Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[Young_Gun]

Thinking about getting a panther, just one question really, would you advise getting a small one (baby) or a sub adult/adult?
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MORE THAN 2!

[kinyonga]

I would suggest getting a sub-adult. There is a mortality rate to neonates that should be past by the time they are sub-adult.

[Rickeezee]

Hm good question, babies are cheaper in most cases depending upon how rare the locale is. Bear in mind Panther chameleons can take on average 9 months to hatch out and need a lot of care as babies, so therefore the older they are when you buy them the more they will cost.

With an older cham you are paying for the time and care required to get it to that stage. The older the cham the more viable it will be, younger chams can be delicate. So pros and cons.

Baby panthers are hard work, but if experienced and if you have the correct set up and time to spend on their husbandry you should do well, the younger the cham the less viable it will be, so never, in my view buy a baby chameleon under 8-10 weeks old and preferably a wee bit older if you can.

Sub adults / young adults are hard to find as most breeders will sell babies off as soon as, it is costly and extremely time consuming to raise chameleons en mass to this stage.

Another factor to think of, if buying a baby you will need a specific baby set up, then an adult set up, if buying a sub adult initial higher cost but only one set up required so it evens out!

Another thing to consider, what do you want from your chameleon, the enjoyable and challenging learning curve of raising a baby through to adulthood, or a grown on panther with less worry? But still a good learning curve!

And remember not all baby or sub adults chams are the same, look at the history of the parent chameleons and how they have been raised and looked after, quite often folk forget this when buying a cham. It really does make a lot of difference.

Also consider; are you buying direct from the actual breeder or from a dealer? Again not many folk take this into consideration. I have seen far to many adverts over the past year or so, with so called pictures of the parent chameleons when I know for a 100% fact that the pictures are not always of the actual parents, this is a blatant misrepresentation and people are being misled as to the actual parents of the chams they have bought! Some people reading this will know what I am talking about, nuff said!

Some folk will want the cheapest deal, fair play to them, but my advice is research, do your homework and buy from a trusted source where the chameleons parents history can be checked out also. Not allways possible I know, but I am just trying to provide an ideal scenario.

So in brief baby chams yes if your prepared for the work that goes with them, sub adults if you want to hedge your bets and can find them and still enjoy the hard work!

Bottom line; if you can get a sub adult in my view you have a higher chance of success. Young babies are risky. I am sure if breeders are being honest they will tell you the same.

Personally I would much prefer if there was a moratorium amongst all chameleon sellers / breeders not to sell any chameleon until it is at least 6 months old. But this will never happen unfortunately, in turn this results in breeders / dealers selling babies to remain competitive.

Without getting in to the lengthy reasons why; if you have a choice buy captive bred not wild caught or captive farmed Unless you really know what your getting into.

Kinyonga said it more succinctly than me but I just wanted to raise a few issues for consideration.

I could just say they are all easy no worries, but thats not allways the case. If honesty prevails from breeder to seller then hopefully is should led to a happier experience for all concerned all round! When you get it right they are such an amazing herp to keep and extremely rewarding! I quite like them
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[Stuart]

Some great advice and info there Rick.
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[Rickeezee]

Thanks Stu, for anyone knew to the world of chams its best to be straight else there may be disappointments and folk may end up being put of a wonderful species of herp. Far better for all concerned if its a positive experience, as there is no reason why it shouldn't be if things are conducted in the correct way by all parties involved.
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[Cleef]

Yep, great advice Rick, rightly stickied
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Steve P

[Rickeezee]

Ta muchly.
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[aidan]

so panthers are a lot more difficult than Yemen's
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2.4. beardies
1.1 fire n uce beardies
1.1.0 yemen chameleons
0.0.1 corns
0.0.2 crested geckos

[Rickeezee]

Not necessarily Aiden, just that Yemens are more tolerant of mistakes but this does not mean that they will thrive and survive or even be happy if the husbandry is incorrect. They will get by possibly if the conditions are incorrect but may well lead miserable lives.

Both species require and deserve optimum conditions to thrive.

So in a sense yes your right, Yemens can be easier but with reservations as above.

The captive chameleon world in many ways is still in its infancy, we still have lots to learn.
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