Panther Chameleon is a hater!

[gwendolene]

I got my female panther chameleon 3 months ago. I would visit her in the pet store, feed her and take her out to play with her. I brought her home and set up her tank. It has leaves, bedding and logs. We also bought her a mister to keep her humidity at 80%. Her temperature stays around 75-80Fahrenheit. I feed her crickets 6 out of 7 days and give her super worms 1 out of 7 days. Within a week of her being at my house, she stopped letting me take her out, bit my boyfriend, puffs up and turns black if you but your hand in her tank. I havent taken her out, I just let her do her thing. I just want to know why all of a sudden she had a major attitude change. We've set a space up to lay her eggs, which she didnt do, so I am pretty sure its not that. I have no other reasons or solutions. Could someone please help?!

They think she is two years old! :/ dont know if that would help out ?

 

[Olimpia]

Welcome to the forum! We're more than happy to help you with any questions you have.

Is she in an aquarium tank? Or a terrarium, with the air vents at the bottom that has a door on the front? An aquarium is a highly recommended against because it causes air to be stagnant. Glass for you in Canada is great to keep humidity and temps up but a terrarium would offer better air circulation so the air in there doesn't get "old" and make her ill. Chameleons are very sensitive to that kind of thing.

That said, I'm concerned about a few things you mention about your tank. Would it be possible for you to post a photo of the tank and the female? It'll help us figure out if there's a reason in her environment that is causing her to be aggressive.

Also, if you don't mind, please fill in this form in as much detail as you can. It'll also go a loooong way in helping US help YOU! https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

 

[ChameleonFan1989]

When you say bedding, may I ask what bedding you are using? If its substrate, I advise to take it out

Anyway in general chameleons don't like handling and some tolerate it more than others and are very territorial of their enclosure, so I wouldn't keep trying to handle, if she wants out she'll come to you.

Just admire her beauty but IF you need to get her out, try and entice her with her favorite treat and get her to stretch for it but following it and climbing onto you

 

[gwendolene]

dont know how to post pictures?

Your Chameleon - Panther Chameleon, Female, aprox. 2 years old
How long has it been in your care? - 3 months
Handling - Never, she wont let me
Feeding - A dozen crickets 6 out of 7 days. half a dozen super worms 1 out of 7 days. She gets feed around 12noon. I feed them roman lettuce and potatos.
Supplements - I sprinkle the crickets with a brown powder ( dont know exactly what vitamin) the name is Flucker's with beta carotene Repta-Vitamin, only crickets not super worms.
Watering - A mister every hour for 12 seconds, yes my chameleon drinks.
Fecal Description - Black/Dark brown/dark green with a white piece after.
History - The owner before the store that I bought it from said she was nasty. When I was looking at her at the store, she was such a sweet-heart. Now I understand the previous owner.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Glass 30L cage, with a screen on top.
Lighting - 125watt UVA/UVB light, higher up then if it would be a 100watt
Temperature - 75-80F during the day, 60F during the night. I have a digital thermometer.
Humidity - 80% humidity, kept steady from the automatic mister, and the digital thermometer records that.
Plants - fake
Location - Toronto, Ontario

 

[gwendolene]

to chameleon fan

I use cocoa fiber, it was recommended by the store owner.

Rudy (my chameleon) use to love being held and handled, whenever she saw me at the store, she would turn a very bright pink and baby green colour. now its instant black.

 

[ChameleonFan1989]

No substrate, many to all pet stores will push substrate to make a sale, either use paper towels are a bare floor to avoid impaction.


our Chameleon - Panther Chameleon, Female, aprox. 2 years old

How long has it been in your care? - 3 months

Handling - Never, she wont let me

Feeding - A dozen crickets 6 out of 7 days. half a dozen super worms 1 out of 7 days. She gets feed around 12noon. I feed them roman lettuce and potatos.

Just feed 2 superworms, half a dozen sounds to many. Try and offer more variety of feeders such as locusts, Dubia Roachers, Calci worms, Horn worms, Silkworms

Supplements - I sprinkle the crickets with a brown powder ( dont know exactly what vitamin) the name is Flucker's with beta carotene Repta-Vitamin, only crickets not super worms.

They also need vitamins WITHOUT D3 as well as ones with D3

Watering - A mister every hour for 12 seconds, yes my chameleon drinks.
Fecal Description - Black/Dark brown/dark green with a white piece after.
History - The owner before the store that I bought it from said she was nasty. When I was looking at her at the store, she was such a sweet-heart. Now I understand the previous owner.

Try and mist for at least 4-5 minutes 3-4 times a day, 12 seconds isn't very long for droplets to form or give her enough time to drink. It's also good to make or purchase a little/big dripper

Cage Info:

Cage Type - Glass 30L cage, with a screen on top.

By what I can make out, it sounds like a tank with no height?? These are tree dwelling creatures, a screen/mesh enclosure is advised

Lighting - 125watt UVA/UVB light, higher up then if it would be a 100watt
Temperature - 75-80F during the day, 60F during the night. I have a digital thermometer.

Is this a bulb that has UVA and UVB combined? If so they need to be separate bulbs, one for basking and a 5.0 liner UVB light

Humidity - 80% humidity, kept steady from the automatic mister, and the digital thermometer records that.

Plants - fake

Location - Toronto, Ontario

 

[Olimpia]

I wouldn't necessairly make a fuss out of the substrate, since the risk of impaction is relatively low (from what I understand) in well hydrated animals. Getting a little bit of it isn't going to be a disaster. But it's generally not recommended, mostly because chameleons need so much water, and anything at the bottom of the cage would just become soup!

I'll say again that I think it'll be better to get a glass terrarium over an aquarium, or a screen cage if you prefer. But a terrarium will still let you maintain proper levels of stuff while adding air flow.

 

[gwendolene]

the tank

the tank is an aquarium which is 30 inchs long, 19 inchs tall, 13 inchs in width

may i ask what the differences between a terrarium and an aquarium?

 

[pbveiled]

You need something that is tall, not wide. A 2 year old panther should be in a cage that is at least 24in wide X 24in deep X 48in tall.

A terrarium will have additional vents to allow proper air flow through the cage.

 

[suzi]

36 inches in height is enough for a female, exo terra makes a nice glass terrium.

 

[Elizadolots]

To post pictures, use the "post reply" button, not the handy "quick reply" box. That will give you an icon that looks like a paperclip. Clicking on that and following the prompts will let you post a picture from your computer. If you have a picture hosted at some other site (facebook, flickr, photobucket) just get the URL for the image (right click on it, select "copy image url"). Come here and click the icon that looks like mountains with the moon, paste the url into the pop up box.

It is possible to keep a chameleon in an aquarium, so I'm not going to tell you that's bad. I will tell you that it's probably easier to keep them in something taller with better, built in, ventilation. With an aquarium, you need to create airflow by putting your heat off to one side. You'll also find that drainage is much easier to achieve in a mesh cage or an enclosure without a glass bottom.