Longevity of Panther Chameleons - who has the oldest living Panther?

[Scout]

This is a great thread, my boy, tiger. Is almost a year old and I feel as if I'm already running out of time with him!

 

[Matt Vanilla Gorilla]

Time with these amazing creatures never feel like it is enough! Thanks so much for all the feedback! I got a panther from Chameleons101 a couple of years ago. At that point in time the seller mentioned that he had a panther that was 9 years old! Wow!

 

[Lizardguy1]

Don't put much credibility in rumors! I think 8 years would be an extremely successful life for a panther.
I can't remember any of mine going past 6 years. Had panthers since 1994! Maybe blame my husbandry.
I've read that some locales almost completely disappear in the long cold dry winter in Madagascar.
We're not doing that badly.

The northern part of Madagascar sits at 12-15 degrees south latitude; even the extreme southern end of the island is about 25 degrees south, about equivalent distance to the equator as the Florida keys; I don't think the winters there can be called long or cold.....

 

[Matt Vanilla Gorilla]

Interesting observation!

 

[Matt Vanilla Gorilla]

The northern part of Madagascar sits at 12-15 degrees south latitude; even the extreme southern end of the island is about 25 degrees south, about equivalent distance to the equator as the Florida keys; I don't think the winters there can be called long or cold.....

And how old did your oldest panther chameleon get?

 

[aeolis23]

Dopey! You can follow him on the facebook group 'chameleon central USA'. He's 9 years old. This is a picture the owner posted on his 9th hatchday He's blind, but still active. He's a rockstar in chameleon world

 

[Matt Vanilla Gorilla]

Sweet! Thanks! How nice of you to share!!! Poor guy! He looks dehydrated though! Go Dopey go! Our winner this far is Dopey! 9 Years old and going strong!!! Anyone out there who can beat the story of Dopey! Is there anyone out there with a Panther chameleon older than 9 years old? Please, please come forward! We realy want to know how old these guys can get! Thanks for all the wonderful replies and support with this very important research! Chameleonforums.com members ROCK!!!!

 

[carol5208]

Hey, I just saw a post by radstusky, the person has a chameleon "Leo" he is 5 years old!

That post is a year old! He just turned 6! He was a brother to my chameleon so I know this chameleon well!

 

[carol5208]

Sweet! Thanks! How nice of you to share!!! Poor guy! He looks dehydrated though! Go Dopey go! Our winner this far is Dopey! 9 Years old and going strong!!! Anyone out there who can beat the story of Dopey! Is there anyone out there with a Panther chameleon older than 9 years old? Please, please come forward! We realy want to know how old these guys can get! Thanks for all the wonderful replies and support with this very important research! Chameleonforums.com members ROCK!!!!

No, not dehydrated. Just old and blind!! Sunken eyes does not always mean dehydrated! Everyone always thinks this, but not always true!

 

[carol5208]

I asked this question of Kammerflage Kreations awhile back. Seeing that they are one of the oldest, if not the oldest breeders of Panthers out there, they have seen alot of chameleons in their 30 some yrs or so of breeding. Liddy Kammer told me they had one live to 9 also. I had Lenny who was about 6.5 when he died. He was 4 when I got him and then lived for about 2.5 yrs with me. Romeo my panther died at 3 yrs due to complications from a foot injury. He was the brother to Leo. I have Boomer right now who was 3 in September.

 

[aeolis23]

No, not dehydrated. Just old and blind!! Sunken eyes does not always mean dehydrated! Everyone always thinks this, but not always true!

I think with a 9 year old chameleon, we shouldn't be surprised they give 'a bit' of an unhealthy impression haha. Ever looked at a 100 year old human? They also don't have the body of some atlete who's ready to run a marathon anymore.. If he would be dehydrated or taken care of impropriate, he would have never made it to 9 years. So I have full trust in the owners capability of keeping him healthy, even when I see his extremely sunken eyes ^^

 

[Matt Vanilla Gorilla]

I want to thank you all from the bottom of my rotten little heart for your intellectual contributions! What beautiful and amazing people we all are! So Dopey is still holding the record! 9 Years old and going strong! Once again I have heard rumors of longer the nine years! Does anybody out there know if a Panther Chameleon who has lived longer than nine years? All of your feedback is greatly appreciated!

 

[JoCarp]

Can we nominate Dopey as the Chameleon Forums "OG"? Nine is a heck of a run and I can't help but picture him with the voice of the Godfather haha

 

[Matt Vanilla Gorilla]

No kidding! Wow! What a strong soul! I once heard that the reason dogs lives such short lives is the fact that we are all on this planet till we learn to love completely. Dogs learn this quickly so they have short lives! So, I wonder why chameleons have short lives? So Dopey is still holding our record! 9 Years and going strong!

 

[nightanole]

No, not dehydrated. Just old and blind!! Sunken eyes does not always mean dehydrated! Everyone always thinks this, but not always true!

yea slightly off topic. Mine seems to adjust Eyeball pop based on mood.

Back on topic, ive never had a cham hit his 7th birthday, but a lot hit their 6th.

In the wild if you you live long enough to see your eggs hatch, you are the 1%.

 

[ponders]

My ambilobe, Mad, Mad Mini is 8 and doing well. Guess his attitude has helped him. Here he is at 1 year and 8 years.
My Nosy be just died and he was 7

 

[bobcochran]

The northern part of Madagascar sits at 12-15 degrees south latitude; even the extreme southern end of the island is about 25 degrees south, about equivalent distance to the equator as the Florida keys; I don't think the winters there can be called long or cold.....[/[/QU

Easy for you to say, you endotherm!
You may be right that the temp. Isn't the main contributing factor in the demise of chameleons on Madagscar during the winter, it's probably lack of water.

OTE]

 

[JoCarp]

Ponders, I think Mad, Mad Mini looks awesome for 8 and he sure was a very handsome fellow in his prime too!!!

 

[Teal Beauty]

That post is a year old! He just turned 6! He was a brother to my chameleon so I know this chameleon well!

That is awesome! Glad to hear that he is still alive and well!

 

[laurie]

That is awesome! Glad to hear that he is still alive and well!