episode 72 Bioactive environments part 1

https://www.chameleonbreeder.com/podcast/bio-active-part-1/

Episode 73 Bioactive environments part 2

https://www.chameleonbreeder.com/po...ronments-pt-2-with-john-courteney-smith-mrsb/
This is beyond helpful, I’ll be sure to follow these very closely
 
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