Panther Chameleon
panther chameleon
Name Dutch: panther chameleon
Scientific name: Furcifer Pardalis
Origin: Madagascar
Age: 5 to 6 years
Day temperature: 24 – 28°c
Humidity: 50 - 60%
Birth: Egg laying.
Activity: Day active
Legislation: CITES B
Climate: Tropical
Stay: A high terrarium with many horizontal branches where the chameleons can easily walk on and it is important that they are not too thick.
Heat place: 30-32°c
Night temperature: 18 – 20°c
Night humidity: 60-80%
Minimum size: 90 x 45 x 90 cm
Description
The panther chameleon is for many people the most beautiful chameleon there is because of its great diversity in colors. The Furcifer pardalis is mainly found in the north of the mainland of Madagascar and a number of islands where they can be found near coastal areas . The most common locations are:
Ambanja – Ambilobe – Nosy Be – Nosy Mitsio – Nosy Faly – Diego Suarez – Sambava – Tamatave
The panther chameleon is easy to keep, but they do need space. The terrarium needs a minimum size of 90x45x90cm that can be full of large plants with many side cracks. Furthermore, thin lianas or other branches can be used. As long as they aren't too thick. Chameleons like to walk on thinner twigs that they can easily place their claws around.
The panther chameleon is a medium to large species and the males can reach a length of 40 to 50 cm. This can differ per animal. The females remain smaller and can reach a length of about 30 cm. These unfortunately do not have the beautiful colors as the men and have a gray to dark brown base color with a salmon-colored drawing. It is very important to know that you cannot keep these animals together. It causes a lot of stress with the result that one of the animals can die.
The panther chameleon is a reptile that mainly lives in trees and where they bask to warm up or are hunting for insects. They do not use the beautiful colors that they can get as camouflage but to indicate their mood. This is mainly due to stress, but they also show when they meet a female. But in addition to the beautiful colors, they can also inflate to make themselves bigger and strike out with their mouth open at a possible opponent or caretaker.
Like all reptiles, panther chameleons are cold-blooded and dependent on a heat source. In nature this is the sun, but in a terrarium they depend on a heat source such as a heat spot. Chameleons have no ear canals and are completely deaf. They compensate for this by their bizarre eyes that they can move independently of each other. This allows them to keep an eye on the whole environment. As soon as they see prey, both eyes focus on the target, allowing them to estimate the distance. As soon as the prey is within range, the tongue shoots out in a fraction. The chameleon grabs the prey with the tip of its tongue and retracts it's mouth.
Caresheet
Because the panther chameleon is a larger species, it is best kept in large terrariums. For an adult man, consider a minimum size of 90x45x90 cm, but the advice is 132x45x90 cm or a full mesh 60x60x120 cm terrarium. These are more difficult to get to the right temperature than glass terrariums. However, they do have the maximum ventilation. Branches may hang over the width of the terrarium for the chameleon to walk well over. Furthermore, plants with large leaves can be placed in the terrarium where the chameleon can sit. Chameleons need to be able to hide completely out of sight to avoid stress.
A heat source and a good UVB lamp are necessary in a terrarium. These come in many different models and types such as fluorescent tubes, CFLs, Mercury lamps and Metal halide lamps. Every lamp has its advantages and disadvantages. It is important to be well informed about this.
The food consists of large insects such as grasshoppers, crickets, cockroaches, dola larvae, silkworms, wax moth larvae and all kinds of other insects that fit between the widest part of the mouth.
Sex & Reproduction
The big difference between men and women is in the color and size. Men have much more color than women and are a lot bigger. The male also has a thicker tail base where the hemipenis are located. Thanks to these differences, the man and woman will be easily distinguishable from each other.
