Wednesday, December 12, 2007

The Veiled Chameleon: Introduction and Guide to This Site



Welcome.
Use the TABLE OF CONTENTS to the right to view specific articles, you can also
click on any of the photos if you would like to enlarge them.
Please notice and access the LINKS as well.
Feel free to e-mail me with suggestions or comments about this site.
bradramsey1@comcast.net
I hope you enjoy reading through the articles I have written and that they are of some benefit.
The topics that currently say "information coming soon" are articles that are being written by other keepers who I consider to be experts on those specific subjects. I hope to have them all collected soon.

Please notice Michael Monge's article on breeding.

Chris Anderson has kindly given me permission to link to the Chameleons Online E-zine. This has warranted a special links bar for individual articles and an inclusion in the main links bar to the e-zine home page. Check it out!

Please take time to read Lynda Horgan's very informative article on keeping female veileds. Her methods are setting the standard for how we are proceeding with females here.

Keep checking back!

-Brad

Enclosures/ Habitat


Veiled chameleons are arboreal creatures and require housing that is quite different from what one classically considers acceptable reptilian quarters. These animals spend their lives in the trees and should, therefore, be provided with a habitat that would be more suited to a parrot than a salamander.
Fresh, well circulated air, clean water that simulates rain or morning dew, dense vegetation, open above canopy basking areas and lots of vines and branches are basic building blocks in the creation of this captive environment.
Height is of greater importance than width or depth of the enclosure. They feel most secure when positioned as high as possible.
Lighting, temperatures, plants and water are all covered in separate entries on this site. In this entry I will deal exclusively with the actual structure that will house your veiled chameleon and all of his or her necessary trappings.
SIZE OF THE ENCLOSURE
Bigger is always better, but in an effort to be realistic minimum dimensions have been established in the hobby which have proven quite sufficient in offering these animals the space they need. Consider these measurements as a guide...an inch or two here or there is not going to make much of a difference, but, you should try and remain as close as possible to the recommended size. For an adult female veiled chameleon the enclosure should be a minimum height of about 30 inches with width and depth coming in at close to 18 inches each. For an adult male the height needs to be closer to 4 feet with 2 feet width and depth.
Young veileds will benefit from a smaller enclosure. They will get lost in an adult sized one, and it may be difficult for them to locate their food. A smaller enclosure will also allow you to more closely moniter the eating, drinking and other daily activities of your young chameleon. I have had good luck using an enclosure 18 inches high with a width of 20 and a depth of 12 inches. This small enclosure will be sufficient until the animal reaches 4 or 5 months in age.
CONSTRUCTION
I have had great success using commercially available enclosures that are made entirely of aluminum window screen with a PVC floor. This enclosure allows for the proper ventilation, temperature gradient and evaporation of moisture required.
Humidity and temperatures stay in very acceptable ranges with dense planting and a good basking lamp.
There are very successful keepers who utilize glass enclosures. This requires very specific attention be paid to ventilation and build-up of moisture. Glass enclosures also hold in heat, so extra attention must be paid to how the basking area is executed and also to maintaining a gradient in temperatures to allow for thermoregulation.
Very young chameleons can be (and often are) kept in a glass enclosure with a screen top. In this situation the misting is light and the temps are lower.
PLACEMENT
The veiled chameleon habitat should be located as high as possible in your home. The cage should not be placed directly on the floor, but rather on a table, counter or some type of stand. Remember, these animals feel safest when high in the trees. You, your family, and your other pets may be regarded as predators by your chameleon. Giving your chameleon the opportunity to climb as high as possible in the habitat (preferably above your eye level) will go a long way in making him or her feel comfortable.

Breeding



Breeding Veiled Chameleons
by Michael Monge
Fl Chams, Inc.

The Veiled Chameleon, Chamaeleo calyptratus, represents a relatively simple species to propagate in captivity. They tend to breed readily and have large clutch sizes with eggs which are typically not problematic to incubate.
Combine this with the fast growth rate of the neonates and you have a recipe that has resulted in the successful establishment of this chameleon species in captivity with, by far, the majority of specimens being from captive bred origins.

Veiled chameleons can reach sexual maturity at a fairly young age with reports of some individuals becoming reproductive in as little as four months. That said, it is better to allow your animal more time before breeding is encouraged. If fed a proper diet with solid overall husbandry, a veiled chameleon should become sexually mature in 9-12 months, and should be of breedable size at the later end of that span. In particular, one should try to make sure that their female is of appropriate size before subjecting her to breeding stresses and while she should be well fed and of good body weight, obese animals shouldn't be bred as complications can arise as a result.

When a female veiled is receptive to breeding she will often adorn robin-egg blue spots on her body, indicating her willingness to mate. When presented with a male for breeding, she will not color up into gravid coloration, act aggressively toward the male or run from him. Rather, she will remain the same color and move around slowly and peacefully, allowing the male to court, advance and commence in copulation. If the female colors up or becomes aggressive, she is not ready to mate and the pair should be separated to avoid injury to either animal. If the female continues to show receptive behavior, the pair should be allowed to breed.

When introduced to a female, a male veiled chameleon will color up into an impressive display and advance toward her while bobbing his head in display. As this courtship display occurs, the female should allow the male to come up behind her and eventually beside her on the branch. At this point copulation occurs and can last as long as half an hour. In some cases repeated mating can occur over the next several days but care should be taken to closely observe the pair on further introductions for additional mating events as once the female becomes unreceptive, injury can occur if the animals are not separated immediately.

Once gravid the female will reject the males advances by gaping, hissing and showing a dark coloration with orange, blue and black patterning. At this point she should be separated from the male and allowed to form her clutch in peace. Laying typically occurs approximately 20 to 30 days after breeding and during this gestation, the female's diet should be supplemented with calcium dusting to ensure proper formation and calcification of the eggs. It is important during gestation to provide your female with well gut loaded food items, but not to provide so much food that she becomes obese and produces an abnormally large clutch, as this can cause complications with laying. Females will show an increased appetite during gestation and should (carefully) be fed accordingly.

When the female is getting ready to lay she will often go off food and will become restless, spending more time near the bottom of her enclosure and frequently pacing it's edges. At this point the female should be placed in a laying bin, in a private area with minimal disturbances. A five gallon bucket filled 1/3 of the way with a 50/50 mix of sand and peat moss for gardening works well as a laying site. This mixture should be mixed with water and compacted so that it is moist enough to hold the formation of a tunnel but not wet. When placed in the container a female, that is ready to lay and finds the laying mixture of adequate moisture, should soon start to dig a hole to lay her eggs.

A female can take quite a while to lay her eggs, and will occasionally dig test holes before settling on a hole in which to lay her clutch. Once the female has laid her clutch, she should be removed from the laying container and gently palpated to make sure the entire clutch has been deposited. Extra care should then be taken with the female to ensure she is able to re-hydrate, and that she has access to nutritious food so that she can regain her strength.

The eggs should be carefully removed from the laying container and placed into an incubation medium for incubation. It should be noted that females are able to store sperm and additional fertile clutches can occur without additional mating. Once allowed to recover, however, if you wish to get additional fertile clutches, it is best to re-breed your female as the offspring of retained sperm clutches tend to be less strong then offspring from a new breeding.


Michael Monge is the owner of Fl Chams and can be contacted via the Fl Chams website listed here under links.
You can see chameleons and enclosures currently available from Mike there as well.

Feeders


In their natural environment veiled chameleons have access to a great variety of insects, more than is practical or even possible to offer in captivity. It is also known that vertebrates such as small lizards and fledgling birds are consumed when the opportunity occurs. What remains a bit of a mystery is exactly what nutritional benefit each type of prey afford and what are the best to offer in a captive environment.
The best thing one can do is offer the largest selection of prey possible and strive to make the prey as nutritious as possible.
Gut Loading is the term used when referring to the practice of feeding the insects a varied diet in an attempt to make them a nutrient rich meal. Ideally the bug becomes a vessel, carrying in it's gut the food that we want to end up in the chameleon.
A good gut load would include ingredients that are not necessarily beneficial to the insect itself, such as calcium carbonate, dried egg yolk, baby cereal etc. and fresh ingredients like collard greens, sweet potato, squash, apple and carrot. It can be difficult to maintain colonies of feeder insects on a gut load diet and so a maintenance diet is generally preferred with gut load being provided 12 to 24 hours before feeding off.
Crickets, cockroaches, zoophoba worms and the like, can be kept in large numbers in bins or tubs with a commercial dry "cricket food" and water gel or crystals (carrot pieces also work well to provide moisture, but need to be replaced fairly often). The night before feeding, a selection of insects are pulled from their bins and housed in a small tub, where they are offered a more nutrient rich "gut load" diet. They will spend the night gorging themselves on this new food and will be ready to be fed off in the morning.
By practicing this method we strive to enhance the nutritional quality of the insects and offset the disadvantage of limited variety.
Maintenance diet and gut load formulas can be purchased commercially or made at home. The reader will benefit from doing some research here.
There are excellent feeders that need specific diets as well, namely waxworms and silkworms. Waxworms live in honeycombs and do well on a diet of breakfast cereal with a bit of raw honey mixed in. Silkworms require mulberry leaves or a commercially prepared "chow" made from mulberry leaves. This diet is available from the silkworm breeder.
STAPLE FEEDERS

Crickets
Cockroaches
praying mantis (sub adult)
Zoophoba worms
Silkworms


This is a good list of staple feeders, or feeders that make up the bulk of the chameleons diet. All or any combination of the above can be offered at each feeding and, with the exception of silkworms, all are easy to gut load. Additionally, these feeders are available at all stages of growth offering a good selection in size.

ENRICHMENT FEEDERS

Waxworms
Moths
Stick insects
Praying mantis (sub-adult)
House flies

There are certainly other insects that could be added to this list, but this is a decent representation of insects that can be offered to enrich your veiled chameleon's experience. Some of them are a bit more difficult to keep, but allow the keeper the opportunity to occasionally give the chameleon something new. This can be more important than might be realized. Veiled chameleons are notorious for becoming "bored" with their food and new prey will often trigger their interest and appetite.

SIZE OF PREY

The general rule is that the prey should be no larger than the space between the chameleons eyes.
This is particularly important with young chameleons, but a good idea for all stages of life.
One exception would be silkworms or waxworms which are quite soft bodied and can be much larger without presenting too much of a challenge to the chameleon.
One will find that a fully developed adult veiled can handle a large cockroach, but smaller prey should make up the bulk of what is offered.

HOW MUCH TO OFFER

During the first six months of a veiled chameleon's life, it has an amazing appetite. Reptiles are extremely good at converting food into body mass, and grow at an amazing rate during this time. However, at this stage of life they should not have access to as much as they can eat (please see specific care for females) which could be up to 25 or 30 small crickets a day! Rather they should be grown at a slower pace and offered 5 to 8 feeders per day. Growing them too fast could lead to problems with MBD as well as other developmental issues.
This should taper at about six months old and by one year of age the chameleon will most likely do quite well on three to five insects once every other day or so.
Vitamin and mineral supplementation should continue throughout the animals life (see supplements page).

Water

Arguably the most important element (save oxygen) in the life and well being of all living animals. It cannot be stressed strongly enough that extremely clean water be provided in a proper amount and manner to your veiled chameleon.
These animals drink a lot of water, and they won't do it out of a dish or bowl. Water must be provided via a misting system or drip system...preferrably both.
Being arboreal animals, old world chameleons drink the water that comes to them in the trees. It is assumed that rain and morning dew are the main sources. Veiled chameleons also eat plant matter, which provides some moisture as well.
All of these sources are extremely clean with no fecal matter or decaying plant matter like you might find in a pond or stream.
Therefore, we must guess that they need to be provided with exceptionally clean water. It is for this reason that waterfalls, fountains and water bowls are unacceptable in a chameleon enclosure. Only fresh, clean water from a drip system, or misted onto the leaves of the plants in the enclosure will suffice.
I personally use a dripper and hand pump mister. The dripper sits on top of the enclosure with the small hose coming down onto a vine in one corner of the habitat. This "drinking station" never changes location and the chameleon knows where to go for water (usually first thing in the morning after his initial misting).
The mister I use is one that you find at places like Home Depot. These are often used for pesticides. You pump air pressure into it by hand and it releases a fine mist when the trigger on the "gun" part of the hose is squeezed.
Misting should be done for 30 seconds to a couple of minutes two or three times a day. It is important during these sessions to get the plants and branches quite wet, I can also get the cham pretty wet. Be careful to not soak babies as their tiny nostrils can get clogged and they can aspirate. The water should be at least room temperature....I find I get a much better reaction if the water in the mister is hot (it will cool a bit as it sprays out). It is also important to let the entire enclosure dry out between mistings. You do not want an environment that is constantly wet. Again, we are trying to simulate an arboreal habitat where there is constant circulation of air, and rain and dew evaporate quickly.
The dripper drips at a rate of about one drop per second and lasts most of the day. I have a Rubbermaid collection container in the bottom of the enclosure to catch the water. It is a good idea to rubberband some netting over the top of this container to avoid drowned feeders and keep your cham safe. It is also a good idea to clean this container, the mister and the dripper fairly often with a 10% bleach /water solution and rinse very well.
Drainage systems have been devised by many keepers and are a good idea...particularly if you decide to employ an automated misting system.

The "Hibernation" Experiment


This winter we will be conducting an experiment in husbandry with the veiled chameleons.
In short it will involve shortening daylight hours to match those outside and reducing temps to create "winter".
It has been observed here in past winters that the animals slow down considerably and experience a period of "soft brumation" for 3 or 4 months, regardless of the temperature or lighting schedule.
We have no knowledge of any documented benefits of providing this seasonal change, but feel it's worth experimenting with.
This page will be updated regularly with any notable developments and the schedule of light and temperature changes.
Also feeding, watering and fecal/urate elimination will be documented.

As of this posting (October 24 2008) night occurs in the chameleon room at 6:00 p.m. Lights turn on at 7:00 a.m.
This will change gradually to lights on at 8:00 a.m. and off at 4:00 p.m.
The time that the lights are on will slowly increase again after the first of the year.

Daytime ambient temperature in the room is currently 65.7 degrees f. During the day the chameleons are provided with basking lights to warm up. The basking temperatures are 80 to 85 degrees f.
The temperature in the room currently drops to 60 degrees f. at night.

Keeping A Female Veiled



Keeping A Female Veiled Chameleon
By Lynda Horgan


From the day they hatch until they are sexually mature, I raise both male and female veiled chameleons the same ... same food, same supplements, same conditions. I don't rush their growth. I feed them daily, as many appropriately sized insects as they will eat in a couple of minutes and then leave a couple of crickets free in their cage for later. These insects have been fed a nutritious diet, gutloaded and supplemented.

I house the hatchlings in long, low, glass cages (approximately 20" x 12" x 12" with a screen lid). In each I keep several hatchlings, separating them when size and behavior dictate that it's necessary, until there is only one hatchling left per cage by the time they are 4 months old.

I have double fluorescent hoods over the cages. Each hood houses a tube/linear Repti-sun 5.0 and a regular white fluorescent tube light. This maintains the temperature in the low 80's at the warmest end of the cage. You can see the setup in my article in the e-zine: A Babies first weeks. The shelves can be moved forward more than is shown in the pictures in the article to allow for more of a gradient in temperatures and more air flow as well.
Most of what is in this article is still current but I have made a couple of changes.

I maintain the same lighting and temperature range when the females are moved to their adult cages. I do not use a basking light, but continue with a double fluorescent hood keeping temperatures in the low eighties. The cages are of various sizes, but the smallest is 24" tall x 24" wide x 18" deep.

I feed them 8 to 12 crickets every two or three days depending on the season. I use other feeders too, of course, but just give an equivalent amount (not number) instead of the crickets.

In the summertime it isn't always possible to keep the temperatures in the low 80's but the increased temperatures, periodically, don't seem to push the females into cycling. I keep the diet the same during this time.

I dust the insects with a phosphorous-free calcium powder at most feedings.(Since the hatchlings are fed more often, they will get the calcium more often.) I dust the insects twice a month before feeding them to the chameleons with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene source of Vitamin A. And I dust the insects with a phosphorous-free Calcium/D3 powder twice a month because my chameleons rarely get direct sunlight.

I gutload/feed the crickets with an assortment of veggies (carrots, squash, zucchini, celery leaves, sweet potato, white potato, sweet red pepper, etc.) and greens (dandelion, kale, collards, endive, escarole, once in awhile parsley, a little romaine lettuce, mustard greens, etc.).

Maintaining the females in this way, they do not produce any eggs and they generally live to be over 6 years of age or even older. My females are not skinny, and do not look starved ... they are definitely not overweight either.

To cycle the females ... once the female has been mated, her diet can be increased and the temperature of the cage increased slightly too. It seems that once she has started to produce the eggs, the number of eggs is set and the clutch size will be small. So, this increased feeding is just helping to make the eggs she's working on healthy. Once the female has laid the eggs, I feed her well for a couple of days and make sure she is well watered. Then I start to cut her back again slightly until I know she is starting to work on producing the next clutch. (Usually there is another clutch laid with some fertile eggs after this one ... so the diet/temperature process is repeated.)

Once this second clutch is laid, she is then put back on the maintenance diet and temperature and will not likely produce another clutch.

The above method has worked for me for quite a few years now. As I have said, the females that are kept this way live long lives. The females that I have cycled and kept as described have lived long lives and produced healthy babies ... quite a few of which I have kept and raised over the years. The babies seem to do as well as the mothers have.

Please be aware that I live in a cool climate and I'm not sure if this would work as well if the climate was always hot.

At the moment I have one female, Latefah, that came from a female who produced no eggs until she was mated and produced the clutch that Latefah came from. Latefah is over 4 years old now.
I have another female, Mafana, who will be 7 in a couple of months who came from a similar situation.
Neither Mafana or Latefah have produced a single egg.


Lynda has kept chameleons for over 20 years now. The first chameleon eggs that she hatched were C. chamaeleons in 1995. Although she has kept, bred, hatched and raised a number of other lizards and reptiles, chameleons still remain her favorites.

Plants

Live plants are really the best way to "dress" your chameleons environment.
They provide security, help to maintain humidity, produce oxygen, and make the enclosure much more pleasing to the eye.
Veiled chameleons enjoy exploring a densely planted territory and will often stop to take a bite out of a nearby leaf.
For this reason in particular, safe, non-toxic plants must be chosen for your chameleons habitat.
Additionally, these plants must be washed well and re-potted in safe, fertilizer and pesticide free soil.
Popular plants that are utilized in a chameleon enclosure include:
Schefflera arboricola
Ficus benjamina
Dracaena fragrans
Ficus elastica
Hibiscus
Pothos
A very beautiful, jungle environment can be created by incorporating any combination of the above plants with some well washed branches and creatively twisted and braided commercially available vine for arboreal reptiles.
The soil mix that I prefer is one I make myself by combining two parts sifted peat moss and one part sifted topsoil.
The reason I sift it is because I allow the chameleon to have access to the soil and consume it if he wishes.
There is some danger of impaction with this practice if there are larger pieces of material in the potting mix.
To clean newly purchased plants, I remove the plant from the pot and rinse the roots outside with the hose. Bring the rinsed bare-root plant inside to your shower or tub area where you can wash the leaves (top and bottom) with a mild dishwashing soap, then rinse and rinse and rinse! Repot the plant with new soil and it's ready to be placed in the enclosure.

Supplements


In a natural environment we can only speculate as to what a wild veiled chameleon is consuming. How many different types of insects? How much plant matter? vertebrates? dirt?
In a captive situation, the best we can do is provide a good selection of insects, make sure they are gut-loaded with a nutritious diet, provide non-toxic plants...and supplement!
There is not so much controversy about supplementation, as there is variation in schedules and definite opinions on frequency and rotation.
In an effort to provide basic information, a schedule will be mapped out here that can certainly be "tweaked" but if followed exactly, should work quite well.
Some thoughts on oversupplementing:
Less is more! Over-supplementation is quite common among keepers who are trying to make sure their animal gets everything it needs. Very often people ask about the crusty white discharge that has started to appear in their veiled chameleon's nostrils ...this is how the animal eliminates excess minerals and salts and is a sign of over-supplementation.
Try to be aware of how small this animal is....how big is the vitamin tablet you take compared to the size of your body...how big would it be if you were the size of your chameleon?
Crickets do not need to be drowned in supplement, nor do all of them need to be dusted. Dust a few of them very lightly with that days supplement and you're done!
The Supplements:
Calcium powder without D3
Calcium Powder with D3
Herptivite (or other multi-vitamin)
Pre-formed Vitamin A
Calcium should be provided on a few feeders 3 to 4 times a week, Calcium with D3 should be provided 1 to 2 times per week for young chameleons (up to 6 months old) and reduced to once or twice per month for adults.
Your cham can overdose on Vitamin D3. It is produced in the body and enables calcium absorbtion. The primary reason for a UVB light is so the body can produce this vitamin. The light is not as effective as the sun, so we supplement with additional D3.
This supplementation is an insurance policy...and a little is plenty. Remember your cham is making his own as well.
Herptivite is a multi-vitamin. It's sort of a broad spectrum supplement. Ideally it meets some dietary needs but it should only be provided a couple times a month.
Pre-formed Vitamin A is vitamin A from an animal source. Your chameleon would get this in it's natural habitat by eating a vertebrate or blood-sucking insect. Chams can overdose on A, but hypovitaminosis (under-supplementation) is more common. Still, a very small dosage is recommended. One very small drop of fish oil or vitamin A (gel-cap for humans) on a feeder once every two weeks is sufficient, and let me stress again...one tiny drop.
Beta Carotene is not a source of preformed Vitamin A, and it is believed by many that chameleons cannot convert it.
Plant matter (collard greens, dandelion, kale) is another great source of vitamins, moisture and calcium, and veileds do consume it. This can be offered as often as you like.

Lights and Lighting

Very basically, two types of lights are required for a veiled chameleon and both are of equal importance.
A flourescent tube that provides UVB radiation and a basking light that provides heat.
UVB is essential to the chameleons ability to absorb and process calcium. This is obviously important in the growth and formation of bones and bone density. Vitamin D3 is the catalyst and can only be created in the body by exposure to the sun.
A UVB bulb attempts to recreate natural sunlight and allow the body to produce D3.
Of course no light is as good as the natural sun, but sunning your chameleon outside is not always possible. When housed in an indoor enclosure, the UVB bulb must be used 10 to 12 hours per day.
The most commonly recommended tube is the Zoomed 5.0, Compact or "screw in" UVB bulbs are not recommended.
The UVB tube has a lifespan. The Zoomed tube should be replaced every 6 months as it's effectiveness diminishes over time.
The basking light is much less specific. It needs to be a white light, and it needs to bring the basking spot to the appropriate temperature (see temperatures and thermoregulation). It should not be housed within the enclosure and it should not heat any part of the enclosure to a temperature that could cause the chameleon to be burned.
Ideally this fixture should be clamped or hung outside the enclosure at a few inches distance, pointed toward one corner where a basking branch has been secured.
A thermometer will need to be utilized io ensure the desired temperatures are achieved. Temperatures can be raised or lowered to the desired level by experimenting with different bulb wattages.
A common household lightbulb is sufficient for this job.
Often the UVB bulb and basking light do not provide enough light for viewing of the animal or for the benefit of the live plants in the enclosure. Additional lighting can be utilized, provided it does not adversely effect the temperatures in the enclosure.

Temperatures and Thermoregulation


One of the most common mistakes I have discovered with new keepers is that they believe their chameleon's environment needs to be kept at suffocatingly high tropical temperatures at all times.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
It is true that veiled chameleons love to bask, and the temperature in the basking area should be the highest in the enclosure.
It is my opinion that a basking temp of 95 degrees f. is plenty hot for an adult and younger animals should be provided with a cooler "hot spot".
A basking temperature of 80 degrees f. is sufficient for chameleons 3 months old and younger. Young animals are not terribly good at thermoregulation and may not know to get out of the heat when they need to. This is often evidenced by the observation of a gaping chameleon. They can cool themselves by opening their mouths and young animals will tend to do this rather than move to a cooler spot in the enclosure.
Thermoregulation is the term used in reference to a cold blooded animal's ability to control it's body temperature by moving to warmer or cooler locations. It is essential that chameleons be provided a gradient of temperatures within the enclosure to allow them to warm or cool themselves.
The basking light will provide the hottest spot in a corner at the top of the enclosure. At the bottom of the enclosure should be the coolest temp (perhaps 68 or 70 degrees) in the middle will be an ambient temp of anywhere from 72 to 80 degrees.
Night time temperatures are where people most often make a mistake.
No ceramic heater or red heat lamp should be provided at night...regardless of what the "expert" at the pet store tells you. Veiled Chameleons can withstand night time temps into the 40's. A good night time temp is between 60 and 65 degrees f.
The drop in temp is required for them at night. It slows down their metabolism and facilitates heavy sleeping. They will not rest well at night with temps that are too high.
In the morning your chameleon will make it's way to the basking spot and warm up for the day. This is very important as well, as it speeds up the metabolism allowing them hunt and digest their food properly.