Please help! Male or female?

[Nikola91]

Hello guys and girls,

I received a Panther Chameleon a month ago and need help identifying whether it's male or female. (I think its 4 months old)
What part of the chameleon should I take a picture of so it makes it easier for you to identify?

I'll attach a random pic of him/her when I had a prison break

Tnx in advance.

 

[Jeevesieb]

Hi there! Welcome to the chamily. It's hard to tell with little ones. Their colors don't start to come in until 7 months or so. What you are looking for is a male will have a hemipenal bulge at the base of the tail. Not the vent on the body, but where the tail connects. I am attaching a picture of my guy at about 9 months, cropped and with the bulge circled. Hope this helps!!

 

[Jeevesieb]

Sorry. I got fat fingers there and accidentally circled the vent as well. I hope this makes sense.

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi. Your pic would be perfect, but the back leg got in the way of the vital area. In little ones the hemipenal bulge is subtle and it can be a challenge to correctly sex one.

 

[Nikola91]

Thanks for replying. I will wait a few more months and post again.

 

[MissSkittles]

Thanks for replying. I will wait a few more months and post again.

You don’t need to wait so long. Lol Just post some pics with his/her tail out straight like it is, but without the leg or anything blocking the view. There are some who are breeders and just very skilled at sexing little panthers.

 

[Nikola91]

If these 2 do not help I will have to take him/her out for a photo session

I bought it as a male, but still, I have no clue.

 

[ChameleonGuy686]

Definitely looks like a girl to me!

 

[Jeevesieb]

Definitely looks like a girl to me!

I was thinking the same!

 

[MissSkittles]

I was thinking the same!

Me too, but I’m usually terrible at sexing.

 

[FramsChams]

From those two pictures I would say girl as well. No hemipenal bulge at the base of the tail.

 

[Beman]

Off topic but can you post a few pics of her enclosure including the lighting on top so I can see how they are positioned?

 

[Nikola91]

This is a temporary enclosure I made as quickly as possible so she is not in something reallysmall. I am building something much bigger and better. But here are the pictures.

 

[Beman]

This is a temporary enclosure I made as quickly as possible so she is not in something reallysmall. I am building something much bigger and better. But here are the pictures.

You may not want to hear this but the fact that she does not have the correct UVB Lighting or airflow because she is in a tub with heat on it is going to be pretty dangerous for her. High risk for MBD due to not having the right UVB lighting and respiratory issues due to the heated moist tub with lack of air flow. She is going to be highly stressed as well with the lack of height.

I do not know how far away from having a permanent enclosure you are but she really can not stay in the tub and she has to have T5HO lighting with a 5.0 or 6% bulb then at the right distance to branches for correct UVB levels. Females getting MBD is even worse then males since they lay infertile eggs. A compromised bone structure can make it extremely hard for them to lay eggs without becoming egg bound.

Neptune the Chameleon youtube videos and chameleon academy at this link are good resources when you are new to chameleons. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/

 

[Nikola91]

This white light bulb is rated at 6% UVB don't know where you saw it is not?
I have holes drilled into the tub on all sides and a mesh on top.
I think she will be fine until new enclosure is done.

 

[Beman]

This white light bulb is rated at 6% UVB don't know where you saw it is not?
I have holes drilled into the tub on all sides and a mesh on top.
I think she will be fine until new enclosure is done.

Yes, that is a compact uvb bulb and they are not created the same and a T5HO bulb/fixture. If you are using mesh that is not aluminum mesh then it reduces the UVI even more. Linear T5HO fixtures are the only ones recommended due to how UVB bulbs push usable uvb out and the UVI levels they are able to produce at different distances from the bulbs. Compact bulbs have a much smaller area of impact right below the bulb. Here is a link for you to learn more about how each type functions totally different.

Best of luck to you and your new adventure.

 

[MissSkittles]

Hey @Nikola91 I just wanted to pop in and strongly encourage you to get your cute little girl in a correct set up without delay. Even if you pick up one of the smaller ReptiBreezes for very brief and temporary use, it will be much better than the bin she’s in. Little ones, like your cutie, must have everything as perfect as possible as they have zero resources to fall back upon. Having correct uvb is not something that can wait either. Far too many beautiful animals have fallen victim to those screw in uvb lights, the Zoo Med chameleon kits, pet store workers giving out wrong info and other issues. Neptune the chameleon has partnered with Pangea Reptile in putting together a kit that is actually what a chameleon needs and all at a great price. https://www.pangeareptile.com/colle...tarter-chameleon-kit-by-neptune-the-chameleon She has quite a large and growing library of videos that are so very helpful and make it all easy to understand. We want you to succeed and enjoy many years of enjoying your beautiful and sweet little girl. I do hope you’ll return with your success story to help inspire others.

 

[Nikola91]

Unfortunately, they don't ship to where I am. But I have all the other things except the UVB tube light. What I can get here is Arcadia. Can you recommend any of their lights?
For supplements, I bought Arcadia EarthPro-A and Arcadia RevitaliseD3. The only thing I am missing is the correct UVB light.

 

[MissSkittles]

Arcadia’s Pro T5 with the 6% bulb, I believe it’s the ‘forest’ one is excellent. The only other brand I recommend is ReptiSun. Once you have the correct uvb, you then want your basking area to be 8-9” (20-22 cm) below the uvb light. This will give your cutie the optimal uvb levels. You will have your basking light right next to the uvb and may need to get a different wattage of basking bulb. You want her highest basking temperature to be no higher than 80F (26-27 c). For supplements you’ll also need to add the Arcadia Earth Pro Calcium ProMG. From their website - EarthPro-A at every feed and on all food items, EarthPro-CalciumProMg at every 4th feed, A quality full-spectrum powder with D3 and A can be offered at feed 6 or 8. Maybe the graphic below will help too.
I know that often people are hesitant to put their baby chameleon in a full adult sized enclosure, but they really do fine. Have a feeding station that is easily visible from the basking area (usually just a little bit lower) so that she will always know where to find her food. The hard part is you being able to find her in a big enclosure, but that will be the way she will like and feel safest. Once she’s bigger, it will be easier to find her…maybe. I can search all over my panther girl’s enclosure and never find her until I look right in front of my face and there she is.
Right now and for a few months you won’t need to worry about it, but once your cutie is fully mature, she will be laying eggs even if not mated, just like chickens do. Although I wrote this specifically for veiled girls, it does apply for panthers too. The main difference is that panthers don’t mature as quickly as veileds do. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/veiled-chameleon-laying-101.2488/

 

[Nikola91]

I've been trying to get her to eat from a feeding cup (or however you wanna call it) but she keeps avoiding bugs in it. Any tips on how to do it or should I just wait so she is way too hungry to avoid them (if yes how long can I wait)