CHAMELEONOCULTURE: Chameleon Captive Husbandry

Chameleon lives, due to their very unique life history, depend on their eyes. Eye are their absolutely dominant sensory organ, taking part in securing the life of them as individuals and evolutionary lineage. As such, it has a unique structure (fused eyelids e.g.) and size, basing however on a standard lower vertebrate eye model.

In the breeder's Latin, often not clear abbreviations are used and vivid discussions are lead what is F1 and true F1 etc etc.

As a part of naturalistic chameleon husbandry approach, natural branches are the only one interior of the cage recommended, suitable for climbing (next to living plants), in no way any artificial materials are to be used, no ropes, no fabrics, no plastics, no fake vines, no exposed wood, no bamboo, no ladders, swings etc.

Couple of years or even months ago, a big surprise was to talk about pollen. Nowadays, bee pollen is a standard daily part of the diet of chameleons in captivity (same as in the wild), and a regular part of the supplementation schedule - side by side to calcium powder, vitamin D3 and multivitamin mixtures. It was a king fight...

Repeatedly people get advised, even by VETs or get ideas like that, to soak, bath, spray, mist or shower their chameleons.

One of the very often reported issues in male panther chameleons imported from Madagascar is that they simply do not want to mate. So, in the seek of getting new genetics and fresh blood in the breeding lines, the approach of getting wild-caught animals from the wild often fails.
And people try whatever to change it and sometimes they...

Well, because they live in much colder environment than people think.

As is already known, most animals in the captivity suffer overfeeding and obesity.
The last phase of subsequent gaining weight is demonstrated by a puffy casque and cheeks.
The beautifully shaped healthy athletic chameleons undergo a metamorphosis into poor and ugly monsters... Health problems and drastically shortened lifespan is the typical...

This guide is specifically designed for inexperienced and/or first- time buyer. Experienced or professional chameleon keepers can eliminate some of the problematic issues efficiently and not all advice works for them in full. Matters that experienced breeders can solve in different ways are marked as (EB).

Why the belief "the chameleon can auto-regulate, It knows the best what is good for it and what not" is an absolutely misleading nonsense...

Chameleons HATE any touching of their bodies.Due to their special anatomy and lifestyle, their bodies are touched only under two ocassions:When they mateWhen they are eaten by predators.They escape usually also a direct exposure to rain in he wild, they hide in the foliage and do not let rain fall directly on their bodies.

I need to send a chameleon!I am moving... OMGShould I leave the chameleon here to someone or can I transport it to my new destination even if it is 36hours drive from here? Will he survive? Is it not too stressful and risky?

Male Chameleons possess two copulatory organs called hemipenis. In relaxed state, each of them is drawn back to special pockets at the base of tail.
When the chameleon sheds the skin, the surface of hemipenis is shed too. But, as the surface of the hemipenis is reversely retracted into the pocket, it is shed inside the lumen of the...

Often, people ask: "What should I do when my chameleon is shedding?"And often, many people rush with good advices like:"Increase humidity!""Spray the enclosure!""Spray with warm water!"All these recommendations are uncritically parroted for ages.And, they all are totally WRONG.

MYTH: Once upon a time...someone created a myth:A well hydrated chameleon has urates completely white...Whenever an orange part appears, it is a sign of dehydration and you must soak the chameleon with water...And the parrottes flew into all directions and spread this tidings.NONSENSE

There is repeatedly a myth presented by chameleon breeders I would like to address...
Myth: Feeding native US (or European) field plankton (bugs) is risky because they are full of parasites and they can infest my chameleonsResponse: NO RISK.
Chameleon parasites are extremely specific and in most of cases they have complex live cycles need also...

One of he most frequently discussed topic of chameleon husbandry is the water management...
What I want to focus now at is NOT a theory and it is NOT a technology. It is an important part of our Naturalistic Approach as it simulates perfectly what happens in the wild.while at daytime, usually the humidity significantly drops to levels...

I am a clear proponent of as much natural environment for living creatures as possible.For millions of years, chameleons evolved on their natural environment and build close bonds with it. There is no reason for using fake plants and vines in the cages, they are harmful and unnatural.Live chameleons on live plants!

Obesity is one of the most problematic and frequent diseases and physiological disorders.Almost every single captive chameleon is overweight by the wild standards and the number of really obese ones weighing double to tripple of their norm is alarming.

Despite the situation got much better within the last decade or so concerning availability of diverse feeders, in chameleon husbandry, a well known (and often ignored) paradox of the balance between the natural and captive food of chameleons still exists:

If we speak about indoor caging, the most keepers do terrible disservice to chameleons reverting their hydration cycles. This kills the chameleons slower or faster way and cuts a substantial part of their lives.

There is a lot of confusion about the usage of red light for chameleons around the groups and forums.
While it is totally pointless to use a red bulb at daytime, as the red color light is absolutely unnatural (it can not be found anywhere in the nature except of as an integral part of the full spectrum of...

One of the most important chameleon killer factors in their husbandry is OVERHEATING.

If we act wrongly and irresponsibly and always shake the head and say "it is good enough", then we get the result, the "lifetime reverse count down":