Panther Chameleon stays brown mostly, help please advise.

[JediMom]

I am looking for some advice please.

Ziggy Stardust – estimated hatch date: October 1, 2025
I received him on January 8, 2026.

He is housed in a Reptibreeze XL enclosure with Arcadia lighting. For basking, I use an Arcadia GoldenSun 75W bulb on a dimmer, set to maintain a temperature of 86°F, with the thermometer probe placed on his basking branch. I also use an Arcadia 12% UVB light positioned 11.75 inches from the basking branch. For plant growth, I have an Arcadia Jungle Dawn 34W LED. I have a Solar meter and he is in the Ferguson 3 zone.

He is fed daily with a mix of black soldier fly larvae (BSFL), dubia roaches, and crickets. Feeders are dusted with Repti Calcium (without D3), and on the 1st and 15th of each month, I use Reptivite for supplementation.

All feeder insects are gut-loaded with fresh vegetables such as collard greens, arugula, and occasionally carrots or sweet potatoes, along with Repashy Bug Burger. I also frequently include bee pollen in the gut load.

UVB Lights on at 7:35 AM and off 7:35 PM

Basking on at 7:45 AM and off 2:45 PM

Plant LED on at 7:55 AM and off 7:05 pm all on timers

I hand spray the cage at 6:45- 7:00 AM

I hand spray again at night if temperatures are below 70 degrees at 8:00 PM



Fogger is on a timer and 9:45- 10:15 and then 12:15 am to 6:45 am

Mister is on a timer and 11:05 PM, 12:15 AM, 2:00 AM, 3:10 AM, 4:50 AM and last for 30 seconds



Temps in cage on basking are 85 and bottom of cage 74-70 degrees depending on our crazy CA weather during the day

Temps are 70-63 at night.

The air conditioner is set for 77 degrees



Humidity is average at 70% night and 40-50% day time depending on AC usage

His poop is dark brown with white urates, rarely do I see any orange



My concern is he is brown all day long with some occasional peeks of a sea foam green. I know he should be brown when basking, but this is all day.

His hatchet is seafoam green when he puffs up ( usually when he is “hunting for a dubia”)

His sleep colors are White, light gray, with some red polka dots scattered

Brown = stressed or basking to my understanding.

He is in a room with little traffic, no other animals other than his feeders out of his sight.

I am sending pics as well, please advise what I can do better for him. I have include his cage, pics of some color, his usual brown and the pj colors.

The local breeders here just say he is a late bloomer and be patient. My concern is what if I am doing something wrong.



Thank you,

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi and welcome. Ziggy Stardust is a cutie! Love his name too! I’m not seeing anything in your husbandry that is off. Your uvb bulb is too strong, but you’ve adjusted the distance appropriately and checked uv index, so it’s fine. Which ReptiVite are you using - the one with or without D3?
The only suggestion I have is to reduce some of the plant cover. You’ve got a lot of plants in there and it may be too much. I’m going to assume the basking branch is clear and not shaded, so that he is able to get full uvb and heat. Generally chams will darken when trying to absorb heat or uvb better. One of mine (a veiled girl) was the color of mud when I first got her and stayed that way until I upgraded her enclosure. So, try clearing away some plants and see if that makes any difference.

 

[JediMom]

Thank you for replying, funny hearing too many plants usually I see the opposite. I will clear some out but he does have two clear spots to bask.The reptivite 2 x month is with D3. I thought Ziggy was stressed so I actually added another plant recently without any change in him. I will wait until he is asleep and make those changes so I am not stressing him more. Thank you for you help, I greatly appreciate it!

 

[Coop]

At least for my ambilobe, he stayed relatively uncolored until he reached full maturity. He’ll grow into them!

 

[JediMom]

I removed some plants and opened up a bit, scared him when I dropped a plant and he turned green and ran in my arm… I had him on his out of cage plant and was moving him back in and boom a plant dropped. We will let him adjust to the changes and see if anything changes. Thank you for both of your replies. He is my first chameleon and despite all the research I am a nervous first timer just trying to make sure he is happy!!