Some Basic Panther Owner Questions!

[Conski]

How often do you guys handle your chameleon.. Juve and as adult?! Are they shy around a big group of people!?

If you clean your cage weekly and keep it tidy does the room the habitat is in tend to smell?

Im assuming most chameleons obviously have a personality.. how many of you guys have had or have a cham that is shy or aggressive and doesnt really like to be held to much? does this happen often?

Thanks for answering. i couldve easily just as googled this but i kind of wanted answers from people whos answers may vary!

 

[jannb]

Welcome to the forums. What kind of a chameleon do you have? Any pictures?

I have two veileds and my chameleons may not be the norm because I interact with them daily. They have free range of my house and I hold them daily to move them from tree to tree, to give them water via a plastic dropper and to take them outside once or twice a day.

My chameleons are very clean and I never smell any kind of an odor.

Each chameleon has it's own personality and the more you interact the more you can see their personality.

 

[Conski]

Thanks for the welcome

Sadly i dont own one yet! still in the research process. i know what kind i want and what breeder im getting it from! i dont want one until i know almost everything i can about it!

 

[jannb]

Well you can learn allot about chameleons here. It's best not to rush and do plenty of research BEFORE your first chameleon. What kind do you plan to get and about how old?

 

[steelheadchaser]

Feldman is always trying to get on my hand and up my arm. After the first tidbit i feed by hand, he will walk over the next to climb to my shoulder. He is very sociable and gets out of his house at least once a day. Getting him back in can be tricky.

 

[carol5208]

Where are u located? In the US or overseas? There are plenty of good breeders in the US if that i where you live. There is a list of sponsors in the far right upper hand corner. I have to say one thing about chameleons, they are very clean! I have my cage indoors and there no odor from the cage or them whatsoever. They only poop like once a day and even less when they get older.

 

[carol5208]

Also you will get mixed comments on handling. I handle mine everyday also like Jann B and he is not aggressive at all. I have handled him from the very start. And yes, just like any kind of animal, they all have different personalities so some are more friendly than others. I have never had mine around a big group of people, just my family which is 4 people so I don't know how he would react.

 

[reptoman]

How often do you guys handle your chameleon.. Juve and as adult?! Are they shy around a big group of people!?

If you clean your cage weekly and keep it tidy does the room the habitat is in tend to smell?

Im assuming most chameleons obviously have a personality.. how many of you guys have had or have a cham that is shy or aggressive and doesnt really like to be held to much? does this happen often?

Thanks for answering. i couldve easily just as googled this but i kind of wanted answers from people whos answers may vary!

Welcome,
I have an ambilobe panther male and female. The male (2 years old) will walk onto anyones hand any time it is offered but the female (same age) is more shy and will come to the front of the cage for feeding but will not readily crawl out on me. Juvenile panthers will be shy ususally but hand feeding helps with them getting used to you putting your hand inside their cage. They should be given a chance to crawl onto your hand or a stick but never force them. Let them go at their own pace. Its a toss up as to what you will get for personality as they are solitary in nature and would not normally interact with humans.
I spot clean my cages once daily to make sure there are no droppings laying around that free ranged feeders can get into. This can transfer parasites to your cham. Paper towels are your friend once you have a chameleon. They poop a lot when they are young. A more thorough cleaning once a week would suffice to keep things from getting smelly. Be careful not to leave dead feeders, droppings, or standing water at the bottom of the cage ever. These things should be taken care of daily. My cages do not smell at all. Your feeders will be what stinks the most but keeping those properly is just as big a deal as keeping your cage clean. Properly fed and housed feeders do not really smell at all. In your research you might want to look at keeping dubias. They smell less than crickets. Didn't mean to write a book here. Hope this helps!

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

My panther paces at this cage door when he sees me (not my husband) because he wants to come out and crawl around. He's been to a tv studio and really didn't care about being in the car or in front of lights or anything. My jacksons is content with just letting me watch him and occasionally pet/handle him. My veiled hates me and the rest of the world and hides when I come feed him. Getting him out for any reason is a pain. They definitely have their own personalities, but you can't really judge them before you get it, and you'd have a hard time asking for one that's friendly. And just because you handle them a lot doesn't mean they'll like you. Some still reject human contact.

My cages never smell, just pick up droppings/uneaten food when you see it and you shouldn't have a problem. Don't use moss or dirt for substrate. I use green felt because it looks jungly and let the water drip into cups that dry out in between sessions. I wash them when they start to smell musty (every few weeks). But I know most people either use paper towels or nothing at all on the bottom. Personal preference

 

[Conski]

Awsome responses everyone thank you!

I live in NY and i plan on getting a red barred ambilobe from screameleons in the coming months. Already having a 40 gallon sw fish tank thats cost me upwards of 9gs in my room so convincing my parents to let me get a cham wont be easy.. hopefully going to be moving out soon though.

I guess i have another question! what is the average life span of these little guys?!

 

[beeze]

With EXCELLENT care 6 to 7 years.