Runt or Stunted

[Thrashback90]

I thought I'd make a separate thread for this. My lil guy is roughly 1.5 years old but is still only 5" SVL and is still rather small, weighed in at around 80 grams yesterday at the vets which is exactly double what he was last June when they weighed him. He is a Sambava if that makes any difference to growth rate?

Got him at 3 months, fed everyday twice a day up until he was 6months old. Then i varied it up, sometimes once a day, other times twice then sometimes skip a day. basking spot has been around 87/88, but he has a vine above and below the vine with the thermostat probe and thermometer so he can decide where he wants to bask. Calcium every feed, nutrabol once every month, vitamins once a month. varied diet of - locusts, crickets, wax worms, wax moths, beetle grubs, butter worms and silkworms (tried them today). Kept in the largest Exo they make since i got him.

I would like another chameleon but if i stunted it, that might put me off as i only want the best for my pets. Always happy for constructive criticism.

Quick photo taken yesterday

 

[nightanole]

A biggin is 250 grams and is about 8 inches long snout to vent. An average would be 6" and 180 grams for a male.

I feel for ya, my ousts is only 330grams at 2 years old, and not a 580-650gram monster.

Still he looks like hes got a good amount of meat on him and is well per-portioned. id only worry about a runt if it had a growth defect.

 

[ataraxia]

Hi, your boy looks healthy. At 5 inches he is a little smaller than usual but that is fine.

Constructive criticism: The largest exoterra is to small for a panther. A 24x24x48 or larger is ideal. He will seem to be doing fine in this enclosure to you as this is all he knows right now. You have stated you want what is best and what is best for a panther is some leg room.

Pretty boy by the way

 

[Psychobunny]

I have a full grown male veiled that's only 5'', like people, some are small,
others are large!
They are perfectly normal and healthy, and sound like you are taking good
care of him.
I would recommend all screen cages though.

So, no worries, buy more chams

 

[Thrashback90]

I have a large repti-breeze which i put him in during the summer months, nice and easy to take him outside then when we get the occasional spot of sunshine.
During the winter months it's just more easier to keep a stable temperature in the glass exo.

I can't really afford to buy hundreds of glass tanks anyway as they cost a small fortune so mesh in the future, this was just a present for my chameleon so would be a shame to waste it, i just get him out everyday and want to set up some rope round my room so he can have a stroll.

The breeder i got him from said he was rather small but is healthy and the vet has said he's healthy, he's active as anything but as he was my first i do always wonder if i done something wrong somewhere along the line.

 

[FlChamMom]

There are many owners in the UK that have great success in glass vivs. I have a smaller panther too- I worried at first but my vet told me the same thing, bigger does not always mean healthier. He is a beauty!

 

[Chameleon Company]

I thought I'd make a separate thread for this. My lil guy is roughly 1.5 years old but is still only 5" SVL and is still rather small, weighed in at around 80 grams yesterday at the vets which is exactly double what he was last June when they weighed him. He is a Sambava if that makes any difference to growth rate?

Got him at 3 months, fed everyday twice a day up until he was 6months old. Then i varied it up, sometimes once a day, other times twice then sometimes skip a day. basking spot has been around 87/88, but he has a vine above and below the vine with the thermostat probe and thermometer so he can decide where he wants to bask. Calcium every feed, nutrabol once every month, vitamins once a month. varied diet of - locusts, crickets, wax worms, wax moths, beetle grubs, butter worms and silkworms (tried them today). Kept in the largest Exo they make since i got him.

I would like another chameleon but if i stunted it, that might put me off as i only want the best for my pets. Always happy for constructive criticism.

I am a bit confused with what I bolded above. Are you saying that you essentially rationed the food to him ? Or does he always have good food available to consume ? If the former, where he only had 1-2 windows of feed opportunity daily, then you very well could have slowed his growth. The latter is always recommended. Chameleons are day-long grazers. No feeding windows in the wild.

 

[Decadancin]

I don't see anything that would suggest a problem, but he does seem just a bit small. However, why is that a problem? Not every chameleon is the same size. He looks very healthy and happy, and I wouldn't worry about it. He looks perfectly proportioned to me!

 

[Thrashback90]

I am a bit confused with what I bolded above. Are you saying that you essentially rationed the food to him ? Or does he always have good food available to consume ? If the former, where he only had 1-2 windows of feed opportunity daily, then you very well could have slowed his growth. The latter is always recommended. Chameleons are day-long grazers. No feeding windows in the wild.

From when i got him up until he was round about 6months he was cup fed, i would put around a dozen or so crickets in in the mornings and then top it up again early afternoon. Then from what i have read on this forum and from a local breeder from 6/7 months onward you cut down the feeding and mix it up, as in the wild although they are day-long grazers, some days they might find more food than others. so some days i would feed him as much as he would in 15minutes during the morning but then leave him for the rest of the day, then the next day i'd do the same but feed him in the morning and afternoon. Then every now and then i'd throw in a day where i wouldn't feed him and call it a "digest day" so he can bask/drink and maybe simulate a day where he wouldn't find any food and he'd just get some exercise and digest and pass what he had eaten. Hopefully that makes a bit more sense. feel free to correct me if you feel i should of done things a little differently though.