The Veiled Chameleon

             I have a couple of friends that have a lot of reptile pets. A couple of them have had chameleons and I have always thought they were really cool. I have a friend now that has a veiled chameleon.

            The veiled chameleon’s scientific name is Chamaeleo calyptratus. They are from Yemen and southern Saudi Arabia and live in a variety of habitats. They are arboreal and are very adapted for life in the trees. Their narrow bodies allow them to blend in with the leaves even when they move they rock their bodies back and forth as a leaf would. They have a prehensile tail that works like a 5^th limb and their hands allow for grasping limbs of trees. A very known characteristic of chameleons are their independently moving eyes, allowing them to see what is in front of them as well as what is behind them at the same time. Their life span is about five years for females and 8 years for males.

            Veiled chameleons have a reputation for being somewhat aggressive. They are mostly omnivorous. They mostly eat insects but will sometimes eat leaves, flowers and fruits. They catch their prey by using their long tongue, and contrary to popular belief it is not sticky. Instead, the end of their tongue has a grasping structure on the end of it that will grab the prey like a hand would.  

            Veiled chameleons reach sexual maturity at about 5 to 6 months of age. They can have up to three clutches of eggs a year with each clutch containing about 20-100 eggs. They are mostly solitary animals where they males are very territorial and males and females usually only come into contact with each other during mating.

            Both males and females are primarily green but the males tend to be marked with yellow, brown, and blue stripes and females are usually marked with some white. Chameleons are famous for changing color. Although, most people think that they change colors to bend in with their environment, they actually change colors according to emotional states, health, temperature and mating. In fact, about 18 hours after mating, the female veiled chameleon will change colors.

            Although they are not listed on the endangered list, they are suffering from habitat loss. Veiled chameleons are also one of the most abundant commercially due to the fact that they are very tolerant of habitat extremes and compared to a lot of chameleons they tend to do very well in captivity. Also, a disturbing yet interesting fact, a lot of wild chameleons are sold for rituals. In some cultures it is good luck to throw a live chameleon into a fire.

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/reptilesamphibians/facts/factsheets/veiledchameleon.cfm

KENNETH L. KRYSKO(1), KEVIN M. ENGE(2), AND F. WAYNE KING(1),THE VEILED CHAMELEON, CHAMAELEO CALYPTRATUS:A NEW EXOTIC LIZARD SPECIES IN FLORIDA, Florida Museum of Natural History, Division of Herpetology