Chameleons are highly specialized and distinctive clade of reptiles and old world lizards. There are around 180 species of chameleon ranging from different colours and their ability to change colours. They are distinguished by their extrudable tongues, crests or horns on their heads and their swaying gait. Half of the chameleon species are found in the island of Madagascar. Chameleons have a 360° arc of vision and can look in two directions at a time. They can change their colours in as little as 20 seconds and they vary greatly in their body structure and size. Their length of the tongues is 1.5-2 times more than their body length. Males are tend to be more ornamented by their head, face, horns and crests. They can't hear much like snakes as they don't have a middle ear resulting in no ear opening and ear drum. They have a good vision in both visible and ultraviolet light. The best and beautiful 10 species of chameleon are individually highlighted below.
10. Carpet Chameleon- Carpet chameleons popularly known as jewelled chameleons due to their stunning colours are found at Madagascar. A familiar eye pattern is usually spotted in the female chameleon but the male display shades of blue with lovely green around their feet and eyes. This chameleon is actually moody and a basking one exhibit lovely combinations of deep blues, reds or black. Their colours are at their best when they show rivalry or while meeting a mate. They are the best ones if wanted to tame because they need care and affection even allowing us to hand feed and interact better than other larger chameleons like Veiled and Panther. The female is capable to produce large batches of 10 to 25 eggs which usually takes six to ten months to hatch. Carpet chameleons are not restricted to only one habitat as they come from different parts of Madagascar and can fairly tolerate temperature between 25°C to 30°C during day time while 5°C to 10°C at night. Their diet comprises of grasshoppers and silkworms but they eagerly eat crickets.They are smaller in size of around 6 to 7 inches in length. They have a short lifespan of around 1 to 2 years in the wild and 3 years in the best circumstances. These reptiles are one of the most colourful ones in Madagascar.
9. Flapneck Chameleon- Chamaeleo dilepis popularly known as Flapneck Chameleons are widely found in the Tropical and Southern Africa mostly located in the woodland and moist-dry savannah. They have earned this unique name due to their large flaps which can be extended from both the sides of the upper neck when they try to scare off the predators. Their body have light beautiful colours like yellow, green and brown along with a light stripe across their body. They have an average height of 25-30 cm. They can tolerate a daytime temperature of 25°C to 32°C and during night 18°C to 22°C. Their diet mostly inculdes wild insects. The female one have a unique style to lay eggs. She can be identified by the abnormal abdominal lumpy appearance. She will usually descend from the branches when she is ready to lay the eggs. She will dig a hole in the ground to keep her eggs safe and lay around 20 to 40 white eggs. Each egg will measure around 1 to 1.5 cm in length and will take around 300 days to hatch. They have a life span of around 5-8 years. Flapneck Chameleons are one of the widely available reptiles for the exotic pet trade.
8. Graceful Chameleon- Graceful Chameleons are found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, usually from Senegal to Ethiopia. They have a unique colour comprising olive green with black and white spots. They also have a tendency to change colour like all other chameleons. Their appearance have a slight difference as they can extend their head backwards into a casque which looks like a flat helmeted shape. The main identification of the males can be done by the orange-yellow skin on the throat pouch between their scales. When there is a threat situation, they inflate their pouch. Their life span is around 8-10 years and they grow around a foot long. They breed twice a year during specific periods between the onset of dry season and the end of wet season.The female one usually lay 22 to 50 eggs. They like eating small crickets, meal worms, fruit flies and wax worms. These reptiles have a unique way to catch their prey by using their remarkable tongue. The contraction of their special muscles of the tongue propels rapidly towards their prey.
7. Jackson's Chameleon- Jackson's Chameleon is found in the mountains of Kenya, Africa. They have an intermediate size and the crest at the top of the head has a dark to dusty pigmentation. They are a three-horned chameleons and are usually 5 inches long. Their average life span is 5 to 6 years. Their crest is yellowish in colour and the body colour is light green. They are insectivorous and eagerly eat wax worms, meal worms, spiders etc. They have a unique behaviour towards their opposite sex. The female chameleon will go off of her food even with the sight of the male one. She gets easily distress and will only like to meet the male chameleon during the breeding season. If she is ready to mate she will give a signal by raising her tail and her colour will brighten and if she is not ready, her colour will turn dark and show a head bob. These reptiles can give live birth which makes them the most unique. Per year they can have two litters and each litter ranges from 8 to 35 which depends on the size of the female. These chameleons don't get easily affectionate as a pet however they will not mind a gentle handling.
6. Meller's Chameleon- The Meller's Chameleon is the largest among all the chameleons which are not native to Madagascar. They can grow upto two feet in length and can weigh a little more than a pound. Their uniqueness is a single small horn extending from their snouts which makes them popularly known as "giant one-horned chameleon." They reside in the savanna of East Africa, including northern Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania. They have a normal appearance of deep green, black spots and yellow stripes but they change their colours when they are in stress and during their communication with other chameleons. They have a good average life span of 12 years compared to other species of chameleon. When female chameleon is not interested in breeding, she will change her colour with cream and grey. If she is still approached by the male one, she will hiss and rise on her rear limb. Male in turn will flush red to woo the female but if rejected, he will show a dark colour and move away. If the female is ready, she will show brilliant yellow and cream with black. She can lay about 50-90 eggs in a year. These chameleons will never run from threats instead they will place objects between danger and themselves and remain still. They are insectivorous but cannot adopt the changes at a faster rate.
5. Parson's Chameleon- Parson's Chameleon is one of the largest reptile around 30 inches in length. They are possibly considered as the heaviest and longest chameleons in the world due to their length, massive and tank-like build. They are found in primary rainforests of Madagascar, up to an altitude around 7,000 feet. The female have brilliant green color with diagonal and curved stripes, some also shows a central lateral dot. The male colour range from green to blue and turquoise-blue with bright orange or yellow eye turrets. Their common habitat is around the areas consisting more water receiving 150 inches of rain per year. They can remain still except to mate, drink or eat. Their diet includes roaches and silkworms. They can also eat small mammals and birds in the wild. The female will usually dig a hole of about 30 cm deep and lay around 28-60 eggs but she will only place the eggs in the hole after 5 months of carrying it. She has a tendency to never look back until the eggs hatch on their own for around 400 to 520 days. Though these reptiles are considered as the largest ones but its not easy to spot them as they easily change their colour according to the surroundings. Their scientific name is "Chamaeleo parsonii".
4. Veiled Chameleon- Veiled Chameleons are found in Southern Saudi Arabia and Yemen in the river valleys, mountains and dry plateaus. They mostly live in shrubs, trees, bushes and can tolerate a temperature of 24°C to 35°C. They are insectivorous like all other chameleons but they can also eat leaves during the dry seasons. They are about 10-14 inches long while males can also grow upto 17 to 24 inches long. The female can lay around 35 to 85 eggs. They have an average lifespan of 5-8 years. They are best known for their unique style of catching the prey. They shoot their prey with their tongue which is more than 1.5 times the length of their body. Male and females can only tolerate each other during the breeding season. They are found in yellow and green with dark brown/red outline around a few areas of their body. They will clearly show dark black spots around their entire body when they are upset. They are one of the most bought pet reptiles. They are also known as the "True Chameleons".
3. Pygmy Chameleon- Pygmy Chameleons are very small reptiles around 8 cm in length. They can be identified by their two large lobes on the chin. Their body colour is beige or brown resembling a wilted leaf and are not easy to spot. Some also have a green colour with a lichen like pattern or green with dark lateral stripes. A male can be identified by a slight yellow colour around his eyes. They are found in the evergreen rainforests of Kipengere range and Ukinga Mountains in Tanzania on shrubs and low branches. These chameleons have a speciality as they can turn their eye sockets in a shade of blue which makes them look stunning. They like to eat small insects like crickets, wax worms, house flies etc. They can show a drastic situation known as akinesia (feigning death) where they fall to the ground as if dead. The female chameleon dig the hole at the base of the plant roots to lay her eggs. They have an average lifespan of 1-3 years. They are wonderful as pets and a male can also be kept with 2 females in a single cage.
2. Senegal Chameleon- Senegal Chameleons are found in tropical West Africa from Senegal to Cameroon. They are dark spotted and tan to olive which are found in the forest edges and brushy savannas. They can tolerate a temperature of 76-85F during daytime and at night around 69-70F. Healthy females can lay around 20-70 eggs twice a year which hatch by around 6 months and all infants reach their sexual maturity by 5 months of age. They are popularly owned by the pet owners across the world. Their size is 6 to 8 inches long and their average lifespan is upto 5 years. They love eating crickets, mealworms and other insects and can grab their prey successfully by nine out of ten attempts by their long tongue. In roosting situation they have bright yellow-green colour and while basking they show brown, white, purple and orange colour. When the female is receptive during breeding season, she shows bright green with 3-4 orange spots and the male shows black-brown with white chevrons. If the female is not ready, she will show dark yellow spotting. When these reptiles are depressed, they show fading olive green to gray. During high stress, they show very dark brown or solid black colour and during low stress, they show green with black spots. These reptiles change their colour according to their mood swings.
1. Panther Chameleon- Panther chameleons are one of the most colourful reptiles from the island of Madagascar. They have a combination of beautiful bright colours like green, red, yellow, orange and blue. The male can grow upto 50 cm in length and the female ones are usually smaller about half the size compared to the male. They mostly reside in humid places and like to climb trees. They hunt their prey in the trees and search still water. The female panther chameleon is very moody when it comes to breeding, she will mate only if she is receptive otherwise she will fight viciously against the male. She will normally show a bright peach or pink color if she is ready otherwise she will turn dark and hiss. She can produce 12-30 eggs per year. They are also insectivorous like all other chameleons and usually feed on crickets and worms. They have the most bright and lovely colours among all the chameleons. Their average life span is 5-7 years.