Panther Cham angry in his cage, happy while free range

[Chamonster]

We have had Breaker, our Nosy Be Panther for close to a month now and he is just shy of being 4 months old after receiving him from Screameleons. Currently, he is in the phase after receiving him where he is “supposed” to have maximum privacy to allow for his acclimation to his new habitat. Well, Saturday the 27th of June, we went out and bought an umbrella tree for him to free range on and we allowed him to come out of the cage on his own and climb in.
In the umbrella tree, he was such a great color; real light blue turquoise and actively exploring his boundaries. He even had the ability to climb up to an artificial vine that we had suspended from the ceiling (which he tried to eat and we promptly stopped and removed the vine). When we put him back in the cage he slowly turned back dark like he was stressed. While in the cage before this session, he normally was an in-between of turquoise and dark brown/black.
My wife and I didn’t think much of it. When we saw him on Sunday, he was still a little dark while in his cage even while he actively hunted crickets and consumed them. When we opened his cage and he meandered out, he instantly turned his light blue turquoise and upon being placed back in his cage, he was dark and remained that way until he curled up for nights rest.
The main question after giving the back story is, have we ruined our Nosy Be Panther for staying in his cage during the day when my wife and I aren’t around to let him free range for a while? Have we exposed him to the free-range life and he doesn’t want to be caged any longer?


-Shaun & Alicia

 

[nightanole]

Nah my cage doesnt even have a front door and hes turd colored in the cage. Odds are you have the uv light in the cage and he needs to be darker to get his uv. Outside they are bright colored because its way more uv then they need in direct sunlight.

You might get better colors in the cage if you move the cage to a brighter spot in the room, or up the lighting in the cage with more florescent or basking spots.

 

[Jelloman]

My panther is the same way. Inside he is more drab dark colors and outside the enclosure brighter and vibrant. I do get the impression that he prefers to be outside of the enclosure though but, such is life. Now he is going through a phase of not eating on the free range and when I hold my hand out with a worm he walks past it and onto my arm??