How big should a one-year-old male panther be?

[CloudsMystique]

My vet seems to think mine has dwarfism. He mentioned it back when he was 6 months old because he was so short and stocky, instead of long and thin like they're apparently supposed to be at that age. His head is also kind of big.

Now he's a year old and is only about 5 inches long (not including tail). Is that small?

 

[Texas Panther Man]

That is on the small side for a year old panther. My male faly is about 7-8 inches from snout to vent and he is 7 months. Is he healthy otherwise? Is he a picky eatter? Ive found hornworms and silkworms to be good food items to help a cham bulk up a bit.

 

[draetish]

That is on the small side for a year old panther. My male faly is about 7-8 inches from snout to vent and he is 7 months. Is he healthy otherwise? Is he a picky eatter? Ive found hornworms and silkworms to be good food items to help a cham bulk up a bit.

I agree and I would feed him as much as he wants on the SW and HW.

 

[CloudsMystique]

The only thing I've tried to give him other than crickets are mealworms and he wouldn't touch them. I'll give the hornworms and silkworms a try, though.

His left arm is partially paralyzed (he has some control over his shoulder and elbow, but can't move his hand) and his right hand has a bit of a weak grip. Other than that, I've never had a problem with him except for one mild eye infection.

 

[draetish]

Why is his left arm partially paralyzed? If you haven't filled out the following "How to ask for Help" form, it would be beneficial to both you and your cham. We've all done it at one time or another and it helps!


How to ask for help

Here is some recommended information to include when asking for help in the health clinic forum. By providing this information, you will receive more accurate and beneficial responses. It might not be necessary to answer all these questions, but the more you provide the better. Please remember that even the most knowledgeable person can only guess at what your problem may be. Only an experienced reptile veterinarian who can directly examine your animal can give a true diagnosis of your chameleon's health.


Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.


Pictures are helpful

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[Texas Panther Man]

You said he has been to the vet right? What did he have to say about the arm issue? Thats strange, is that something hes had since you got him? Did he fall and break something at some point? Its odd that he would have a neurological problem in only one area unless it was caused by a trauma. (ie a fall) Hows his grip with his other 3 legs?

Did the vet do a fecal? If he has parasites that can cause a cham to grow much slower.

 

[CloudsMystique]

Here you go...



Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Panther, male, one year. I've had him for 10 months.

Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? I handle him once or twice a day, just to help him get over to his crickets and water. I'm not sure he needs the help, but it must make things easier for him. He willingly climbs on my hand because he knows what I'm trying to do.

Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? I feed him as many crickets as he'll eat - which has recently been about 10 a day. I always keep his bowl full. I gut-load the crickets with Fluker's-brand orange cubes.

Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I dust them with Reptivite calcium about once a week and a Reptivite MV with D3 about once a month. I know that's a lot less than most people do, but my vet said he looks great and not to change anything.

Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I use a motorized sprayer and mist him until the whole plant is soaked. He usually drink for several minutes afterwards.

Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Dark brown and white - firm consistency. He has never been tested for parasites.

History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you: The only things I can think of are his eye infection and paralysis, both of which I've explained.


Cage Info:

Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? It's screen, and I think it's 4' x 3' x 2.5'.

Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? My UV light is a Repti-sun 5.0 and my heat lamp is an Exo-Terra 75w bulb. I turn his lights on at about 7am and turn them off around 10pm.

Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? His basking spot is around 98 and the floor is around 80. The lowest overnight temp. is 75. I measured these with an outdoor mercury thermometer.

Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? Honestly, I don't measure the humidity. I live in south-central Florida and leave the window next to his cage open for a couple hours a day. I do have a live plant in his cage, which should help along with the misting.

Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? Yes, a ficus.

Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? It's in my bedroom, which is a very low-traffic area. The top of the cage is about 7 feet from the floor. There is an air vent pointed towards it, but it's all the way across the room.

Location - Where are you geographically located? Florida.

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about: Just his size/growth rate (5 inches, not including tail, at one year).






My vet has no idea why his arm is paralyzed, but thinks it's some kind of nerve damage from trauma, but I can't remember any bad falls and he's never broken anything. He was perfectly fine the first few months of his life, and then he started losing motor skills. It got worse and worse over a few weeks, and then it just stopped. There hasn't been any change since.

His hind legs are even stronger than normal because they have to make up for his front legs. He moves with his back legs underneath the middle of his belly so he can balance mostly on them.

 

[Thompson]

Ok don't handle him so much, maybe like once a month. Feed him in his own enclosure and water him there too(cup feed him in his enclosure) Feed him about 5-7 large adult crickets and gutload them with stuff like carrots, lettuce, sweet potatoes etc.. I would dust his food items with calcuim(repcal) w/o d3 five times a week and use minerall and calcium with d3 twice a month each. Keep lights on for only 12 hours, so 7am-7pm. The basking spot temp should be 85 degrees, don't want him to overheat.

 

[CloudsMystique]

Ok don't handle him so much, maybe like once a month. Feed him in his own enclosure and water him there too(cup feed him in his enclosure) Feed him about 5-7 large adult crickets and gutload them with stuff like carrots, lettuce, sweet potatoes etc.. I would dust his food items with calcuim(repcal) w/o d3 five times a week and use minerall and calcium with d3 twice a month each. Keep lights on for only 12 hours, so 7am-7pm. The basking spot temp should be 85 degrees, don't want him to overheat.

Okay, thank you!

 

[pssh]

I also have a midget panther, but he doesn't have any other problems. He is also around 5 inches snout to vent but he is 75-80 grams right now and he just turned 1 year old. There may be some underlying issue if he is having some sort of paralysis but I couldn't say what. Sorry I'm not much of a help.

 

[LaidbackLizards]

hmm.

My girlfriend and I purchased 2 morph cross panther chameleons around march of last year. both were males @ 2 1/2 months old. both have been on the exact same feeding and dusting schedule ever since we got them.
when we got them, one was about 40% larger than the other. and that smaller one always seemed to stay around 40% larger.
We figured the smaller one was just simply a small idividual. But, when the 11 month old mark came around, the smaller one had an incredible growth spurt, and has since almost completely caught up to the larger one. they are both about 17 months old now and are almost identical in size. also, during the smaller one's growth spurt, he colored up dramatically.

Based on my experience, it is my opinion that chameleons go through different growth spurts. the time between these growth spurts and their duration, I believe, could vary from individual to individual. In your situation, I wouldnt worry at all. I think you may just have a slow grower.

Keep your eye out over the next few months and you might be surprised.

I hope my insight has been a little help.

 

[ajacobson]

Laurie on here has many chams that are very small. I'm sure she will come along soon. She's very helpful with this type of thing!

 

[CloudsMystique]

Thanks guys! I really appreciate it : ]

 

[justjumpit621]

is it just me or could the supplementing schedule use a bit of tweaking? Would supplements be the same as for a veiled or do they get less? Also Your vitamins are good but maybe a calcium with d3 twice instead of once? Depending on how much natural sunlight he gets.