CHILDREN'S WORLD-CHAMELEON

VEILED CHAMELEON Chamaeleo calyptratus Just like its name says, its homeland is western Yemen, as well as the southern part of Saudi Arabia. It lives in mountain area and feeds on insects. During the 20th century it was adopted in Europe and has been successfully raised or kept as a pet for years. It grows quite large for a chameleon, so males are about 50 cm and females up to 35 cm in length. It has a casque on its head which is called a helmet, and wens on its legs. Both of them are used for determining gender of the pet. The male has a spur on its feet, and his helmet is larger compared to the female's one. Chameleons are very protective of their territory and it is not advisable to have more of them as pets, unless we raise them. In that case, they must not see each other because if they do, they will not feel well and will constantly be under stress. Chameleon can be kept in the glass terrarium, but also in a metal cage with plasticized grids. Just like other reptiles, it is cold-blooded animal so we must provide it with heating, as well as with the light that radiates UVB rays which it needs in order to be able to synthesize vitamin D that it is important for its proper growth and development. It feeds on crickets, cockroaches, locusts, various kinds of worms, and when it gets larger we can feed it with the baby mice, so called "Pinkies". All the food we give to it should be sprinkled with supplements based on calcium at least twice a week because chameleon needs it for proper development. Unfortunately the food we provide it with must be live because chameleon catches the prey with its long sticky tongue with incredible speed. Chameleons take water from the dew drops and that can be provided by sprinkling the interior of the cage or terrarium. This can also be achieved with fogger for chameleon likes it especially when it needs to change skin because it makes its skin moist and easier to shed. Chameleons move very slowly because by adjusting body color they blend with the environment, and with quick movements they would scare away their prey. If we want to play around with them, it is not good to catch them so we should let them climb the hand on their own and walk over it.