The Panther Chameleon is one of the most recognizable species of Chameleon due to their popularity in the pet trade. They are a large Chameleon species, with males displaying a wide variety of vibrant colors.
Taxonomy
The Panther Chameleon was first described in 1829 by Georges Cuvier, a French naturalist. Its scientific name is Furcifer pardalis, which loosely translates to forked leopard.
The translation of its name refers to their ‘forked’ shaped feet. The ‘leopard’ reference is in relation to the patterning of the lizard.
The Panther Chameleon belong to the infraorder Iguania. This is a grouping of lizards which contains species such Iguanas, Chameleons, Agamids and Anoles.
As its name suggests, it belongs to the Chameleon family of lizards. There are over 200 different species of Chameleon lizards that are divided into 12 different genera.
Some of the popular species of Chameleons include the Jacksons Chameleon, the Carpet Chameleon and the Pygmy Chameleon.
The Genus that the Panther Chameleon belongs to is called Furcifer. This is one of the largest genera of chameleons, containing over 20 species.
Most of these species are native to Madagascar, but there are a few exceptions. The lizards in this genera all have forked feet.
Panther Chameleon Description
The Panther Chameleon is one of the most colorful Chameleon species around. While females a generally a dull green, grey or tan coloration, males display a wide variety of vibrant colors.
One of the most characteristic features of a Panther Chameleon is their tongue which extends further than the length of their body. The tip of the tongue is sticky which helps them catch insects.
They have large dome shaped eyes on the side of their heads as well as a casque on the top of their head. The casque is more prominent in males. This is a helmet like structure used for protection.
Another distinctive feature of a Panther Chameleon is their specially jointed legs that have V-shaped feet. These are used to easily grab and hold branches.
Males are much larger than females, generally reaching lengths of between 35-50cm. Typical females will only grow to lengths of 25-30cm.
Natural Habitat and Distribution
The Panther Chameleon is native to the Northern parts of Madagascar. Their population is restricted to the coastal lowland regions. They share much of their range with the Gold Dust Day Gecko.
Their range extends from Antsohihy in the West, right around the top of the Island to Fenoarivo Atsinanana in the East. The color of the Panther Chameleon can vary greatly throughout its range.
They live in the coastal rainforests of the region and can be found in trees and on other vegetation. These lizards are completely arboreal and will rarely be found on the ground.
Feeding a Panther Chameleon
A Panther Chameleon needs to be fed a varied diet of insects. Feeding your lizard a steady diet of Crickets of Mealworms is not healthy for your lizard and they will become deficient in vital nutrients.
You should include Crickets, Roaches, Locust, Hornworms, Silkworms and Superworms as part of a varied diet. The size of each food item should be around the same size as the gap between the lizard’s eyes.
The amount you should feed your Panther Chameleon will depend on a number of factors but you should watch for signs of obesity as overfeeding these lizards is quite common.
Juveniles and gravid females can be fed more than a normal adult Chameleon as they need the extra calories. You can offer them up to 8 appropriately sized insects per day.
A normal adult Chameleon can be fed 4-5 insects a day. You can also skip a day of feeding from time to time to help prevent obesity. Constantly monitor your lizard’s appearance and adjust their diet accordingly.
Panther Chameleon Housing
A Panther Chameleon can be housed in a large glass enclosure with a mesh cover. Some keepers choose to house their Chameleons in all mesh enclosures, although this introduces a few challenges.
You will need to cover the sides of an ‘all mesh’ enclosure, or ensure there is plenty of foliage inside to allow your lizard to feel secure. It can also be difficult to maintain temperature and humidity so care will need to be taken here.
An adult male Panther Chameleon will need a large enclosure measuring at least 24x24x48. As females are generally a little smaller, they can be housed in slightly smaller enclosures.
Juveniles should be housed in much smaller enclosures to allow them to feel secure. The most important aspect of any Panther Chameleon enclosure is foliage. You should include plenty of plants, climbing branches and vines. Both real or artificial plants work well.
Light and Heat
You will need to provide a thermal gradient inside your Panther Chameleon enclosure to allow the lizard to thermoregulate. This can be achieved by using an overhead heat bulb.
You should aim for a temperature of around 86F towards the top of the enclosure. As you move down the enclosure and away from the source of the heat, the temperature will decrease.
The bottom of the enclosure can measure around 70-75F. This will allow your lizard to cool off beneath the foliage of the enclosure when it needs to.
UVB is also very important for a Panther Chameleon. You should use a fluorescent UVB tube as these generally emit more UVB than the coil bulbs.
Follow the manufacturers guidelines when choosing your UVB bulb as each type of bulb will emit a different amount of UVB and penetrate to a different depth. You will also need to change the bulb as per the manufacture’s guidelines.
Substrate
You don’t necessarily need to use substrate in your Panther Chameleon enclosure. These lizards will spend all of their time off the ground climbing on branches and vines.
There are both benefits and drawbacks to using substrate in a Chameleon enclosure. Substrate is a good way to help increase humidity levels but these lizards are known to ingest it when eating.
If you choose to use substrate, make sure it is an organic, soil-based substrate. This will reduce the chances of complications if your lizard does manage to ingest it.
Daily misting of the enclosure is important as these lizards will drink water droplets from leaves as opposed to drinking from a water bowl. Misting will also help increase the humidity in the enclosure.
You should aim to increase humidity levels to about 70-80% with misting. As the water evaporates, the humidity levels will drop. These levels can safely drop to around 40-50% as the enclosure dries.
Humidity ‘spikes’ are the key factor for a Panther Chameleon. These lizards shouldn’t be kept in consistently high or low levels of humidity. You should aim to mist the enclosure every morning and evening.
Handling a Panther Chameleon
A Panther Chameleon is more of a display animal that a pet that you can take out and play with every day. While some Chameleons can be very docile, others will show aggression if you attempt to handle them.
If you have patients, you can ‘train’ your Panther Chameleon to tolerate short handling sessions. The key is to use slow movements when attempting to pick them up to avoid frightening them.
Place your hand in front of the lizard’s feet and wait for them to walk onto your hand. Begin by keeping your hand in the enclosure, allowing the lizard to effectively use your hand as another branch.
As the lizard becomes more comfortable with you, you can start to slowly remove them from the enclosure. You should keep handling sessions short to avoid stressing the lizard too much.
Panther Chameleon Breeding
A male Panther Chameleon will reach sexual maturity at around 9-12 months, or when they reach about one foot in length. Females will take a little longer and should measure at least 18 inches before breeding.
Before pairing your lizards, you can place the cages beside each other to see if the female is receptive. If she isn’t, she will go almost black in color, open her mouth and hiss at the male.
If she is receptive, she will usually turn a pinkish color. When this happens, you can introduce the male. You can do this a number of times over a few days if the female remains receptive.
The gestation period for a Panther Chameleon is 20-30 days and the female will stop eating around halfway through this period until the eggs are laid.
When she is ready to lay, you might notice her roaming the bottom of the enclosure searching for a suitable lay site. You should introduce a lay box if you are not using a suitable substrate in the enclosure.
Once the eggs ate laid, you should remove them and place them in a sealed contain inside an incubator. Temperatures should be between 70-80 degrees while humidity should 80-90%.
A typical clutch size is around 20 eggs but this can vary greatly. These eggs have very long incubation times and can take 8-12 months to hatch.
Hatchlings can be kept communally in a suitable sized enclosure for the first 3 or 4 months. After this time, they will need to be separated and housed individually.
Keep the babies well-watered, misting them 3-4 times a day. A baby Panther Chameleon will drink the water droplets off of leaves and branches.
You will also need to feed them a lot of small crickets. They will eat 2-3 times a day and you can offer them as many crickets as they will eat. It is very difficult to overfeed a baby Panther Chameleon.