A little entry into Thursday's green colour challange, though I feel he would fit many days, he's green, he's blue he's yellow, he's a walking mood ring. This is Kyrumption my male panther chameleon. He's quite old now for a chameleon but doing quite well. He's reasonably friendly for a chameleon, they usually tend to be on the grumpy side.
They hail from Madagascar and there are a load of different local varieties which show variation in shade. Kyrumption is an Ambanja panther chameleon, captive bred of course he wasn't caught in the wild.
Contrary to popular myth, chameleon colour change is about more than camouflage. Mood and temperature play a larger part. Cold chameleons can turn darker to absorb light, those that are too warm may turn pale to reflect. Chameleons are naturally solitary and when faced with another chameleon (especially another male in Kyrumption's case) they will turn very bright as a threat display to the other chameleon. The females also have a "breeding season" hue where they will turn really bright.
The cells that allow the chameleon colour change are called chromatophores. The chameleon has layers of these types of cells...the bottom layer has brown melanin, then there is a layer which reflects blue and white light, then a layer which contain red and yellow pigment. The colour change is caused by the nervous system telling certain cells to expand or contract and the colour of the pigment cell changes.
Chameleons are quite complex lizards to care for and they require comparatively very large enclosures to their body size (most species are relatively small). They need enclosures filled with live trees and plants, and they need both high humidity and high ventilation which can be a challenge to create for them. They are easily stressed and often do not enjoy handling although this varies from chameleon to chameleon. Kyrumption seems to quite enjoy being let out to have a wander every day.
The unique eyes of the chameleon, which can move independently, allow 360 degree vision. They can switch between monocular (viewing with one eye) and binocular (both eyes) vision. It is the little turrets that stick out of the eye area that allow the eyes to swivel so much, they also protect the eye.
The tongue is probably the other most famous part about the chameleon. They can be up to 1.5 times the length of the animal itself, and they can fully extend in 1/16 of a second to catch prey at a distance. Although the tongue is famously sticky, it is also abrasive allowing the chameleon to grip it's prey, which is a variety of suitably sized insects and bugs.
His name is taken after one of my favourite TV shows "Angel" (the Buffy spin off directed by Joss Whedon. It's a word from a fantasy land meaning "When two warriors meet on the field of battle and recognize their mutual fate." I am a total Whedonite, I just love all his TV shows, although I prefer his original work to the superhero stuff (though some of it is pretty good).
He loves to climb so I enjoy taking him out to let him climb through flowers and I let him climb the tree in my garden on warm days too.
Happy Thursday!
