Flap-necked Chamaeleon

Facts

IUCN LEAST CONCERN (LC)

Facts about this animal

The total length is 35 to 40 cm. Their characteristic are large occipital lobes. Relaxed colours of this species are a light green (or grey, or brown) with a small white stripe along the side. When they get excited and/or stressed, they quickly acquire small black dots throughout their bodies. It is a diurnal, active species that moves around all day, but it is also rather shy and aggressive. When ready to mate, females change their colour (green with yellow spots) and tolerate males near them. Mating lasts about one hour. Females lay between 20-30 eggs after a gestation period of about a month in a whole they have been digging themselves. The eggs hatch after an incubation of 6 to 7 months. After only 9 moths the offspring reaches sexual maturity.

Did you know?
that the females of this species are larger than the males and superior to them? They occupy the best spots, establish territories attack the adult males and the younger individuals and drive them away. Only during the short mating period they tolerate males within their territory and near them. When however gravid females come into contact with a male, they turn almost completely black and begin to head-butt the intruding male.

Factsheet
Class	REPTILIA
Order	SQUAMATA
Suborder	SAURIA (IGUANIA)
Family	CHAMAELEONIDAE
Name (Scientific)	Chamaeleo dilepis
Name (English)	Flap-necked Chamaeleon
Name (French)	Caméléon bilobé
Name (German)	Lappenchamaeleon
Name (Spanish)	Camaleón lobulado
CITES Status	Appendix II
CMS Status	Not listed

Photo Copyright by
Pierre-Yves Vaucher

Distribution

Distribution
Range	Angola , Botswana , Burundi , Cameroon , Congo , Democratic Republic of the Congo , Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea , Ethiopia , Gabon , Kenya , Malawi , Mozambique , Namibia , Nigeria , Rwanda , Somalia , South Africa , Swaziland , Uganda (?), United Republic of Tanzania , Zambia , Zimbabwe
Habitat	They live in forest-, bush- and grass-savannahs (rather open and dry habitat), where the temperatures are moderate, however they can stand temperatures as cold as 5 degrees C and as warm as 35 degrees C, but with high humidity and only for short periods of time. They stay on branches of trees and bushes, also on high grass, but rarely on the ground.
Wild population	Widespread and common, apparently not threatened. Population trend stable (Red Lis IUCN 2011)
Zoo population	19 reported to ISIS (2007)

In the Zoo

How this animal should be transported

For air transport, Container Note 41 of the IATA Live Animals Regulations should be followed.

Find this animal on ZooLex

Photo Copyright by
Pierre-Yves Vaucher

Why do zoos keep this animal

The flap-necked chameleon is not a threatened species. Zoos and aquariums keep it primarily for educational reasons. It is, however, less frequently kept than the larger Yemen chameleon.

How this animal should be kept

This species must be kept alone (even when young). The terrarium should have the following minimal dimensions: 80 cm x 40 cm x 80 cm. The temperature should be 25°C to 32°C at daytime (at basking spots up to 35 degrees C)and 18°C to 22°C at night and the humidity 60 % at daytime and 80% at night. The best enclosure for all chameleons is – if possible - an all-screened cage: It provides for the proper ventilation that a chameleon needs, it gives the chameleon a visible-barrier that it can easily recognize and in summer it allows basking in real sun light.

In a terrarium made from glass, the air inside can become stagnant, which can cause a respiratory infection, which can cause death if it remains untreated. Also most chameleons get stressed when they see their own kind (even their own reflection). In addition most chameleons do not understand what glass is, and can spend much of their time clawing at the glass trying to pass through.

Enough branches should be provided for climbing and a proper foliage is also essential as hiding places and for the regulation of the humidity (pothos, ficus benjamina, hibiscus). The ground should be covered by a substrate that is harmless for the animals and cannot be eaten (Biocal®, sand-peat or sand-clay mixture). Since a chameleon drinks water that has accumulated on leaves, and rarely will drink out of a bowl, water should be provided by a dripper. It should be checked, if the chamaeleon indeed drinks, because some even ignore the dripper. The terrarium should be misted regularly and daily with a spray bottle, which will put water on leaves throughout the cage, increase the humidity, and cool the chameleon off if temperatures are too high.

Flap-necked chameleons eat locusts, house crickets, crickets, Zoophobias, mealworms, waxworms, flies, spiders etc. Vitamins and minerals should also be given either in form as drops or as powder (dust the food).