Veiled Chameleon

(Quick introduction to my Chameleon)

Her name is Barry she is a Veiled Chameleon and about 5 months olds, and
I adopted her on New Year's Eve. When I got her she was about 4-5 inches
long, and now she's about 10-11 inches long.

(Some characteristics about chameleons)

Male Chameleons live up to 8 years and get 18 to 24 inches long.
Only males change color, and have bright yellow or blue bands or
mottling.

Female Chameleons live up to 5-6 years and get 13 to 18 inches long.

Females are mostly green with spots of white, yellow, orange, or tan
mottling.

And chameleons don't change color to blend in with their surroundings, they
naturally blend in. But I'll get more into this in a little bit.

Almost half of all species of chameleons live in Madagascar, But we dont know
how many chameleon live on this earth there are over a 180 different types of
chameleons and new ones are still being found. From the biggest being the
Parsons Chameleon growing up to 30 inches long all the way to the smallest
being the Leaf Chameleon that can sit comfortably on the head of a match.

Their habitats can be valleys, mountains, plateaus, they love warm temperatures
80o F - 95o F with 85-90% humidity during the day and 75o F - 80o F at night. The
Veiled Chameleon is originally from Saudi Arabia and Yemen, because of their
small but very dense and humid forests.
 Chameleons are arboreal, they love being in trees and large plants, really
anything tall and they can climb.
The Chameleon has specially designed hands and feets called
Zygodactyly(zygodactylous) for climbing on trees, letting them get an
amazing grip. The claws let them grip the different surfaces they may
encounter.
The Chameleons eyes are their most recognized feature, their upper and
lower eyelids are fused together giving them amazing eye site. Their eyes
move independently and both eyes can move almost 180 degrees in every
direction this gives them a 360 degree image of their surroundings.
Chameleons are insectivorous eating mostly insects, the Chameleon
ballistically projects its tongue like a harpoon to catch the insects. Their
tongue can be 1 and a half times their body length or up to 2 times their
body length this it not including their tail

But the greatest mystery about the chameleon is how they changes color.
We know that they change color to communicate, if they are mad the will
inflame their neck and change to a vibrant color, and darken their color to
show their opponent they have given up.

We know that their skin is made of two superimposed layers, the top layer lets
them change color and the under layers lets them change their thermoregulation.
Chameleons use thermoregulation to keep their body temperature a the
perfect temperature. By changing the shade of their color to change their
body temperature, if they are cold they will get darker and move to where
they feel heat they typically climb higher. And turn lighter if they are hot
and tend to go closer to the ground in the shade.

We know a little bit about how chameleons change to these beautiful colors but
we dont know 100% how they do it. So this is how we think they do.
 The top layer contains, iridophore cells that have nanocrystals of all
shapes, sizes, and patterns. So when the skin is in a relaxed state, the
nanocrystals are packed together reflecting short wavelengths. When a
male chameleon is calm or relaxed he will appear a rich green with
purples and blues. If the skin is excited this happens when they are mad,
the distances between each nanocrystals expands and starts reflecting
longer wavelengths. When they are mad the will be more yellow with reds
and oranges.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veiled_chameleon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chameleon
http://www.livescience.com/50096-chameleons-color-change.html