This page has been updated, with sub-pages on 24/10/99
This is a photo of a chameleon I looked after in Malawi, a Chamaeleo dilepsis . I was lucky enough to have parents who worked for various tropical universities, and who were biologists, so when I was a youngster I kept chameleons in Malawi, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria.
We all have our quirks, I suppose, but I find these animals so fascinating to watch, with their prehensile tails, independent eyes, and skin which changes colours according to their mood. The one above knew me to be friendly, but hid from other people by moving around my arm. If it wanted to escape it went stripy, so I always knew if it had that on its mind.
Anyway, to my delight there are a few useful links on the internet concerning Chameleons, how to take care of them, etc..:
I recently kept some chameleons, with the intention of breeding them, but unfortunately the last two I purchased infected the whole colony in spite of a short quarantine period (obviously wasn't long enough), and they dropped like flies in February '99, except for the last one (Charlie, which was one of the first I bought), which died in September '99, probably from the same infection. Here is a small rogues gallery of the delightful creatures, who each had their own personality, of course.
Chammy(fiery temperament) and Charlie(quiet but dominant), the first pair. Charlie was the last to die. They were both chameleo oustaleti.
Rick(quiet but clever) and Zamza(so small and timid), Chameleo quadricornus.
And here is a picture of Rouks, as promised, the chameleo verrucosis, an extremely shy (if not terrified-of-his-own-shadow) chameleon, of which I was very fond because of his extreme sensitivity. He can be clearly identified as verrucosis in this photo by the large scales behind his eyes.
Other Chameleons I kept were Charlene and Bub (short for big ugly b****r), but Charlene and Bub (chameleo oustaleti) were the ones who brought the infection in, and died before I got any really nice photos of them, but I will try to update this page soon with the best photos I have of them.