Finding a Panther Chameleon

Once you have made the decision that your family is right for a panther chameleon you are faced with a number of decisions, including where to find a panther chameleon. Today I talk about the options available to you.

Hello Panther enthusiasts, we are back for the next step on your journey into the world of Panther Chameleons. In our last episode I talked about what kind of pet a chameleon makes. If you got through that episode and it sounded like a panther chameleon would be a good fit in your household then the next step is to figure out where to get one. My top recommendation is to get a well started juvenile from an established and reputable breeder. But you may run into other options or be wondering what does “established and reputable” mean in actionable terms.

So, it is well worth it to give you the lay of the land. Panther Chameleons are the most popular species of chameleons and are available in every life stage. I’ll start by laying out a lifecycle overview.

Your panther chameleon starts off life as an egg. Upon hatching, the panther chameleon is fully independent and strikes of into the Madagascar wilderness to find as much food as possible and avoid being eaten. As a community, we have settled on the age of three months old before we consider them well started, strong, and stable enough to go to a new home. By six months they will have unmistakeable adults colors and by 9 to 12 months you have a young adult that is sexually mature. Panthers grow quickly in the first year of life and then after that they start to slow down. They will continue to grow all their life, but at a much slower pace.

Panther chameleons are still imported from Madagascar. They are quite adaptable and can be found around human homes and farms. Wild caught panther chameleons are available if you know where to look for them, but they also trickle down into retail locations. Most often they will be at reptile expos. And they do get a lot of attention as a full grown male panther chameleon is a spectacular creature. But here is where some context is immensely helpful to prevent you from making a decision that has unintended consequences. Yes, that panther looks great, but if he is from the wild he is also, 99% sure to be carrying parasites and possibly fungus, disease, and internal kidney damage. The thing is that it will be very difficult to tell at the point of sale what you are signing up for. And the vet bills to acclimate a wild caught can be substantial depending on what you have to treat. Yes, they look health when they are hyped up on adrenaline at the show, but many a person has gotten home to find their wild caught chameleons declining in health. And then all the vet visits and vet bills are not a guarantee you can reverse this and bring them back to health. They are large, bright, and often cheaper than the younger, not yet fully colored captive bred panthers. But these are not real advantages. The captive bred panther will catch up very quickly and will not be going through the rough acclimation process. There is no comparison between convincing an adult from the wild to get used to cage life and a baby raised up to know that their cage is security and offers them everything they could want.

I discourage everyone from getting a wild caught chameleon if you are not intending on adding them to your breeding colony. This is because the only benefit a wild caught panther has is to the breeder who is diversifying their bloodlines. The breeder knows how to acclimate the panther, is willing to invest in the medical care during the acclimation process, and will leave the panther alone except for breeding. This is a good life for a wild caught panther. This is not a good experience for you as a first time chameleon keeper. Don’t sign up for the whole acclimation process and, possibly, shorter life span just for the immediate gratification of having a brightly colored chameleon on your hand. It is not worth it when you have the alternative of a well started juvenile which you can watch grow up as he or she grows up acclimating to you.

Well started juveniles from a reputable breeder are readily available at shows and online. Getting one of these from a breeder gives you a number of benefits. Of course, there are a number of levels of breeder from the person having their first clutch to breeders who have been doing this for ten years. It is the same as any other industry. The less experience the cheaper the price may be, but the more you have to make sure the quality is there. If you are not experienced enough in panther chameleons then you want to go with some of the more established names because they will provide the value you don’t know to ask for. They are protecting and maintaining their hard earned reputation and so will want to make sure that not only you are happy, but anyone else in the community who does know what they are looking at will be impressed. With an established breeder you are protected by the community that is watching. With a dealer at a reptile expo or a beginner working out of their bedroom they may not care beyond you walking out the door.

A breeder is providing the following benefits:

As you probably know, panther chameleons come in many colors. We call these locales because it is based on what area of Madagascar the chameleons come from. But this local is detectable only through the male. The females all look alike. So it is easy to mix the locales and the results will be unpredictable and often not very pretty. In addition, most breeders strictly avoid mixing locales because once they are mixed they cannot be unmixed. So going with a reputable breeder means they know the lineages and local of all their breeding members – especially the females. And you are able to be as certain as possible that you will get what you expect. There are variations that come with being a living creature, but, if you want a yellow bodied, blue bar Ambilobe you know that is what you are going to get. Keeping track of lineage is more than just a decision. It is hard work. So, only the dedicated breeders will do it. If you get a panther chameleon from a general retail pet store that does not have lineage data, you may get a cheaper chameleon, but there is a reason for that.

As you probably know, panther chameleons come in many colors. We call these locales because it is based on what area of Madagascar the chameleons come from. But this local is detectable only through the male. The females all look alike. So it is easy to mix the locales and the results will be unpredictable and often not very pretty. In addition, most breeders strictly avoid mixing locales because once they are mixed they cannot be unmixed. So going with a reputable breeder means they know the lineages and local of all their breeding members – especially the females. And you are able to be as certain as possible that you will get what you expect. There are variations that come with being a living creature, but, if you want a yellow bodied, blue bar Ambilobe you know that is what you are going to get. Keeping track of lineage is more than just a decision. It is hard work. So, only the dedicated breeders will do it. If you get a panther chameleon from a general retail pet store that does not have lineage data, you may get a cheaper chameleon, but there is a reason for that.

There are a lot of things that can happen between egg laying, hatching, and raising up. Not all eggs get all the nutrients, some hatchlings are weak just because of normal randomness in the process, and some hatchlings just don’t thrive for unknown reasons. A breeder has become an expert in increasing survivability and selecting out the best of the clutch. And this is the experience you need to make sure you get the best possible start. And this is also where you want to go with someone that has a reputation they care about because that breeder will send out the strongest instead of the person just trying to get rid of the new babies as quickly as possible who might think it smart to send out the weakest first. You never know. But the established breeders see you as an investment in their reputation and will take care of you with that in mind.

A substantial benefit of working with a breeder is the support you will get after your panther comes home. They want you to be successful and will spend the time to make sure you are. Now, because of this, do not be surprised if they talk to you before hand and make sure you know what you are getting into and if you have a good setup already. And this is a good thing. I know you might be annoyed that this person is interviewing you before they will allow you to give them money, but this is a good first step toward your success. When you bring home a panther you want everything to be perfect from day 1.

So, you can see that there is a great deal of value packed into buying from a breeder. You are getting a higher quality chameleon that has been given exceptional care. And when you are starting off with chameleons and figuring out the husbandry it is 100% worth it to get started with the healthiest chameleon possible.

I do want to mention that you could run into people selling chameleon eggs. While it sounds like a lot of fun and the upfront price is cheaper than a well started juvenile, it is important to look behind the curtain and make a wise choice. Purchasing an egg removes all the protections  that the breeder puts in place to make sure you get a healthy panther. You are unsure whether the eggs will hatch, what gender the baby will be, or how healthy the baby will be when it hatches. And it is only cheaper upfront. Once you take into account the food bill for the hatchling to get it up to the three month point where you would buy a juvenile you quickly realize that it was actually more expensive to buy an egg than to buy a juvenile. It can be done. Some people have hatched a chameleon successfully from an egg they purchased. But I have run into many people whose egg did not hatch. It is hard to come up with data on this because the people who are most vocal are the ones that are not happy. But I discourage you from learning about chameleon husbandry with a hatchling. Everything about it is harder to do!

And we may as well address the topic head on. Egg sales are a controversial topic in the community. Much of the community has condemned this practice due to the additional difficulties it places on the beginning buyer and the manner in which business is conducted. I would like to address this in a later episode in more detail as it is a can of worms to explain it and we would get wildly off topic. For the purposes of this episode, I would like to say that I discourage purchasing an egg as your first chameleon. It is adding a number of layers of challenge on top of what is already a lot to learn. And a hatchling is less likely to be able to absorb a misstep here or there. But, at the same time, if you already have purchased an egg and are wanting to learn how to effectively care for it, I want you to know that I will be giving you that information. Do you see the tightrope I am walking here? Whenever you tell someone how to do something there is an implication that you approve of them doing it. But I ask that you allow me to discourage something and, at the same time, help the people who have entered into the community through buying an egg. I do not like refusing to help just to make a point. There is a chameleon’s life at stake. So, if you have purchased an egg and have then come looking for information, you have come to the right place. Yes, you will have to sit through me telling people not to do it, but I will give you a full run down of what you need to do to take care of your hatchling in an upcoming webpage.

If you browse your local classifieds you may run into people selling their panther chameleon. While classifieds are a great place to find deals, they are a difficult place to really know what you are getting, what the true background to your new panther would be, and what kind of care they may or may not have received. This can be a good source if you get a well cared panther from someone who has religiously followed the Chameleon Academy Podcasts and now is having to go off to college. Or you could get one that has Metabolic Bone Disorder from having incorrect UVB lights or is riddled with parasites from lack of treatment. It definitely takes a discerning eye to make sure what you are getting is a good buy.

In the end, where you get your chameleon is actually the most important decision you can make. This is what starts you off on the right foot to 7 years of a great experience or 6 months of having a miserable experience and then complaining about how fragile chameleons are. And I see it all the time on social media. When someone shops for panther chameleons on price they are often not happy with their experience. And this makes sense. When breeders invest in the infrastructure and maintenance to do it right they have a high investment and maintenance costs. So, yes, the better chameleon is more expensive. The problem with thinking you are shrewd and a deal finder is that there are people who specialize in giving you what you want upfront, but not really what you need long term. So, yes, there are people looking to sell to the people looking for deals. And they are not looking to sell quality. These people are just concerned about closing the deal and that being the end of it. Your key to success is to work with a breeder who considers the initial chameleon sale to be the start of a long term relationship.

I hope this was a useful review of your panther chameleon options. This page is the partner to the podcast episode on the top of the page. The Panther Chameleon Podcast is part of the Chameleon Academy Outreach. On this Panther Chameleon Podcast, I take on aspects of starting with panther chameleons that will directly benefit a person just starting off. Please note that you have an entire detailed panther chameleon care summary here on chameleonacademy.com.  This has been put together as a free resource to ensure the widest number of people can get a good start with their panther chameleon. If you would like to support this outreach you can do so at the Chameleon Academy Patreon page linked below and that helps keep this all running.

Getting a panther chameleon is a step to an incredible new world and an experience you will remember for your entire life. And I am going to do what I can to make sure it is a great one. If you would like to ask questions about any of this, check the Chameleon Academy home page for the schedule of when I do live interactive sessions on YouTube and Instagram.