Chameleon colors?

Khans Crazy Critters

Khans Crazy Critters

Member
I have a male ambilobe panther chameleon who is very tame but his colors aren't very vibrant like most panthers. The brightest I've seen his colors at was when he was sleeping, he was all red orange and yellow. I have tried natural sunlight and he likes it. I take him outside as much as possible. I will try to post a photo when I get home. The people we got him from told us that he was a rescue. As I said he is super tame an calm but his colors seem a little dark. He is fed a verity of dubias, horn worms as a treat, crickets, and super worms (but not very many)
All of the food is fed carrots and potatoes plus this green, I think it's called like cricket aid I'm not sure,food. He has a screen cage 32x32x48 and he has live and fake plants. The live plant is what is called an umbrella plant and it's chameleon safe. I fact it comes from all over Madagascar. And the other plant is a live nepenthes alata pitcher plant. He has an exo Terra monsoon and a cantina chameleon drinking fountain. For lighting he has 2 tropucal reptisun 5.0s and a halogen 75 watt infared bulb. The basking temp is about almost 100 degrees with the ambient temp being 75-85 degrees. His day time color is dark green with redish purplish bars. Any ideas on his colors?
 
To my understanding, some individual chameleons regardless of species may not tend to display as bright of colors as most...maybe your pick of the litter is of that subtype. In addition, coloration may also have to do with his parents, do you know who his/her mother and father are and do they have deep, full ranges of colors? Also, how old is the little fella? Many chameleons don't develop full color ranges for a few months after birth, mine for example is still only displaying primarily green at almost seven months old.


The fun part....
My wife would kill me if she knew I said this but try putting a little mirror in front of your Cham, that's a sure fire way to get the brightest colors from him/her!

Don't make it a habit though lol, stressing out our pets is never good for their health in the long run :)

Good luck m8!
 
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He is about 3 years old, but I don't know the color of his parents. I did try letting him see himself I the mirror but he didn't care. It's almost like he understands mirrors. Who knows maybe he does. He isn't even phased by the female we have.
 
Ponyboy said:
He may just be the Ben Stein of Chameleons - however a three year old Panther should have a wide range of colors.

Again, if you can find out perhaps who the parents were, this may be completely normal for his family.
Click to expand...
Sadly I was unable to find out what colors his parents were or who they were. But after replacing lamps and adding stuff to his cage his colors have improved very slightly.
 
Alright guys, so I'm deciding to bring this back up for discussion. Here are some photos of Van Gogh. He was a rescue, so god knows what he's been through, but his personality is fantastic. He's super tame and loves people's hair, he will wait by the cage door and when you open it he climbs on your arm. When he wants to go back to his cage he will rise up on his back legs and put both hands in the air. Then he will enthusiastically climb into his cage.
 
Alright guys, so I'm deciding to bring this back up for discussion. Here are some photos of Van Gogh. He was a rescue, so god knows what he's been through, but his personality is fantastic. He's super tame and loves people's hair, he will wait by the cage door and when you open it he climbs on your arm. When he wants to go back to his cage he will rise up on his back legs and put both hands in the air. Then he will enthusiastically climb into his cage.
 

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Khans Crazy Critters said:
The basking temp is about almost 100 degrees with the ambient temp being 75-85 degrees.
Click to expand...

100 degrees is a little high for a panther chameleon. That may be why he is dark all the time... Check the care sheets here on the site....
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/panther/

The basking temps should be closer to 90 degrees or around there. I hate to ask, but is there a way for you to post a clearer shot of the spines down his back? They appear to be gray in color, and look to be some possible burn marks. Is that what they are? I'm only asking because you mentioned the basking temp was 100 and that is high enough to cause a burn mark on the chameleon.


Khans Crazy Critters said:
The monsoon go's off every 6 hours at daytime
Click to expand...
The chameleon only gets sprayed every 6 hours? How long does it spray for? Every 6 hours is quite a gap. That would mean that, with a typical light schedule, your chameleon is only getting misted 1-2 times a day. Not a whole lot if you ask me. Do you monitor the humidity and is it good if you do? How do his urates look?
 
trickedoutbiker said:
100 degrees is a little high for a panther chameleon. That may be why he is dark all the time... Check the care sheets here on the site....
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/panther/

The basking temps should be closer to 90 degrees or around there. I hate to ask, but is there a way for you to post a clearer shot of the spines down his back? They appear to be gray in color, and look to be some possible burn marks. Is that what they are? I'm only asking because you mentioned the basking temp was 100 and that is high enough to cause a burn mark on the chameleon.



The chameleon only gets sprayed every 6 hours? How long does it spray for? Every 6 hours is quite a gap. That would mean that, with a typical light schedule, your chameleon is only getting misted 1-2 times a day. Not a whole lot if you ask me. Do you monitor the humidity and is it good if you do? How do his urates look?
Click to expand...

The misting system actually goes on every 4 hours now for about 30 seconds. The basking spot is now about 92°right now. 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark. His poops are brown and his urates are white. And his back spines are like a turquoise blue. He is also in mid she'd right now.
 
Khans Crazy Critters said:
He is also in mid she'd right now.
Click to expand...

That must be leftover shed on his back that I see then. Okay. (y)

As for the 92 degree basking spot, that is great! That is the highest my basking spot ever gets. I try to keep it between 88-92 degrees (it fluctuates just a hair with the warming/cooling of the ambient room temp)
 
He looks like he might have tamatave in him, he also looks like he has mild mbd, which can affect health/coloration.
 
MissLissa said:
Some panthers of the Sambava and Tamatave locals can look a bit like that, actually; quite dull when resting, and bright orange/yellow when fired up.
Click to expand...

I'm very positive that he's an ambilobe, he was also a rescue, and again he's shedding, it might just be those factors, either way I'll still love hims, he has the funniest personality ever.
 
Do you see the middle bar is shaped like a U? That's indicative of the sambava locale. His colors at night also look like a sambava. Most sambava are a pretty solid green at rest, sometimes with some red or orange in the gular. He sure looks like a sambava, whoever told you Ambilobe is incorrect!
How can you be so sure he's ambilobe when he's a rescue and you nothing about his parents?
 
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