Panther or Veiled? Trying to decide.

[ReptileLove18]

My baby veiled chameleon recently died due to unknown causes.. my family and i have decided we dont want to give up on having chameleons because of this and we know that we can provide a good home to another baby. so ive been doing alot of research on different chameleon species and have basically narrowed it down to getting another veiled or a panther. i would love any info or thoughts about this from other cham owners because every little bit helps. my mom really wants another veiled but is also interested in the panthers so any thoughts would help us decide what we should get. we dearly miss our baby Pablo and want to be able to give that love to another baby soon. we're also trying to find a really good breeder who does not inbreed their chams and actually cares about what they are doing. we found out after our baby died that the pet store we got him from got him from a crappy breeder who inbreeds and does not properly care for their chams so we dont want that to happen again.

 

[Olimpia]

That's a choice that's totally up to you! Hopefully, he'll be with you for 3-6 years so it will come down to who you are most excited about looking at every day.

Veileds:
- Are bigger
- Have the big, impressive casque
- Can be found with high-blue or high-orange color lineages
- Are much more affordable

Panthers:
- Have the rich, exotic colors
- Are a little smaller
- Cost quite a bit more

As far as temperament, veileds get a bad reputation but panthers are just as likely to be aggressive or calm. Their care is essentially the same, with very minute differences to humidity and the like.

If you have any questions that might help you make a decision, feel free to ask!

Edit - I forgot to say that I'm sorry to hear about your other baby passing away!

 

[Hickyhillbilly]

We had a female veiled who sadly died, we adopted her and unbeknown to us she had a parasite and died within 5 weeks, . We were going to replace her with another veiled but my breeder talked us out of it, we took his advise and got an ambilobe cross nosyb panther... What a superstar he is, so friendly, stunning colour, brilliant eater and wonderful personality! Certainly would not have any other species other than a panther.... Highly recommended! Good luck with your decision.

 

[ReptileLove18]

thank you, that is good to know! is great to get info from people who are experienced, thats why i asked for other cham owners opinions!
i have heard from some sites and people that veiled can be more forgiving for minor mistakes, what do you think about that?

 

[ReptileLove18]

We had a female veiled who sadly died, we adopted her and unbeknown to us she had a parasite and died within 5 weeks, . We were going to replace her with another veiled but my breeder talked us out of it, we took his advise and got an ambilobe cross nosyb panther... What a superstar he is, so friendly, stunning colour, brilliant eater and wonderful personality! Certainly would not have any other species other than a panther.... Highly recommended! Good luck with your decision.

im sorry to hear about your veiled dying. its so hard to lose em, they really steal your hearts away! thats interesting, and i will definally take it into consideration! i have no experience with panthers and little with veiled so every opinion and thought helps with us deciding!!

 

[Olimpia]

People say that about veileds because they come from tough environments so they can handle lower humidity and lower hydration better than a panther, but those are things that a well-educated owner shouldn't have an issue avoiding, regardless of what species you go for. I've had both and they were both very hardy chameleon species, it's just that perhaps Veileds survive in worse conditions a little better.

 

[ReptileLove18]

ok that makes alot of sense. a good cham owner shouldnt have issues with that if they are doing everything they are supposed to. thank you for all the info!!

 

[ReptileLove18]

I'm gonna be ordering a new baby veiled within the next couple days so im researching (again!) and seem to be finding alot of people here on the forum talking bout UVB bulbs possibly being harmful to baby veileds if you dont get the right one. i currently have a zoo med reptisun 10.0 UVB mini compact flurescent 13w AC120v / 60Hz. it has 2 coils. any thoughts on if i should get a different one before i get my new baby would be sooooo appreciated, i dont want to use one thats gonna harm him!!!!

 

[MCSEB]

Babies are a little tougher to take care of because they require much more than a juvenile or an adult. I would suggest you to get a juvenile chameleon around maybe 4 or 5 months and begin with that and see where things go. Just so you could get some experience in caring for a baby. This goes for both panther and veiled. I just got my first chameleon 4 days ago. He is a veiled chameleon. I wanted to get a baby but after reading through many things about babies and seeing that they require much more attention which I don't mind but it was going to be my first one and I didn't want to screw up so I just went with a juvenile and he's pretty interesting and not as hard as I thought for now. My little guy is 5 months right now.

Listen to what Olimpia said though. It's all up to you but read through her list between the panthers and veileds. My next chameleon is going to be a panther because I love their colors. I want a blue ambanja panther chameleon

 

[cantgetagoodsn]

Panther for sure. They're much more exciting to watch colors come in. I think they're prettier. As a design student I love the colors, especially from breed to breed.

 

[Vmag86]

Panther hands down. Their sheer beauty alone had me sold.

 

[ReptileLove18]

thanks for all the opinions everyone!! my mom ultimately decided she wanted another veiled at this time and so we're gonna run with it! lol. we found an awesome breeder, one of the sponsors of the forum and should be ordering our new baby within the next week!
my boyfriend and i have decided that our next baby is definitely gonna be a panther tho, because him and i have fallen in love with them! soon our house is going to have gone from a 2 snake, 1 cat house to a 2 snake, 1 cat, and 2 chameleon house haha. i cant wait!!

 

[babyjoe]

im in the same boat.ive barely had one cham( a veiled) 2 months and im already plan on getting another.ill be going panther for a bit of change.i will be giving it some time before i get one though just to make sure fred continues to do well under my care

 

[ReptileLove18]

us too! they steal our hearts so fast! they are simply amazing creatures. if we get any crazier we're gonna have to move into a bigger house just to keep up this passion hahaha