Clive, my Veiled or Yemen Chameleon ( Chamaeleo calyptratus), is from southern Saudi Arabia and Yemen (a county below Saudi Arabia and across the sea from Somalia) and can be found in a number of different habitats and can thus tolerant temperature and humidity extremes. This contributes to its hardiness in captivity with the average life span of a Veiled Chameleon being approximately five years. They are very distinctive breeds with a large, tall casque, or helmet-like structure, on the top of their head present in both males and females, although it is larger in males. Their bodies are banded in shades of green, yellow and brown with males being the more colourful of the two sexes. Males can grow to around 18-24” (45-60 cm) in total but females tend to be quite a bit smaller at only 10-13” (25-33 cm).

Creating the base for a perfect Chameleon enclosure is not hard as they will not use the ground layer unless laying eggs so a substrate isn't really necessary, although Clive has some moss at the bottom for decoration and to aid in humidity. The tricky part is to include as many branches as possible but still leaving enough space for your Chameleon to walk around. If using decorative plastic plant high up make sure it is strong enough to take you Chameleons weight or is placed low enough in the enclosure for visual effect only. You will need two types of lights for the enclosure a UVA as a heat source and a UVB for providing daylight (a 5.0 Tropical bulb is ideal for this but should be replaced every 6 months as the effectiveness wears off). Chameleons prefer to have a hotter basking area where the heat light is above them, around 90-95 ° F (32-37 ° C), with the rest of the enclosure around 70 ° F (21 ° C) making sure it never drops any lower. At night the temperatures can drop to 60 ° F (15 ° C) but again should not go any lower, a red bulb should be used to warm the enclosure up during the night if required as reptiles are unable to see it. The best method of providing the optimum temperature is to use a Habistat Night & Day temperature control unit. The enclosure size for an adult should be no smaller then 40x40x20” (102x102x51 cm) as chameleons love to climb, the more room you give your chameleon, the happier and safer it will feel.

Chameleons do not drink out of a bowl, as they cannot see standing water, but prefer to drink droplets of water off of leaves, Clive will often use his tongue to do this. Therefore, the enclosure needs to be sprayed a couple of times each day. Waterfalls can be used in the enclosure as they are not only very attractive features but provide a running source of water. It is important to keep it clean as it can house lots of bacteria if not maintained correctly.
Veiled Chameleons will eat plant and vegetable matter as well as many kinds of insects such as crickets, locusts, mealworms and, as a treat, wax worms. They will also eat live plants such as Benjamin Ficus and Hibiscus and often be caught eating the leaves off of live plants when given the chance. In captivity you can use foods such as apples, kale and leafy lettuce but stay clear of spinach and roman lettuce. A good food supplement should be dusted over food 3 or 4 times a week to make sure your veiled gets as many nutrients as possible.
Chameleons are high maintenance reptiles to keep in captivity and although veileds are among the easiest to care for, they still require careful attention. Chameleon's are not very social, get stressed very easily, do not like to be held and can rarely be tamed. It is important that you let them walk onto you and do not pick them up as they are very sensitive. Clive will walk onto my hand to take food but gets very un-nerved when he looses sight of her enclosure, therefore I always make sure when he is out he always has the option to walk back into his enclosure.