How To Care For Your Panther Chameleons

Panther chameleons are one of the prettiest chameleons. They are also know to be the most hardy of chameleons and the easiest for first time chameleon owners. The information here is only a brief description of what is required to care for your new chameleons and I would recommend you learn as much as possible to maintain that your chameleon be as happy as possible.


Housing Requirements:

Babies can be kept in glass aquariums with a screen top. Juveniles, Sub Adults and Adults should be kept in all screen cages. The cage should be kept vertical, not horizontal. Cage size recommendation 18" x 18" x 36" But general rule is bigger is always better. The cages should be kept with foliage and sturdy climbing and perching sights and branches. Ficus and Hibiscus are good plants.

We use paper towels on the bottom of the cage, easier for cleaning and no chance of the chameleons eating a substrate during feeding. It also helps me to monitor fecal matter.

Chameleons are solitaire animals and should be house individually once they hit about 6 months old. They should only be kept together during a breeding session…and PLEASE do not breed blood related chameleons!


Temperature and Humidity:

The ideal temperature for Panthers should be 70F to 75F, with a basking area to reach 90F to 95F. A 10 degree temperature drop at night is recommended.

The ideal humidity range should be at 40% to 50%. We accomplish this by frequently misting the leaves of the cage with a spray bottle. We use very warm water and my chameleons enjoy the shower on themselves as well.


Lighting:

Panther chameleons require UV radiation lighting in order to metabolize calcium. They also need a heat lamp in on corner where they can bask for heat. We use ZooMed REPTISUN 5.0 UVB light and a 60 watt heat bulb. Babies should have lower wattage basking areas, to only use 30 to 40 watt blubs.


Feeding and Hydration:
Our chameleons are fed daily. We gut load our crickets, waxworms and mealworms with Nature Zone Cricket Bites and Sticky Tongue Farms Mineral All. Make sure you are gut loading your insects with a calcium supply. I put about 5 - 6 crickets in the cage at a time. Babies I feed more frequently. Twice a day. Most chameleons will eat right from your hand if you hold the insect very still.

Chameleons will NOT drink standing water. They get their source of water from Dew and Rain in their natural environment. We immitate this by using a drip system in one corner of my cage, drip water for them two to three times a day. They get their drink from the leaves, use a tupperwear dish underneath the dripping area to catch the waste and dispose the old water daily.

Please remember, chameleons can become very stressed if handled too much and if they are left living withother chameleons.


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How To Care For Your Jackson's Chameleon

Jackson Chameleons are wonderful pets. They are not only amazing to look at but they are truly a delight.

The information here is only a brief description of what is required to care for your new chameleons and I would recommend you learn as much as possible to maintain that your chameleon be as happy as possible. Here are some web sights for further information on the Jackson Chameleon.

Housing Requirements:

Babies can be kept in glass aquariums with a screen top. Juveniles, Sub Adults and Adults should be kept in all screen cages. The cage should be kept vertical, not horizontal. Cage size recommendation 18" x 18" x 36" But general rule is bigger is always better. The cages should be kept with foliage and sturdy climbing and perching sights and branches. Ficus and Hibiscus are good plants.

We use paper towels on the bottom of the cage, easier for cleaning and no chance of the chameleons eating a substrate during feeding. It also helps me to monitor fecal matter.

Chameleons are solitaire animals and should be house individually once they hit about 6 months old. They should only be kept together during a breeding session…and PLEASE do not breed blood related chameleons!

Temperature and Humidity:

The ideal temperature for Jackson should be 77F, with a basking area to reach 85F to 90F. A 10 degree temperature drop at night is recommended.

The ideal humidity range should be at 50% to 75%. We accomplish this by frequently misting the leaves of the cage with a spray bottle. We use very warm water and my chameleons enjoy the shower on themselves as well.

Lighting:

Jackson chameleons require UV radiation lighting in order to metabolize calcium. They also need a heat lamp in on corner where they can bask for heat. I use ZooMed REPTISUN 5.0 UVB light and a 60 watt heat bulb. Babies should have lower wattage basking areas, to only use 30 to 40 watt blubs.

Feeding and Hydration:

Our chameleons are fed daily. We gut load our insects, waxworms and mealworms with Nature Zone Cricket Bites and Sticky Tongue Farms Mineral All. Make sure you are gut loading your insects with a calcium supply. We put about 5 - 6 crickets in the cage at a time, babies are fed more frequently, twice a day. They will eat right from your hand if you hold the insect very still.

Chameleons will NOT drink standing water. They get their source of water from Dew and Rain in their natural environment. We immitate this by using a drip system in one corner of my cage, drip water for them two to three times a day. They get their drink from the leaves, you can use a tupperwear dish underneath the dripping area to catch the waste and dispose the old water daily.

Please remember, chameleons can become very stressed if handled too much and if they are left living with other chameleons.




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Veiled Chameleons And Gut-Loading

Veiled Chameleon Gut Loading

What is Gut-Loading?

Gut-loading is the process of feeding your crickets a healthy diet.  It is absolutely essential in raising a healthy Veiled Chameleon. We do this for two reason:
  1. It will fill crickets up with nutritious items such as vegetables, grains and fruits. You can’t feed your veiled chameleon these items, but crickets will eat it readily.  Your veiled chameleon indirectly consumes these items by eating the crickets.
  2. It will clean out the crickets system of any impurities. Often, crickets purchased at the pet store are feeding on food that has no nutritional content. In some cases, the crickets are feeding on cardboard & bedding. To some degree, gut-loading cleans the crickets.
Gut-loading can be accomplished in two ways. The first is buying commercial gut-loads. The second is preparing them yourself.


Commercial Gut-Loads

We use several different kinds of commercial grade gut loads and we were not impressed by any of the results. We feel that a well balanced cricket diet should be offered by fresh produce. We are not saying that commercial cricket foods are bad we just arent impressed by them.

Self-Prepared Gut-Loads

Self-Prepared gut-loads is almost like a salad.  You’ll have to make sure the ingredients are cleaned before offering them to your crickets.  Do not overfeed!   Leafy greens can be rinsed off and offered in small amounts.  Other veggies such as carrots and sweet potatoes should be cut into small pieces with a cheese grater.  Below is a list of ingredients that can be used for a self-prepared gut-load:
Here are a few Bare Essentials needed to prepare what we call a cricket salad:
  1. Leafy greens such as collard greens, mustard greens, lettuce (Not Iceberg Lettuce!)
  2. Carrots (grated) 
  3. Oranges (sliced)
  4. Grains

Other Additional Ingredients that can be used are:
  1. Spirulina
  2. Bee pollen
  3. Dried Kelp
  4. Brewers yeast
  5. Melon

When to feed your Veiled Chameleon? Timing Is Everything!

The key to gut-loading is feeding the crickets to your veiled chameleon, while the ingredients are still fresh inside the crickets.  Below is a schedule of when you should gut-load.

The general rule of thumb is try gut-loading 3-4 hours prior to offering the crickets to your veiled chameleon.

The information above should help to get you started on gut-loading. If you follow the above feeding regimine for the gutloading of your crickets you will be on your way to keeping a HAPPY and HEALTHY Veiled Chameleon.
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Translucent Veiled Chameleons

Translucent Veiled ChameleonTranslucent veiled chameleons were originally found in the wild in yemen. With that being said a small group was collected only a 1.2. From there this small group took a journey to Europe where this bloodline was bred out. These veileds were first seen in 2006 at the National Breeders Expo in Daytona Florida. Being that these animals are new to America there has been alot of speculation on health and genetic defects. Yes translucent is a defect but so is any other morph. There has been zero negative affect on these animals UV absorbtion. There has been several recordings of keeping these animals under different UV spectrums with no noticed affects and have been in Europe for over 7 years with zero health problems.

When this morph first made it into the US they had a price tag of $3000 each. Since then the price has drastically been reduced to $300 to $1000 depending on look. What I mean by look is by how much translucent the animal has on his body. This gene is a codominent gene meaning it will only take one animal carrying the translucent look to pass on to its offspring. High end animals will have white heads with a clear mouth and clear legs. Low end animals will be a turqouise color with white patches on there feet.

HOW IS THE GENE PASSED:

If you breed a low end translucent veiled to a normal none gene carrying veiled you will get a clutch of 50% normal babies and 50% low end trans babies.

Now if you breed a low end translucent veiled to another low end translucent veiled you will hatch out 50% low end translucents , 25 % normal babies, and 25% high end trans babies.

If you breed a High end translucent to a normal veiled you will get 100% low end animals .
Take a High end translucent to a low end translucent your offspring will be 50% High end  and 50% low end. 

And finally breeding  2 High end Translucent animals together will get you a clutch of 100% percent high end trans babies.

We hope that this info will help you better understand how this gene came about and is passed on through generations of veiled keeping with zero health affects.


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Veiled Chameleon Breeds

VEILED CHAMELEON : (Chamaeleo calyptratus)

This is one of our Sunburst Veiled breeders.  This breeder has an incredible casque and displays awesome Yellows on a Light Green background.







VEILED CHAMELEON : (Chamaeleo calyptratus)

Here is a Super Bright Orange Sunburst breeder.   This chameleon displays bright Oranges on a nice Turquoise background.







VEILED CHAMELEON : (Chamaeleo calyptratus)

And yet another one of our Orange Sunburst breeders. The colors of this breeder are absolutly amazing!







VEILED CHAMELEON : (Chamaeleo calyptratus)

Here is a Sunburst x Turqouise Breeder. This male is a giant and his babies are just amazing when they hatch.







VEILED CHAMELEON : (Chamaeleo calyptratus)

And the best for last. If you are looking for a Blue Veiled, look no further.  This breeder is bright Turquoise Blue w/bright Yellow barring and  awesome Black lateral barring.






VEILED CHAMELEON : (Chamaeleo calyptratus)

This is one of our super High Yellow breeders. When this breeder’s babies hatch they’re almost completely yellow!  Be sure to check for upcoming babies.






VEILED CHAMELEON : (Chamaeleo calyptratus)

This is one of our super TURQUOISE veiled breeders. He is a new breeder and has sired several clutches already. Be sure to check back often to see if any offspring have hatched.






Translucent Veiled Chameleon : (Chamaeleo calyptratus)

This is a wonderful Turqouise Translucent veiled breeder. He is beautiful and his translucent shows nicely on a turquoise background. Translucent Gene Info

Translucent Veiled Chameleon : (Chamaeleo calyptratus)

This is a future breeder that is a part of our colony. We love this male because of his almost pure white head and significant amounts of white throughout his body. Check back often for future offspring.


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