What to Do After a Chameleon Has Babies

Of the more than 180 different species of chameleons that walk the earth, the veiled chameleon is the most common variety kept as a pet. Contrary to popular belief, chameleons do not change their color to match their surroundings. However, they do change their color in order to regulate their temperature, turning darker to warm up or lighter to cool down, or when they become scared, mad or stressed.

  1. Cage

    • Keep your chameleon in a habitat made out of screen or mesh, measuring at least 48 inches tall and 36 inches long. The bigger the better. Avoid keeping your pet in a glass aquarium. These enclosures don't provide the ventilation that a chameleon needs. Cover the bottom of the cage with newspaper or paper towels. Do not use sand, bark, gravel or dried moss. If the chameleon eats these items, it may become sick. Also, provide live plants or fake plants, branches and different sized dowel rods, which the chameleon can use for exercise and camouflage. Use one or two heating lamps in the cage so the reptile can regulate its body temperature. Your chameleon also requires a UVB lighting so it can process calcium.

    Food

    • Chameleons will eat a variety of different insects, but make crickets the staple of their diets. Adult crickets may bite your lizard, so feed it juvenile crickets that have been well-fed, otherwise known as gut-loaded. Every other day dust the crickets with a calcium supplement. Dust insects with a vitamin supplement once to twice a week. Chameleons will consume about 10 crickets a day. These lizards also eat wax worms, meal worms, moths and grasshoppers. However, do not feed the reptile winged insects too frequently. The wings can cause digestive problems. If you notice the chameleon gagging during mealtime, the insects are too large for it. Feed him smaller bugs.

    Care

    • Chameleons dislike being handled by their owners. It stresses them out and may even cause death, so you should only observe your pet in its habitat. To maintain the humidity in the chameleon's cage, mist the cage once a day with warm water. If you live in a particularly dry climate, you will need to do this at least twice a day. The misting also keeps the lizard hydrated. Remove old or dead food from the cage every day and change the substrate at least once a week. Thoroughly clean the cage once a month to kill bacteria and fungus.

    Caring for Baby Chameleons

    • Depending on the species, some chameleons lay eggs while others, such as the veiled chameleon, give birth to live young. Either way, the babies are on their own from birth; the mother chameleon has nothing to do with them. Feed the newborns small food such as flightless fruit flies and week-old crickets. Dust the insects with calcium powder every day. Since tiny insects can escape through the mesh of an adult chameleon's cage, place the babies in a plastic bin that is at least 6 inches tall. Add small live plants such as pothos to provide the chameleons with additional food and cover. Mist the cage every other day. When the babies reach two months of age, separate the sexes and send the lizards to their new homes.