Shop bought vs chameleon I have at home

[Dave2020]

Hi everyone,

I’m new here and so grateful this exists!

I bought a male panther chameleon from a well known reptile seller. We were at the shop, I chose my boy, took pics of him and fell in love with him. His vivarium had a sticker on it saying male and I double checked with the owner what gender he was and he said male and that he sells loads of panthers and only really gets males in. As he was part of an “all-in-one” price to include the viv and all the extra bits and pieces we couldn’t collect him until the following week as the guy needed to order the kit.

However Dave will be four months old on 2nd March and I know it can take a while
for colour to come through but I have seen absolutely no colour come through on him, his tail doesn’t seem to be thicker at the base and his rostral process seems female to me.

i would love your help to see what you think please. The first two pics are of the ‘Dave’ I chose/held and bought in the shop which I think is definitely male and definitely blue/green in colour

theother pics are of my chameleon at home and whilst I love him/her I would like help identifying if he/she is male/female

thank you so much

 

[Dave2020]

Sorry i’m not good at this technology business- the first five pics are of the boy in the shop, the rest are of my Cham I have at home

 

[skoram]

So you do not know if the chameleon in the first few photos at the shop is the one you actually received? Or did you receive that chameleon and its color changed to brown over time?

I "only" own 3 panther chameleons and have yet bred any so my experience is fairly limited, but I would still say with pretty strong confidence that your "at home" chameleon is a female. There is clearly no hemipenal bulge whatsoever and it has female 'brownish/pink' coloration as opposed to the drab brown color of babies.

For reference this is what my male Ambilobe looked like at 2-3 months old:



About one month later he looked like this:

 

[Dave2020]

Thank you so much for your reply!

I am convinced that the “in shop” Dave is different to the one we were given a week later as my ‘at home’ Cham has never shown a blue/green colouration as the one in the shop did.

whilst I love “my Dave” I paid an awful lot of money for the package for a male and am concerned I was taken for a ride

thank you for your help

 

[skoram]

When you received the chameleon one week later did it look the same as your at home photos? If so, did you question the shop about the difference in appearance?

Anyhow, if they promised you a male and you don't want to keep the female I would definitely go back and demand an exchange or refund.

 

[coastal_chameleon]

that's a male

 

[skoram]

that's a male

Can you share why you think it's a male? I'm not discounting your opinion at all. Sometimes it's difficult for me to sex chameleons, especially young ones, so I would just like to learn more about what other people look for when they try to determine gender.

 

[coastal_chameleon]

Can you share why you think it's a male? I'm not discounting your opinion at all. Sometimes it's difficult for me to sex chameleons, especially young ones, so I would just like to learn more about what other people look for when they try to determine gender.

in the first two pics you can see a thick base . but now im unsure because the last couple ones look like a female (thin tail a pinkish coloration hmmmmmmm