Chameleons
The eyes move independently and the tongue fires out longer than the body. Colour tracks mood and temperature more than background, so it is a mood gauge.
Overview
Chameleons are arboreal, solitary lizards built for a specific way of living: independently moving eyes, a projectile tongue, feet that grip like tongs, and in many species a prehensile tail. The veiled chameleon, the one most often kept, comes from the high dry plateaus on the Yemen and Saudi Arabian border, and males reach 17 to 24 inches against 10 to 14 for females.
Colour change is the famous part and the most misunderstood. It signals mood, temperature and readiness to breed far more than it matches the background.
Temperament
Solitary and easily stressed. A chameleon does not want company, does not want handling, and shows stress by darkening and by turning away rather than by anything dramatic.
They are watchers. Two chameleons in sight of each other, even through mesh, is a permanent low level stressor for both, which is why keepers use visual barriers rather than just separate cages. A female that has mated turns blackish green with blue and yellow spots within eighteen hours, which is one of the clearest signals any lizard gives.
Care and grooming
Live insects, gut loaded and dusted. Veiled chameleons are unusual in also eating plant matter, and take moisture from foliage during dry periods.
Water is the thing that catches people out. A chameleon does not recognise standing water in a bowl and will dehydrate beside a full dish. It drinks droplets off leaves, so it needs a misting system or a dripper, run long enough and often enough that the animal drinks rather than just gets wet.
Living and exercise
Tall mesh, 24 by 24 by 48 inches for an adult, planted heavily so the animal can be out of sight when it wants to be. Ventilation matters as much as humidity, and a glass tank without airflow causes respiratory problems.
UVB is required, along with a basking spot in the low eighties and a cool end. Branches should run at several heights and thicknesses, because a chameleon regulates temperature by choosing where in the canopy to sit.
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