Panther claws

[Murrdox]

Hey folks,

As my Panther chameleon grows into adulthood (he's currently 10 months) I've noticed that his claws don't seem to be very developed.

I've examined his feet, and he definitely has claws, but they're very small. They're almost like fingernails instead of true claws.

Is this normal for Panthers?

I've had Jacksons and Veileds before, and both of them had pretty long claws. Neither of them ever had any issues climbing around and such. However, my Panther does. Sometimes in the course of his exploring, he'll climb around on the screen cage, but his claws are short, so he doesn't get a very good grip. Sometimes this results in him losing his balance, and he'll fall down a bit, usually hanging onto the branch with his tail and hind legs.

I'm just wondering if this is normal in Panthers, or if he SHOULD have long claws like a Veiled or Jacksons.

 

[dodolah]

let see pictures.
Perhaps, your panther's claw got caught one time and slough off?
I do notice, however, my veiled has a bit sharper and longer nails than my panthers.

 

[codiwatkins]

My panther has short nails too.....I was kinda wondering if it was normal too...

i have seen pics of some chams that have really long nails

 

[Murrdox]

My camera has a LITTLE bit of trouble focusing on chameleon nails, and Rygel of course has difficulty sitting still for this. Hopefully these will suffice.

Basically he has little sharp tips on the end of his "fingers" but nothing I'd call a "claw". There are little tips though, so it doesn't SEEM to me like he's lost all his claws or anything.

Anyways I'm just wondering if this is normal or not... and if it isn't, is there anything I can do about it.

 

[Murrdox]

Shameless bump?

 

[wheresstimpy]

i think it just varies by the cham, while your little buddy is defiantly on the short side, i have seen some panthers with really really long nails, and some with really stubby ones, and then again my ambanja has some that seem to be right about in the middle, but dont let your guard down, that little booger will grab a hold of your ear in a hurry if your not paying attention and it feels like your getting a piercing...

 

[chequepoint]

It also is just a wear thing... My panther that crawls all over his screen has very short nails, the one that doesn't has long nails.

 

[Chamluver]

I have a male Ambanja Panther that is about 1yr and 4 months. He also has very short nails too.. Which makes it hard for him to keep his balance. I have owned Flapneck's and Jackson's they all had long claws/nails.. Any other panther owners experience this?

 

[GooglezNvincent]

I recently noticed my 7 month old female panther has claws in her front feet, but it missing 2 of the 3 claws on both her hind feet. I can only come to the conclusing they broke off in the screen.

 

[reptilemancan]

I recently noticed my 7 month old female panther has claws in her front feet, but it missing 2 of the 3 claws on both her hind feet. I can only come to the conclusing they broke off in the screen.

did he have them when you got him as a baby?

 

[GooglezNvincent]

did he have them when you got him as a baby?

Lol i got her about 3 weeks ago and i didnt notice. shes fine now, i made sure she wont go on the screen, got a hug ficus, 2 repti vines, some fake pothos, and a twisted 93563 feet of pipe cleaner and made it go all over her cage.

 

[hallenhe]

I've seen macro photos of veiled claws that looked enormous next to my panther's, and my panther definitely cannot climb about on screens with the facility of the Jackson's I had before him. On the other hand, he does have unequivocal claws, and can give a good pinch - I look forward to the summer when he'll wear them down a bit outside.

 

[Murrdox]

He definitely HAS claws. They're there... just tiny. I just browsed through a couple of his baby pictures, and they were definitely more pronounced then. He's basically got little points on the end of his fingers.

My Jacksons lost a claw once, and there was obviously a little hole where his claw should have been.

I just really haven't seen this before, and don't know what to think. I'm not sure if it's genetic, and thus "normal" for him, or if I'm doing something wrong on his supplementation, or even if I am, if the problem can be corrected or not. Like others said, maybe he's wearing down his claws somehow? He's just got a screen cage, biovines and a hibiscus plant though.

 

[Jerm]

Females pardalis's claws will actually lengthen during the time when they are gravid. There was a study done a couple of years ago on this. They think that it is to help in digging the nesting site. I have noticed it in my females, I will post pics tonight of a female ambanja that i have that is getting ready to lay eggs and her extremely long nails. Your males nail length seems normal to me. As long as he can grip the branches, he should be fine.

 

[sandrachameleon]

There's a difference on claw/nail length on each of my panther chameleons. One male has very stubby claws, another long needles. Since I dont use screen cages, they are not holding on to anything with just the claws, so it doesnt matter really. Certainly the stubby clawed fellow has no trouble moving around the branches. Perhaps giving your panther more to walk on will reduce his desire to climb the screen, thus reducing the likelyhood of a fall (or pulling out a nail)

 

[Murrdox]

Cool, it's good to know there's nothing wrong with him.

He's due for a cage upgrade very soon, with some more climbing room, which I'm sure will make him happy.