A couple questions regarding breeding/husbandry

I am soon going to purchase a female Nosy Be to potentially breed with my 4 year old male. She will only be 4 months or so when I get her.

My first question is, what is a healthy age/weight to introduce the female to the male to mate?

Also I purchased a new cage, 24"x24"x48". I'm going to be moving my male to this enclosure and putting the female in his old one.

I am going to have a misting system, and some live plants in the males new cage. I was curious as to what types of plants some of you more experienced panther keepers like to use. I know that Ficus is the most common but there are so many types of ficus I don't know which will be of large enough size and strength to support a full grown male. I bought a ficus benjimana I believe it was, about 2 1/2 feet or so tall but the branches were far too thin to support him. What other types of plants are commonly used that are safe and somewhat simple to keep alive? I thought about trying to hang a pothos at the top of his enclosure somehow and have it drape down over perches/shrub.

I also wanted to ask about substrates vs. a mesh bottom that drains to a resevoir of some kind. Pros and Cons and what type of substrates are safe to use.

My last question is in regards to seasonal temperature fluctuations and how much it affects breeding potential. I don't know much about climates in Madagascar, hell this is my first chameleon but I love the species and am dedicated to taking the best care I can of them. So any advice for first time breeding is greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for any opinions and feedback.

Your female will technically reach sexual maturity at 6 months, but shouldn't be bred until AT LEAST 8 months. I would really wait until she is 10-12 months old. It will be a lot safer for her.

I am not sure of an exact healthy weight. I have actually never weighed my chameleons. However, as long as you keep her on the proper feeding schedule with vitamins and calcium then she will be an apropriate weight for breeding by the time she is a year old.

The new cage that you got will be perfect to house the adult panther in.

I mostly use pothos hung on one of the sides of my reptariums. They are impossible to kill, grow like weeds, and have sturdy vines. Of course you have to use some fake branches among the pothos to give them extra support, but my chameleons usually crawl through the pothos without any trouble.

Hibiscus are also good live plants to use for chameleons. They flower and are pretty hardy. Occasionally you have to fetilize them *very lightly* and give them some sun.

As for the substrates, in my opinion, by far the best is just plain 'ol newspaper. It makes cleaning very easy. Just pull out the paper then replace. If you have a mesh bottom that drains into a resevoir, that is fine too, but may make cleaning the poop tedious. You may even be able to combine the two by putting a thin layer of newspaper on the mesh bottom, just enough to hold the feces, then the water can drain through so it won't flood the tank or become stagnant. Just remember, that the cage should be spot cleaned every day and any poop should be removed.

Just don't use any sort of loose substrate like dirt, bark chips, moss, etc. Feeder insects can hide in the loose suff, or even worse, the chameleon will end up ingesting it when it shoots it's very sticky tounge at an insect. That can cause not only damage and blocking, but sometimes even death.

As for breeding, I do not change the temperature at all there are a lot of details when it comes to breeding though. The female needs to be on a resticted diet with a strict feeding schedule prior to, and after mating. What I suggest is that you e-mail a freind of mine who is a genius when it comes to panthers. He can give you a proper feeding schedule and a care sheet for you female when she becomes gravid (pregnant).

You can contact him at bluebeastreptile@aol.com and his name is Tyler Stewart. Let him know I sent you, And good luck to you!

I usually breed my females when they are around 8-10 months of age. I try to delay the age when they become receptive by restricting food slightly when they reach about 4 months old until they are about 7-8 months old, otherwise if you feed them lots and they become receptive young and you dont breed them they may become gravid with an infertile clutch. Just make sure before and after breeding that she gets lots of calcium. About twice a week I'll use a supplement with vitamin D3 and the rest of the week I use Minerall without D3 so that I dont overdose them on it. I use Ficus benjamina's or Schleffleras in all my cages and sometimes add some sticks for added climbing space. If I had the choice I would go with the mesh bottom, I use bark in my cages and have had no problems with impactions but I know there are plenty others that are against using substrates. The garage where I have my chameleons is slightly cooler in winter than in summer but my panthers breed all year long.

How long have you been breeding panthers for Emily? I thought you only had veileds. If you've got pics I would love to see

Anyways, hope this info helps you some, you can always email me with any other questions.

Bonnie Person
www.chameleoncollection.com