Stressed??

[hun73r]

This is my first post and my second chameleon. I had a veiled chameleon about 10 years ago and now I have an Ambanja Panther and I am wondering if he my be stressed for some reason as he is always displaying dark colors as seen in the picture:

He will turn very light white and green when sleeping but most of the time he is a variation of the brownish color. I apologize for the pic quality but I am still waiting on a macro lens to be delivered.

Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Male Panther chameleon that is 5 months old and in my care for about 10 days now

* Handling - I have only handled him to place him in the cage and make some plant adjustments

* Feeding - Crickets, Dubia Roaches, and the occasional meal worm.10-20 per day on crics and roaches. 4 to 5 meal worms as a treat (only once) I feed him about 10 in the morning around 9am and then an additional 10 around 6pm. I use cricket crack (pre-made gutload) and fresh oranges,apples,etc (no spinach or broccoli).

* Supplements - Rep-cal Calcium with D3 every other day and Rep-cal Herptivite 2X per week

* Watering - MistKing automatic mister. I mist for about 25 seconds 3-4 times per day. I do not see him drinking often but his urates are white.

* Fecal Description - Nicely shaped pellets and he usually produces 6-8 per week so far. Urates are white in color.

* History - Came to me from Screameleons and bumped his eye during shipping but has returned to normal operation after last shed (2 days ago). I guess it was like a black eye and a little sore. It never stopped him from eating so I do not think it was an issue.


Cage Info:

* Cage Type - Screen Enclosure with 18X12X20 measurements

* Lighting - 18" Reptisun 5.0 and a 60Watt Daylight basking light

* Temperature - Basking temp is 85 degrees and daytime temps are around 77 degrees ambient with a drop of about 4 degrees at night.

* Humidity - Humidity hovers around 58% and increased to 65% after misting and is measured by an analog hygrometer.

* Plants - In his small enclosure he has a small pothos plant the rest are artificial.

* Placement - Cage is located in my home office an the top of the cage is approximately 48inches from the floor. It is not near any vents/fans/drafts.

* Location - Central Texas


Current Problem - Gizmo seems to always be dark in coloration and I am wondering if this is normal behavior.

 

[GoFast]

Are you sure it's really a boy??

Also, you probably want to cut back on the D3...you should only be giving D3 around twice a month.

 

[chams1]

Also, you probably want to cut back on the D3...you should only be giving D3 around twice a month.

.....as well as usuing strait calcium with no D3 quite often.

Also I would transfer him to a taller cage.

 

[Elizadolots]

I think pictures of the whole animal from various angles would be really helpful.

 

[hun73r]

Sex and Calcium

I will get some calcium without D3 and do that. How many times per week is suggested?

I was told male and that is what I paid for so I hope that is what he is. Gizmo is not as good of a name for a female and I really do not want to look for the egg hassles at this point.

Here is a pic of the base of his tail:

I have a larger enclosure that I am working on currently (planting and such) for when he gets bigger but I am afraid it will swallow him now (24x24x48). I estimate him at about 4 inches snout to vent currently. The measurements may not have come across correctly on the original posting it 20" high x 12" deep X 18" wide. It is the Zilla Screen Habitat small size that I also received from Screameleons.

 

[hun73r]

More pictures:

 

[hun73r]

Do these new pictures shed any light on the sex? I am pretty sure it is a male but now you have me thinking.

 

[camshaft]

the bars and the horizontal white stripe are his stress colors. He's probably just dark to keep warm. My 5 month old Ambilobe stays very near that pattern that you show, without the white stripe. he only shows his stripe and full bars when stressed (scared).

 

[Nixehface]

my little cham(4 months) stays a fairly dark colour too quite often but has a really nice shade when he's asleep.

Can't shed any light on the stress colours though as i am no expert but my little one isn't as dark as yours.



I think I see a bulge in a few of the pictures so that leans towards male lol

 

[hun73r]

Thanks camshaft. I am hoping that the brown without the bars and stripe are his "happy" colors for his age as well. When he gets really mad (like when I try to offer him food from my hand" he gets little red dots everywhere. I just want to make sure he has the best possible environment and that all is well.

 

[hun73r]

Well since he is only 4 months old and very small I would hope it is not a gravid female. I know it is hard to determine size from the pictures but I went back and looked through old emails and on March 23rd he was approximately 3 months old so he may not even be 4 months yet.

 

[Cainschams]

Its a male. From what I have seen in pics around the forum are that Ambanjas seem to take a little longer to start coloring up as say an Ambilobe. Definite package on him, just give him some time

 

[Nixehface]

Well since he is only 4 months old and very small I would hope it is not a gravid female. I know it is hard to determine size from the pictures but I went back and looked through old emails and on March 23rd he was approximately 3 months old so he may not even be 4 months yet.

Yes, I decided to change my post because I knew it was ridiculous lol (hoping no one saw it before I could change it)
I only meant the colours reminded me of it but I do think it's a male

 

[satch4684]

maybe its just that he's still adjusting? my quad was stressed looking for a while sometimes, and I almost started to worry. After 2 or 3 weeks, though, he was happy. My planning wasn't so great, so i had to change a couple things in the cage, once everything was left alone he started acclimating pretty quickly and it was easy to tell he was much more comfortable.