IS this the best I can expect? Mature colors kinda lame.

[Graves923]

Still a beautiful chameleon! Hoping I can convince my fiance to let me fill the extra screen cage I have with a young panther lol

 

[SmithSe]

I think he's beautiful and vibrant, and so much more than just his colors.

Either way, this is a lesson learned on your behalf. If you're aiming for a specific color combination or vibrancy, you're more likely to obtain this by selecting an older juvenile or adult animal. Typically by 6-7 months the colors present are a good indication of what you might expect to see on the chameleon as an adult, but they will likely be more saturated. Even then, there are always exceptions to this. As mentioned, genetics are a funny thing, and in combination with environmental effects/husbandry, it can be incredible how they develop and change over time!

Speaking of husbandry, how much vitamin A do you provide to your panther, and do his eyes always look like that? Maybe someone else should weigh in here, but he almost looks like he has a bit of periorbital edema if you look underneath his eyes. I would maybe expect to see this in an older animal, but not in a 14 month-old chameleon.

 

[Tucklander]

He is a handsome guy. I understand the “flare factor “ as I wonder if the premium I paid for a high colored vieled will give him his fancy look, that I actually paid extra for too...I get where you’re coming from, however I’ve decided to be happy that my little dude is thriving and is cool looking. Yours is very cool looking, run with it

 

[Alexander1]

It is almost exactly a year to the day when I got my panther chameleon and he was probably 2 months old or so... I don't handle him and he lives a life of ease and is never stressed so I don't think I have ever seen him "fired up".
He is given a variety of very carefully gutloaded insects and the insects get things specifically designed to pass on pigments (Repashy superpig, high quality pollen, etc.).
I also give him a variety of vitamins and supplements- I rotate between different high end manufacturers (like Arcadia, Repashy, etc.) for his basic vitamins and minerals, and try to follow instructions for how often he gets everything. The only D3 I use is the Reptomin about 1-2 times a week on one feeder.
He has high quality UV lighting from lightyourreptiles.

Pics attached. He is basically green. At night he gets some nice yellows and reds under the chin, but I feel like this is his final color and it's not IMO very interesting- I spent months looking at breeding stock and ended up with basically an iguana looking lizard.

Any decent chance he might develop some better bars or coloration?


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Wow you sound like a straight douchebag imo. Sell that beautiful Cham to someone that appreciates it and get a pet rock.

 

[bobcochran]

I think he's beautiful and vibrant, and so much more than just his colors.

Either way, this is a lesson learned on your behalf. If you're aiming for a specific color combination or vibrancy, you're more likely to obtain this by selecting an older juvenile or adult animal. Typically by 6-7 months the colors present are a good indication of what you might expect to see on the chameleon as an adult, but they will likely be more saturated. Even then, there are always exceptions to this. As mentioned, genetics are a funny thing, and in combination with environmental effects/husbandry, it can be incredible how they develop and change over time!

Speaking of husbandry, how much vitamin A do you provide to your panther, and do his eyes always look like that? Maybe someone else should weigh in here, but he almost looks like he has a bit of periorbital edema if you look underneath his eyes. I would maybe expect to see this in an older animal, but not in a 14 month-old chameleon.

I didn't notice the eye turrets on my cell phone until you said something. When enlarging the pics, there is definately puffiness on both eye turrets. It's most likely a husbandry issue.

 

[jamest0o0]

Probably not. Chameleon bites are not usually a big deal. They barely have real teeth lol. I've only been bitten once, but it didn't even break the skin

I agree with in this case, and 99% of cases. Most always cham bites are quick snaps. But I have to say, I got bit VERY hard by my one panther one time. It was because he fell asleep on his tree outside of the cage and it was dark, completely my fault, I startled him. He would not let go and was about 1 head whip away from ripping a thumb sized chunk of skin off. Luckily he let go just before that happened. He wasn't even that big either. I would hate to see what a large veiled, panther, or larger melleri or parsonii could do.

 

[jamest0o0]

And to OP, your cham looks great, super vibrant resting colors by the looks of it. Also that looks ambilobe to me, not ambanja. I dont have ambilobe, but for ambanjas at least. They seem to get more colorful every year throughout their life. I would definitely give it more time.