Panther or Veiled???

How do I get my chameleon to change color???

Live or Fake Plants???

How do I Gutload my Chameleons Food???

How Often Can I breed my Chameleon???

Can I Cage my Chameleon with another Chameleon???

What should I use as a Substrate???

Why did my Chameleon Stop Eating???

Explanation of Egg Laying Process

Panther or Veiled???

I don't know how many times I've heard this question, so I'm starting with it. As far as chameleons go, these 2 are about as close as they come, as far as size, cage setup, temperatures, etc. They are 2 of the larger chameleons, both hardy by chameleon standards, and both are very available as a pet. A veiled chameleon will get slightly larger than a panther chameleon. A veiled also tends to be more aggressive. They will both need large cages as adults and lots of perching sites and trees or large plants, as outlined in the caresheet. Veiled chameleons are better at withstanding hot temperatures and lower humidity. Veileds will eat plants, like the leaves of ficus benjamana and most vegetables and some fruits, such as small broccoli tops, raspberries, blueberries, romaine lettuce and even hibiscus flowers more readily than panthers. Veileds are also much more aggressive at eating vertebrates. They will easily eat a decent sized mouse as an adult, hatching birds, many small lizards (including small chameleons) and most geckos will also be eaten. Panthers will eat vertebrates also, but are generally more hesitant. Both species have bright colors, but panthers have a wider variety of colors and an amazing ability to change them very drastically. Any color in the book and then some can be reached by one locale or another of panther chameleon. Panthers are typically easier to train to eat from your hand or from a bowl. I would say veileds are SLIGHTLY easier to keep happy in a captive environment. Occasionally, panthers go on "hunger strikes" and stop eating for different reasons, usually bored with a food item or something else is not quite right. You just have to keep an extra eye on them to make sure they're eating and drinking. Female veileds can and will lay infertile eggs without breeding if overfed even at a young age. Female panthers can also lay infertile eggs, but it's much less common and generally doesn't happen until after a year of age. The average clutch size for a panther is somewhere around 28-30 eggs and veileds average somewhere around 40+. Veiled eggs are much larger than a panther's making newly hatched veileds larger than baby panthers. Veileds grow faster than panthers, up to 12 inches in 6 months. Veileds are much cheaper than panthers, mostly because they can lay up to or over 90 eggs at a time, and so many of them are available. Panthers are quite expensive because of their beautiful colors, more difficult to breed with a longer and trickier incubation, and they are less commonly available than veileds.

How do I get my chameleon to change color?

Color change in a chameleon will depend on temperature, mood, light quality and quantity and other factors. When chameleons are excited is when the most bright and contrasting colors show through. You can do this by either showing a male a female, perched on your hand, or you can use another male, which will begin a territorial ritual where both animals (if they're similar sized) will turn their bodies sideways and inflate their bodies to appear larger to eachother and change into some very bright colors. If one animal turns and runs, he was the less dominant one and the two should be removed from sight. Showing two males to eachother I believe can be stressful to them (moreso to the one that turns and runs) and shouldn't be done on a regular basis. Another way to show bright colors if you have only 1 animal is to hold a mirror in front of the animal. The animal will display to itself and show nice coloring. Sometimes younger chameleons will show bright, excited colors even when you feed them. Sometimes a new food item also does this. Panther and veiled chameleons don't really get any significant coloring until about 4-5 months of age. Between 4 and about 7 months, young male panther and veiled chameleons go through a huge change in colors. A panther chameleon's coloration will get better and better until it's almost 2 years old, so don't get discouraged yet if your little male isn't quite what you expected. Color change begins at around 6 months, and is more or less impressive depending on the morph you have. Sambava, Tamatave, Maroantsetra and some Ambanjas can change every color on their bodies, leaving not a speck of green. Females of most species won't change colors nearly as amazingly as the males, and usually get a darker color or have bolder vertical bars show. For some examples of color change in chameleons, CLICK HERE.

Live or fake plants???

Several people when beginning to keep chameleons buy plastic or silk plants thinking they're clean, neat, low maintenence and easy to get for their chameleons. Fake plants do have those advantages, but have more serious disadvantages. Mainly, most veiled chameleons will bite at leaves and plants in their cages to get more moisture and variety in their diet. If a chameleon swallowed a piece of plastic or silk leaf it would be a serious health issue. Even if you're not keeping veileds, any chameleon could accidentally eat a leaf or piece or plant by shooting it's tongue at a food item and missing slightly and a loose leaf could come off and be eaten. Besides all that, live plants offer much needed humidity to a chameleon habitat and keep a nice supply of oxygen right there. A plant will also help to use up water that has been left by a drip or mist system, helping a little in the maintenance (draining) of the water. We use all live plants for our chameleons, and use almost always either a form of ficus benjamana or any type of Hibiscus. Hibiscus plants tend to be slightly harder to keep healthy indoors (they need lots of light), but are very beautiful in a cage if you can get them to live well. The top inch or two of soil in any plant should be replaced with a clean and perlite free (white water absorbing rocks) potting soil to avoid accidentally eating the perlite or any fertilizers that were in the soil when purchased. Live plants in cages should be occasionally fertilized with a thin (diluted) liquid fertilizer to keep leaves healthy and new ones growing. CLICK HERE for photos of commonly used plants.

How do I gutload my chameleon's food???

"Gutloading" is a term used when you're feeding the food insects a specific diet, which will then be passed to the chameleon when the insect is eaten. The key to gutloading is to use a varied diet for your food insects and feed the insects as soon as possible after you know they've eaten the diet provided. A good way to do it is to offer crickets fresh fruits or vegetables such as apple slices, orange slices, potato slices, green peas, carrots, corn, and almost any other veggie, as well as providing them some leafy greens such as romaine lettuce, collared greens and mustard greens. Besides the various vitamins and nutrients these foods provide your chameleon, the added moisture the cricket will carry will be passed directly to your chameleon. You can also lightly dust the foods with a reptile supplement, either calcium or a multivitamin to give those extra vitamins the fruits or vegetables may be missing. The insects should be left to feed for a few hours, and then pulled out and fed to chameleons. Crickets will empty their stomachs rather quickly (about a day) and need to be provided food daily for any of it to be passed to your chameleons. Feeding the insects a varied and healthy diet will also help to keep the insects as healthy as possible. Crickets are probably the easiest insect to gutload since they eat quickly and carelessly, but basically any insect will eat what you've provided them with, and most insects will eat the same things, a basic mix of vegetables or fruits. For a list of food insects, CLICK HERE.

How often can I breed my chameleon???

Breeding chameleons can be very hard on them, particularly young animals. Veiled and panther chameleons reach sexual maturity at around 6 months of age or sooner, but females shouldn't be bred until at least 8 months old, preferably 10-12. By no means is breeding a necessary thing (as several people and books have said) and a female chameleon will live longer, get much bigger, and have less health difficulties if never bred. Often they will also get a variety of additional colors on them. This is not saying that breeding a female chameleon is going to kill it or cause it serious problems, but you should have everything about your chameleon keeping mastered and perfect before even attempting to breed. By far the most common health problems I have with my chameleons is breeding females. Only healthy and non-related chameleons should be bred together. Because veiled and panther chameleons store sperm and are able to lay 2 clutches of fertile eggs (or more) from a single mating, it makes it difficult to keep them from laying more than you like. The best way to keep a female from laying too many eggs, which is harder on her and increases the risk of egg binding and other difficulties, is to feed her a lesser amount of food before ever being bred. She should be fed similar to an adult male in the few months before breeding, as outlined in the feeding section of the caresheet page. Once bred, a female should be carefully supplemented and everything about her feeding and watering schedule should be perfect. Calcium and vitamin intake and will need to be increased, as will her exposure to natural sunlight and D3. After a female lays eggs, she will generally lay another (smaller) clutch of eggs 6-8 weeks later in panther chameleons, and 3-4 months later in veiled chameleons. After this second clutch of eggs is laid, the female should be given at least several months with no breeding and extra attention to fully recover. There's always that distant chance of a third clutch of eggs in the future also.

Can I cage my chameleon with another chameleon???

The general answer to this question is "probably not." There are always exceptions to the rule and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. A chameleon should never be purchased with the intent of keeping it with another chameleon and a second cage should always be available. Small groups of babies and young chameleons can be kept together until about 4-5 months of age, when territory and food disputes will begin. The most common combinations that work long term are a small group of females that were raised together (sisters, etc.). The only way a female-male combination will work is if the cage is large, such as a 6' x 4' x 4' or larger and it must be heavily planted to keep the chameleons from constantly seeing eachother. Breeding colonies such as 1 male and 1-4 females can sometimes be kept in these large cages. There should never be more than 1 male in any cage and close observation is very necessary in these situations to make sure all animals are getting food, water and basking opportunities without aggressive behavior.

What should I use as a substrate???

If possible, nothing. Sand, soil or any other loose substance on the bottom of a small to medium cage is unnecessary and only can lead to problems. Most commonly the problem is when something large is accidentally picked up by a chameleon's tongue and ingested, which can lead to choking or impaction. Certain insects will hide in this also making it hard to find a superworm transforming into a beetle or roaches starting a small colony getting ready to take over the cage. In large step in type cages, a dirt or soil bottom is possible, and even preferable, since it will help to absorb water, keeping insects from drowning in standing water. An "earth" substrate is not as much of a risk in large (tall) enclosures since the chameleons will not generally be near the bottom of the cage, making the risk of accidentally swallowing anything more unlikely. Having a hard, bare and waterproof (plastic or glass) bottom is easy to clean and easy to monitor the fecal matter of your chameleon. If possible, find sheets of paper, newspaper or paper towels to put at the bottom of the cage, making cleaning that much easier. You can simply pull out the paper and change it every 2 or 3 days.

Why did my chameleon stop eating???

The most common reason a chameleon would stop eating is because he or she is simply bored with the current food being offered. This will or won't create a problem, depending on your access to a variety of food items. Try adding a few new types of insect, particularly grasshoppers collected from a remote area, silkworms, or tomato hornworms (green giants) from commercial insect suppliers. If your chameleons are currently being offered 3 or more types of insect, and ignoring all of them, it could mean something is wrong. Often the first sign of a sickness or disease is the lack of eating. It is normal for a gravid female to stop eating often more than a week before laying eggs and this is no cause for concern. If the chameleon has stopped drinking also, do everything you can to hydrate him or her. Often dehydration can lead to a loss of appetite. Place the chameleon on a short tree in the yard and gently sprinkle "rain" on it with the hose for a half hour. Usually the chameleon will start licking his or her lips within a few minutes and will get hydrated by this. They will also absorb water through the skin. Natural sunlight can do amazing things for a stubborn or sick chameleon. Give it a few hours a day of sunlight if temperatures are suitable. If eating still doesn't begin within a day or so of this, a trip to the vet and/or a fecal check may be necessary.

Egg Laying Process

I'm often asked about how to get Panthers or Veileds to lay eggs. It takes a small amount of equipment and a little patience, but it can be done. Both Panther and Veiled chameleon females will get a distinctive "gravid coloration" after a successful breeding. History has led me to believe that from the day the female gets her gravid colors (usually 5-9 days after breeding) it takes them 20-25 days to lay their eggs. Most of mine have been 22-23 for panthers and slightly less for veileds, maybe 19-20. This varies with each female, but usually each female will be pretty consistent with each clutch (So keep track of everything). Before a female lays eggs, she will usually stop eating. I give it just under a week after OR if you see her crawling on the bottom of the cage looking for a place to lay her eggs, she's probably ready to go. 95% of the time they do crawl, so probably don't assume she's not going to. When this happens, get a kitchen garbage can and fill it with 8 to 10 inches of moist potting soil (like Supersoil or just a basic clean perlite-free potting soil). My garbage can is something like 3-4 feet tall and has an 18 inch diameter. Pack the soil down and make sure it's firm. Don't pack it as hard as you can. Now get a SMALL (1 foot to 18 inches long and pretty think) branch and wrap some kind of plastic vine around it, pretty heavily so she has a place to hide underneath that. Then lean this branch across the cage, with the top being just a few inches above the soil and the bottom of it dug into the soil a little bit to hold it in place. Get a clamp light and clip it to the top of the can with a 30-40W bulb in it (I use just a regular kitchen type bulb). Too hot of a bulb and it'll get pretty hot in there. When you've got that all ready to go, then get a piece of plywood or something flat and cover as much of the rest of the top of the container as you can. Leave a little opening for air, but they definitely like their privacy. You should aim a small fan across the top of all this to get some airflow. Now WEIGH THE FEMALE (in grams) and place her in there in the evening and leave her alone. Give her about an hour with the light on and then turn it off for the night. When you get up, turn her light and fan on and leave the room. From that point on, DO NOT look at her at all. I usually leave her completely alone until that evening. Then maybe peek into the top (if possible, without her seeing you) and see what's going on. It's usually obvious to see if she has laid or not, both by her weight, and if she has dirt on her head or brown markings across the ridge on her head (dirt "stains"). Also the first thing I do is weigh her. She should have dropped about a third or more of her weight (Veileds can be half). If she has laid (you'll know by weighing her), put her back in her normal cage, with a dripper going pretty fast, and offer her some fancy foods, like wax, super and silkworms. These seem to be my female's favorites. A pinkie mouse (if she'll take one) also will help her to gain back some weight quickly. Let her eat all she can for the next few weeks and make sure she's got her UVB (or plenty of natural sunlight), D3, calcium AND WATER. Back to the eggs, carefully start digging wherever you think she laid them. The easiest way to find it if you don't know where to start is to scratch off about 2 inches of dirt and feel for the soft spot underneath that. The rest of the dirt should be relatively compacted still and where she filled in her hole won't be. Use your hands and have another bucket or something to throw dirt into. Usually you can follow the "soft spot" right to the eggs. If the female had all her calcium, D3, and was well taken care of before this, the eggs should be bright white and you won't miss them. Have your egg container ready, usually a plastic shoebox or food storage container, and put the eggs in nice rows in the vermiculite or whatever you're using (vermiculite or perlite should be at a 6 to 10 ratio, water to dry vermiculite). Keep the eggs about an inch or more apart. Don't worry about if you turn the eggs over right now unless they're more than a few days old. It won't hurt them yet to be moved a little. Now weigh the entire container and make a label for it saying the date they were laid, who's they are (female) and who she mated with to get them. Also, add the weight of the whole container on there somewhere. Incubate panther eggs in the low 70's during the day and get them down in the mid 60's at night if you can. Veiled eggs will be a few degrees higher. After about 2 months, take their daytime temperature up a few degrees. This will help take them out of diapause and get them developing. Re-weigh the container and get some air exchange about every every 2 weeks for the first 6 months. After 6 months, add a LITTLE water, about enough to make it a 7 to 10 ratio. After 6 months (panthers), you should start checking them every few days for signs of hatching. Veiled chameleon eggs should be checked often beginning at 5 months. The eggs will being "sweating" a few days before hatching, and even once they've slit the egg, it can be a day or two until they fully emerge. Panther chameleon eggs can take up to or even over a year to hatch (generally 9-10 months), so if an egg looks healthy and white, leave it alone. Never throw away a healthy looking egg, no matter how long it's taking. Single clutches can hatch over a few months time, but are generally within a few weeks of eachother. Time flies!

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