Is my chameleon not rly his supposed “age”?

[janeyrain99]

So I got my male panther chameleon on March 5 from a morph market breeder. I posted him on Reddit and individuals were commenting that there’s no way he’s 5 months old now, since his colors are too bright and he seems too big. I asked the breeder (who seems very reputable), and he responded that the hatch date is correct. I included screenshots from his response as well as pics of my chameleon I’ve taken recently for reference. I do think in comparison to what I’ve seen on Google, he does seem to be too colorful/big for a 5 month old? But idk.

Let me know what you guys think!

 

[MzLaurie]

He is absolutely beautiful! Since he is a male and it’s not critical to know his correct age as it is with a female for egg laying reasons, I wouldnt worry too much. One way you can tell is to start weighing him. They are pretty much full grown at age 1 year and that’s when you start tapering off they feeding amounts. If this is a serious breeder, he is right about optimal conditions result in optimal healthy and colorful chameleons. Especially with panthers. To get that result of the colors your handsome boy has, I would definitely ask about the names of his parents. Parental lines are sought after with chameleons to achieve offspring that are so beautiful. At the five month molt the colors do come in. So if you weigh him say once a month to track his growth increase, once it stops or starts to taper off you will see he is full grown. Once he stops gaining weight you will need to cut down on his daily food amounts until it’s three large feeders every other day to maintain a good weight. Best of luck to you and that gorgeous new addition to your family! You should also ask the breeder what he is feeding him so you can replicate that.

 

[GrannyK]

Hey there, welcome to the forum!!! I want to say if you got him from ramblin exotics he is a very good breeder, very respectable. He has amazing chams and I don’t doubt your little one is colored at 5 mos with the genetics and husbandry he stands by. Either way you have a beautiful little lizard and I agree with mzlaurie, routine weighing him is always good practice.
What is his name??? He is gorgeous!

 

[Beman]

It is totally possibly that he is really that age. Avoid Reddit they are full of people that preach extremely incorrect info.

When babies are raised in individual baby cages as hatchlings they seem to grow and mature much healthier than those raised in groups. Also when you have quality genetics the males will tend to show much more color by 4-5 months.