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I am considering buying a two month old baby panther chameleon from a local breeder but I need your input as this will be my first chameleon.

I visited the home of the breeder yesterday. He had six baby panthers from a clutch of eggs that started hatching out about two months ago. Only six have survived. He doesn't remember exactly how many hatched out of this clutch but he told me that about 3/4 of the eggs hatched out.

In an average clutch of eggs, how many baby panthers should make it to the age of two months?

He had two other clutches of eggs this summer. Of these, only 1 hatched out of the first clutch and only 2 hatched out of the 2nd clutch. His explanation was that there were major temperature spikes in the room. He was using a styrofoam Hovabator incubator. Also, this breeder has been raising panthers for about 9 years and the last clutch is from a mother from his F3 generation.

The adult males he had looked really good. However, I wasn't able to see the parents of the babies because the mother died recently and the father was a stud male borrowed from a friend.

What I need to know is are panther eggs and babies tough to hatch out and raise? If they are, then I may buy from this breeder. If they are not, then I may decide this breeder's animals are genetically weak or more likely, the husbandry practices are not optimal. If this is the case I might need to look elsewhere for a chameleon. btw, the breeder is offering the babies for a great deal of $100 each.

Well, what do you think? I'd appreciate any input or opinions you might provide. As someone who has no experience with chameleons, I'd welcome suggestions or ideas from experienced chameleon breeders.

Whilst I am by no means an experienced breeder, I think 2 months is too young to acquire a baby cham. Everything I have read recommends at least 12 weeks before you should even handle them. That's 3 months. I have had 1 clutch of Jacksons that yielded 10 neo-nates. I lost 4 right off the bat, the same day to God only knows why. They died the same day a few hours after birth, which is common. Of the remaining 6, when I gave my niece and nephew 1 each at 2 months old. I told them and my brother they could NOT breed these 2 chams with each other because they were of the same parentage. They still have the chams to this day (5 months later) and they are gettign ready to acquire some more chams to breed them. Of the remaining 4 babies, only 1 survived the trip from California to PA. The last baby died a month ago. He died overnight and I have no idea why.

Okay...so I digressed a little. LOL! I'm sure there should be some losses in births due to all kinds of things, however, if this guy has been breeding for 9 years (or even keeping) he should have something better than a hovavator to hatch his clutches. If it were me, and I knew what you know, I would go elsewhere and get my chams. 2 months is way too young to start out with all the stress of relocation. I got my Nosy Bes from a breeder at a herp show for $100 each but it was the LAST DAY of the show and they were dealing so as not to take so much stock back home. They originally had them listed for $200/ea. If you look around, you won't find ANY Panthers for less than that. $100 IS a deal, but, there may be a reason why he has them so cheap when the going rate is at least $200.

Just my 2 pennies on this.
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Raf

1.2 Jacksons Adults (Frank, Patty, Lucille)
0.0.1 Jackson's baby (George, R.I.P. 11/17/2003)
1.1 Nosy Be's (Mars and Roja)
1.1 Veiled - No Names Yet
0.1 Adult Sulcatta (POOPIE,I bought it from Victor at Kobey's in SD)
0.0.2 Baby Sulcattas (frick and frack)
1.0 Home's Hingeback Tortoise (SPEEDY, From Victor as well)
1.2 Red ear slider babies (Hingis, Dingis and Dorkus)
0.0.1 3 toed box turtle - No Name Yet
0.0.1 Gulf Coast Box Turtle - No Name Yet
1.0 Red Siberian Husky (Harley)
0.1 Black Lab (Krissy)
0.1 English Bulldog (Alice)
0.1 Blue Merle Great Dane (Wednesday)
Saltwater Fish and Inverts too

Using that type incubator is fine as long as used properly. If he breeds only a few chameleons then no need for larger type. Heck i use a closet and works for me..
As far as size to sell, if the buyer is experienced with caring for babies then that age is fine although mortality can be higher at that age (depends on their care). The only time i would see it as a problem is shipping which must be stressful. Picking up locally shouldn't be a problem that would cause alot of stress.
Pricing is what the seller wants it to be. He may have a reason for selling at that price. Larger scale breeders sell higher for many reasons including food costs, customer demand, looks of the parents etc;
Your fortunate enough to be able to see what your getting and look the chameleons over to check for signs of problems.
I know a person who bought a albino ball python for 500. It was sold as a non feeder, he took the chance and now has an adult albino ball worth 3x what he paid. Moral of the story, make an informed decision and make it work for you..

Good Luck who ever you buy from..

A few flags went up for me. First, if this is your first cham I would not suggest a 2 month old baby even if it is perfectly healthy. Baby chams can crash from many subtle problems that you may not recognize in time. An older juvenile would be better (and much easier to feed!). The fact that the breeder didn't know how many of his clutches hatched out made me wonder about his care...if he's really concerned with producing quality animals he should be keeping better records so he can track his own animals' health. The fact that his female died...I'd want to know why and at what age. She may have been poorly cared for and thus passed on some health problems to her clutches which will have a great effect on the hatch rate and survival of babies past the 3-4 month mark. The fact that he "borrowed" a male from a friend. Unless he knew the bloodlines of his parents well, you won't know if they are related and producing genetically weaker stock. Also, if you are looking for a single pet, can set this little one up quickly and are completely prepared for it beforehand (including having producing cultures of fruitflies and pinhead crix) maybe this is fine. If you are thinking about producing babies in future I would spend some time researching the bloodlines of your chams very carefully and be willing to pay quite a bit for your founding stock. Those are my thoughts. Good luck!

Thanks for the responses. I've decided to buy my 1st chameleon from a different source, probably like Kammerflage Kreations or Amazing Blue Reptiles.