Animalz

Cone-head Chameleon

Chamaeleo calyptratus

Cone-head Chameleon
Photo: Daily Anole · (c) Daily Anole, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY 4.0

The veiled chameleon is a large arboreal chameleon with grasping feet and a fully prehensile tail. In an indoor study of nine animals, it used its tail for support when crossing gaps.[3]

Size and lifespan

Body length
maximum in a source 23.9 cm[4]
Body length
female Reported size 18 cm[4]
Body length
maximum in a source 24.8 cm[5]
Body length
female · adult Reported size 18 cm[5]
Body length
newly hatched or born Reported size 2.5 cm[5]

Appearance

It has hands and feet adapted to grip branches and a tail that can wrap around them.[3]

Life

When moving between branches, chameleons reach for the next perch with the forelimbs and rely on the hind limbs and tail for support.[3]

In the indoor study of nine chameleons, tail use increased as the gap widened; on rougher perches, they crossed gaps up to 1.75 times shoulder–hip length.[3]

Places

Native range · Yemen and Saudi Arabia[2]

A 2015 husbandry guide places its native range in Yemen and Saudi Arabia in the southwestern Arabian Peninsula.

Sources

  1. Catalogue of Life 2026-09-25 XR

    Catalogue of Life · 2026-10-13

  2. Husbandry Guidelines for Veiled Chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus)

    Stuart Daniel / WSI Richmond · 2026-10-25

  3. Do substrate roughness and gap distance impact gap-bridging strategies in arboreal chameleons?

    Belgian Journal of Zoology / Ghent University · 2026-10-25

  4. ReptTraits v4: reported total, snout–vent and straight carapace lengths (Oskyrko et al., 2024)

    Oskyrko, Mi, Meiri and Du / Figshare · 2026-10-27

  5. SquamBase 1.0: reported maximum, adult female and hatchling/neonate lengths (Meiri, 2024)

    Shai Meiri / Dryad · 2026-10-27

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