Chameleons belong to the lizard family. Chameleon has been
derived from the Greek words chamai and leon meaning earth lion.
The structure and size of chameleons varies a lot. They can be
from one inch to thirty-one inch long. Chameleons are kept as
exotic pets because of their characteristic color changing
capability. They change colors so as to camouflage, communicate
with each other and to regulate temperature. They also have a
very long tongue to catch prey.
Chameleons do not have the ability to change colors from birth.
They are either brown or grey color when they are born. They
start by changing to one or two colors and when they reach five
months, they gain total control of the color changing ability
and are able to change to many colors like green, black,
turquoise and blue green. Various colors show emotions such as
stress, sense of temperature change, excitement and to
communicate with other chameleons. Brighter colors exhibit good
mood; darker colors such as black, grey and brown depict stress.
Few other colors are also seen when the chameleon takes
transition from color to another.
They even have very long tongue, which they use to catch flying
preys. Chameleons have the ability to stretch their tongue up to
one and half the length of their body. This way they can catch
flying preys as well as preys, which are placed far off. They
have three toes with two of them facing one side and the third
in other direction. This structure helps them to get a firm
grip, which facilitates their tree climbing habit. They spend
most of their lives on treetops. Some of them also are gifted
with prehensile tails, which are also used to take good grip
while climbing.
Another amazing fact of chameleons is that they rotate their
eyes in two different directions. Both the eyes are independent
of each other. The structure of the eyes is globular which they
use to rotate and get view of a larger radius. The eyes are used
to watch out for enemies and as well as hunt for food. Along
with insects and slugs they also eat plants.
Chameleons are kept as pets because many people find them very
fascinating. But they are very difficult to be maintained and
naive pet owners should not certainly start with them. Although
they aren’t the toughest of all exotic pets, they are also not
the easiest to handle. Their requirements are very comprehensive
and owners simply get tired of them after one point of time. But
if the owner has made up his/her mind, they should certainly go
for a chameleon, which has been brought up in captivity and is
trained. The ones that come directly from the wild are more
dangerous, they have a possibility of being infected and it is
very difficult for them to adjust to new environment. They will
also be more stressed out, which will be a big hindrance in
training. Also when the wild chameleons are caught and shipped
to destination, there is a possibility of it dying on the way
itself.
While selecting the pet, the health of the animal can be
determined by close observation. The chameleon should be able to
change colors and also should be active. They should be brightly
colored and the flesh of the body should be smooth and not
scaly. Males are easier to maintain because their nutritional
requirements are less.
Species that are kept as pets are Panther Chameleons, Veiled
Chameleons and Jackson’s Chameleons. Chameleons basically are
solitary animals and their camouflaging ability explains it very
clearly. They simply don’t like to be handled. They shouldn’t be
kept with other pets and it is a really bad idea to keep two
male chameleons together as they will fight and injure each
other. They should be put in a cage with lots of foliage, which
can cater to their needs of climbing trees and as well give them
the desired privacy.