Learn your Panther Chameleon’s Color Language

We know that chameleons change color. But did you know that those color changes can communicate what a chameleon is feeling? Colors change with age, temperature, and emotional state. The chameleon could very well be the reptile most able to communicate with humans – if we learn their language. Today I give you an introduction to speaking your Panther chameleon’s language!

Chameleons are known for their ability to change color. Unfortunately, it is widely though they change color to match their background and this is false. But this idea has seeped into our culture so much that it even shows up in some biology books. I have literally been holding a yellow chameleon against a blue short and having someone argue with me that chameleons change color to match their background. When I point out the obvious they will say something like “well, he sees the sun”. So, yes, this concept has wedged itself deep into our society’s minds!

Every species of chameleon can change color. But they have limitations within their species. Chameleons have a certain pattern on their skin and the cells within those patterns are able to change color.  But they do not have full freedom of the color spectrum. Each species has certain colors that they can exhibit. Jackson’s Chameleons are mostly green, pygmy chameleons are mostly brown, some Parson’s Chameleons are bluish while some others are yellowish. Panther chameleons are actually one of the few species that have a great variety of colors they show. Though, once again, panthers only have certain colors of the spectrum they can play in. Panthers are unique in that different locales have different color palettes. And we are still not sure why!

There is one thing you need to know right up front before we get into details. First of all, all the photos you see from people selling panther chameleons are when the adult males are fired up. So let’s unpack this statement with the important words

Adult. Panther chameleon hatch out of the egg little cryptic slivers of brown and tan. This coloring helps them hide from the world that wants to eat them. Males and females have identical coloration when they hatch. The bright colors you know panther chameleons for start coming in as they get older. This change can start anywhere from three months old to six months old depending on how quickly they are raised up. Using multigenerational captive bred bloodlines, individual raising, ideal environmental conditions, and good nutrition and colors could start coming in around the two month mark. There will be faint colors coming in and they will just get stronger until he adult coloration is achieved between 6 and 12 months depending on care and conditions. What this means for you is that the juvenile you get will not be colored up. And males may retain their brownish cryptic coloration for a while. It is common for people to get a male and be convinced they have a female. While incorrect IDs can happen, if you are working with a reputable breeder the chances are low that they have sent you a female and if they did, they will work things out with you. Now, if you have price shopped and gone with the cheapest breeder you could find you are probably not going to have the customer service you would prefer. I always say that part of being reputable is what the sales means. For a reputable breeder, the sale of one of their panthers is the start of a long term relationship with you. Lower tier breeders see the sale as the end of their relationship with you. I am sure I will be saying not to shop on price at least five times in this episode.

Our next word is Male. The females have a very attractive set of oranges, salmons, pinks, blacks, and blue highlights. But only the males have the bright colors. When you work with a reputable breeder this isn’t that big of a deal because you can choose whether to buy and male or female. But some people buy eggs based on a picture of a brightly colored male and you have 50% chance of getting a female. So go into that with eyes wide open. I love the females and enjoy keeping them. But if you have expectations of having a male you need to get a well sorted juvenile from a reputable breeder.

And, finally, and this is the big one, “Fired up”. What is fired up? When a male panther chameleon wants to warn off another male or impress a female or scare you they make their colors extra bright. And this is when the picture is taken. When the male is in full display mode. And this happens only when they are in fight or mate mode. Otherwise, their colors are greatly muted. You still see the colors, but the yellow body of the yellow body blue bar ambilobe is a dull green. The bright blue of the Blue Ambanja is kind of a grayish blue. One common concern from first time panther keepers is if their chameleon is sick because its colors look off. Fortunately, we can tell them this is actually good. You do not want your panther to be in display mode all the time! That is not healthy! Of course, learning that your panther may not be a walking neon sign 24/7 may be a disappointment, but, hopefully, after this episode your expectation will be more in line with reality. Now, there is selective breeding going on in the community and the long term breeding project results are having brighter and brighter resting colors. So you may or may not have the dullness that people working with wild caught chameleons would encounter.

So, what can we tell by the color the Panther Chameleons show us? Well, we touched on some of this above in the most common use case for panther Chameeon questions, but I am going to review it all here to be complete.

The first thing we can tell about a Panther chameleon is its maturity. Notice I didn’t say age, although that is closely related. The colors that panther chameleons hatch with and go through their baby stages with are meant for protection and stay with them based on how quickly they grow. Although we often talk about panther chameleons needing to be three months old before they can go to a new home, the truth is that we are looking for a certain  body size. I know one breeder that uses the weight of 12 grams and that is a pretty good standard. How quickly a panther gets to this size depends on their husbandry. And, the, how old they are before they start to color up is also dependent on their husbandry and genetics. We can’t forget genetics! And with all the selective breeding going on, the genetics for colors are getting stronger and stronger! Females seem to retain their browns longer, but that may simply be that they don’t have insane colors coming in. The said, females tend to show nice blue cheeks early and other subtle colors that can lead to mistaken ID. Be carful with using color to determine gender at very early ages. You can safely say that most panthers have their adult colors by 9 to 12 months. Although some have them at six months.

We can also tell the Emotional state of your panther chameleon. But this does take a little bit of experience. And, you will get that experience as you watch your panther day in and day out and get use to the base colors. You will note a duller or darker normal, kick around the house palette of colors most of the time, but it is replaced with a blinding flash of color when a female, rival male, or mirror comes around. You may even get a show from some panthers if you wear a red shirt or dare come into their pretense with a cap on. See, to some panthers, those are fighting words! And to some panthers, well, that doesn’t mean anything. Whatever, you do you, where’s my roach?

Females have a special communication with their colors. When a male does around they will either stay calm and pleasant colors if they are receptive and flash angry stripes when they are not receptive. Those angry. Black stripes also show up if she is gravid, meaning is developing eggs. If that is the case she is not receptive and mister flashy pants can just go flash somewhere else.

Panthers, and well, all chameleons, will change color to regulate temperature. We know that dark colors absorb light and light colors reflect light. This is why you will see panther chameleons under their basking light all dark. They are absorbing as much of the light energy as possible. When hey are hot they will blanch out and their colors will get faded as they try to reflect as much light as possible. Expect dark colors every day for basking, but it is code red if you see them bleaching out their colors and then gape to cool off. This is getting serious and you need to get that chameleon to a cooler area ASAP.

There are two other cases where you will see  right colors on a chameleon. One is every day when they are asleep. It is strange to realize that the skin’s rest state is brightly colored. And you can see this when they sleep. So that means the “rest” state of dull colors during waking hours would actually be a level of modulation. Interesting concept to think about. But you’ll find many images of sleeping chameleons in their PJs across social media because it is so colorful. Now, their skin is light sensitive so those colors will fade if a flashlight stays on them so take your pictures quickly!

Another time when their skin may get bright is when they are about to die. I remember when I was early in my chameleon journey I had this experience with an dishonest importer and an honest importer. I wanted one of those incredible blue chameleons. I found a bright blue one from the dishonest importer who gladly sold the chameleon to me which dies within 24 hours. Looking back, I know anyone who knew anything would have known this was a dying chameleon. And so, yes, we all have to learn this sometime, right. Well, I went to another importer and saw a blazing blue panther upon a stick and asked about it. The importer said, “I can’t sell that one to you. He is about to die”. And, this I learned about panther chameleon death colors and the wide range of integrity in panther chameleon providers. Two very good lessons for me. Now, it is hard to describe the death colors. They are bright, but faded. But do not worry too much about that. There are other much more obvious signs that a panther chameleon is on its way out. And once you get that panther away from the adrenaline of being at a show and trying to look strong for all the hairless apes walking around you will see the eyes close and sink in even further. But, I say this to be thorough. You shouldn’t have to worry about death colors unless you really are scraping the bottom of the barrel to find cheap prices. And after seven years with your chameleon and getting to know his or her color personality you will know when the time is coming from many signs including color fade.

Now there is another strange case where the males can suddenly go gray. I have not heard of a satisfying explanation as to why they do this, but they will suddenly go blah. Brightly colored and then blah. And they can stay blah for weeks, months, or years. Some people say theirs go through winter blahs which is normal and has a natural parallel with the dry season which is colder than the wet season. But I have a very nice Ambilobe that has been blah for almost two years and is just now letting some color seep back in. I have no idea what caused it and what is causing the color to come back! Seasons, temperature, seeing a male, seeing a female, me telling dad jokes,…nothing makes a difference. So I just take care of him and he can bring back his colors when he is ready. But, this is an example of how we can learn much about the chameleon through their color, but, also, the color can be a little whacky. All part of the adventure.

That is a lot to absorb and, don’t worry, you have all sorts of time to get acquainted with your panther and his or her nuances. But, let’s do a quick review of the important things for a beginner panther chameleon keeper to keep in mind.

1. the marketing photos of panther chameleons are at their brightest display colors and this is not what you want your chameleon to be at! So, yes, fall in, love with the colors, but let it be an occasional treat that you see them like that.
2. Watch your chameleon as they go through their life and get to know their behavior and color personality. Observation of slight differences in their personality is the most effective warning sign of health issues. Chameleons hide their illness very well. You know how people think chameleons drop dead suddenly? No, they take just as long to get sick and get sick seriously as ant other animal. The difference is that they hide it for so long and you don’t notice it until it is too far gone to hide. So, your early warning system is observation. The people adept at this will be trigger by a feeling of something they can’t even take a picture of. But that early disturbance in the force is what will save the life of your chameleon. Chameleons respond to antibiotics and medication quite well in the early stages.
3. Remember that each chameleon is an individual. They will be just as influenced by the mother’s genetics as the fathers and then they will give a show all their own. So, purchasing a chameleon because of a picture of the father only gets you in the ballpark of the colors possible. Sit back and wait to see how your unique panther comes in as they grow into their colors.

And with that I hope you feel much more confident in interpreting what you may encounter being a panther chameleon keeper. I hope you are enjoying this podcast. There is often a video that goes along with the episode as it is with this episode. You can see this if you listen to it on the Spotify app or if you go check out the panther chameleon podcast playlist on Youtube. I am glad you are here and doing your research into your panther chameleon. I am having a fun time putting this show together. If you would like to see some behind the scenes talk and discussion about the future of the Chameleon Academy I would love to have you join the Patreon. Support there helps what I do out here! And I want to give a big thanks to those of you already part of the Chameleon Academy Patreon group. And, thank you for joining me on this enjoyable journey learning about the panther chameleon. This is Bill Strand signing off, and I will see you next time.

I hope this review of the issues surrounding wild caught panther chameleons has been useful. 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.