KALYAN CITY LIFE

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Indian Chameleon - Chamaeleo Zeylanicus - Chameleon Photos

red square 1. Indian Chameleon (Chamaeleo Zeylanicus) Article


Last Sunday I hiked a remote hilly terrain on the outskirts of Kalyan City. While trekking I luckily encountered a native specie of Indian Chameleon, now scientifically refereed as Chamaeleo Zeylanicus. It was very docile and I managed to handle it gently. While taking a close glimpse, I was deeply mesmerized by its beautiful radiant skin and attractive green eyes. Its skin colour varied from multiple shades of light green to dark green. It had slender legs, a masked dotted green head with long spiral tail. It seemed having a unique robotic walk with a slow to-and-fro motion.

Chameleon on Stick

This article documents my personal experience with Indian Chameleon, shares its close-up photos along with a brief mention of its scientific info.


red square 2. Photo Gallery - Indian Chameleon - India Wildlife


On the day of encounter I was quite unfortunate that I didn't carried my high end Canon SLR camera which I always do. In this chaotic situation my Nokia Camera phone came handy and I managed to capture following close-up snaps of this wonderful reptile specie. It makes me feel great to share those captured moments. Enjoy watching pics of Chamaeleo Zeylanicus.

Opening Mouth of Chameleon

Above photo was captured while opening the mouth of Indian Chameleon. You clearly see the inside of its mouth is pinkish white to dark pink in colour with teeth almost invisible and long tongue hidden deep inside. Chameleon have very small pointed teeth which is useful to hold insects it catches with a sticky tongue.

Indian Chameleon

Later I gently picked the Chameleon and placed it on a dried broken branch. Chameleons are arboreal in nature and they uses their slender legs even as hands for balancing and getting hold of tree branches while moving. Above pic shows Indian Chameleon slowing approaching towards my hand.

Photo of Chameleon

Chameleon making a robotic walk on stick with its four legs and tail pointed upwards for balancing. It walks slowly and cautiously in a to-and-fro motion.

Picture of Chameleon

After kissing my hand, Chameleon takes a complete U-turn and starts moving to other tip of the stick I'm holding.

Green Color Chameleon

Picture taken when Chameleon reached the other end of the stick.

Green Chameleon

After reaching the end of the stick it peeps down more to explore and I quickly click my camera button.

Chamaeleo Zeylanicus

Later I bring the stick down and Chameleon is back on ground.

Chameleon Photo

Soon Chameleon is free to go its own way and after few minutes it is completely lost from my sight.


red square 3. Info : Indian Chameleon - Chamaeleon Zeylanicus


  • Chamaeleo Zeylanicus is commonly known as Indian Chameleon.
  • Main distribution includes Indian Peninsula comprising of mainland India along with Sri-Lanka and Pakistan. It is also found in other regions of South Asia.
  • It has a long prehensile tail and independent eye movements. It is arboreal specie and moves slowly in to-and-fro motions.
  • Like other Chameleons it also has an ability to change its skin colour. It changes its colour from multiple shades of bright green to dark brown. It do so to camouflage in its surrounding, communicate with other Chameleons and control its body temperatures. It uses light colours to reflect heat and dark colours to absorb heat. It even has ability to change skin colour of few body parts while retaining colour of other body parts intact. It can do so either in symmetric distribution or in a non-symmetric way. During mating season they turn their skin bright Green while during fights they turn Dark brown. They are arboreal i.e they dwell on trees and hence have adapted themselves to the colours of trees' trunks, branches and leaves which are dark brown, brown and green respectively.
  • They are non-venomous. However if bitten and bleeding takes place their is a possibility of infection. Hence basic treatment is necessary.
  • They mate during winter season.
  • They lay eggs.
  • During fights they defend themselves by making a unique hissing sound.
  • They eat and survive on termites, grasshoppers and other insects on trees.
  • They have ability to rotate their individual eyes accordingly while catching prey.
  • They are cold blooded creatures and live alongside where there is water near by.
  • Their prehensile tail acts as a fifth leg/hand to support their body by grasping objects.
  • They are very lighter in weight when compared to their volume and body size.
  • They are shy, docile and non-aggressive specie and are very easy to handle.

red square 4. Indian Chameleon's Streaming Youtube Videos. ↓




red square 5. How Chameleon Change Its Skin Colour? Video ↓



red square 6. Thanks! To Green Indian Chameleon And Others.


Article by Gaurav Akrani. Research and Photos Enhanced by Sameer Akrani. Special thanks to our friend Mr. Naagsen without whom this article would not be possible. Article compliled for Kalyan City Life Blog. Thanks! For reading.







1 Comment:

  1. Abhilash Krishnan said...

    Good information and nice images. It is indeed beautiful. But I envy your comfort in handling such a creature that I am quite scared of. Wish I could overcome my inhibition and bond with such friends in nature.

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