How to Breed Veiled Chameleons

Video Transcript

"NICOLE BRAGG: On behalf of Expert Village, I'm Nicole and I'm here to tell you about Veiled Chameleons. Now, the difference between male and female Veiled Chameleons is--it's very easy to tell if your chameleon is a male or a female. The males will have spurs on the inside of their back legs here. They will also have a larger head, a larger crest on top of their body and sometimes, they have larger spines along the back. The females tend to stay a little bit smaller than the males do in the adult age. Now, when your chameleon is very small, which is usually the age you buy it at the store from, it's going to be very obvious. It's still simple to tell. With most reptiles, it's very difficult to tell when they're very young, but since the Veiled Chameleons have spurs in the males, then, it makes sexing a whole lot easier for you. Now, as far as breeding goes, they are egg layers. If you do own a female Veiled Chameleon around breeding season, which is typically around spring, you need to provide some sort of nesting box. Not only if you're trying to breed, but no matter what. Even if your female is not exposed to a male, you need to make sure that she has a nesting box in the bottom of her cage which can be made from a small Tupperware such as a sandwich Tupperware filled with slightly moistened vermiculites and soil. And this will allow her to burrow somewhat into their--and mimic as though she were laying eggs. Even though she doesn't lay eggs, it's very important she does produce eggs. They're always in her body. They, obviously, won't be fertilized unless she's introduced to a male but these can still become egg-bound if you don't provide the nesting box for them. Now, breeding--I know that exposing your chameleon to a male should be done around early spring after the cooling period in which you want to lower the temperatures and reduce the feeding. You don't completely stop feeding on chameleons as far as I know. You just need to reduce the feeding pretty significantly. Lower the temperatures. Basically, simulate the winter season without making it too cold and then during the early spring when you introduce your chameleon to a male, the breeding should occur. Now, the colors are very important in breeding your Veiled Chameleons. The males who are interested in breeding will produce a sun-burst face which is where they're very brightly colored oranges and yellows and very bright green, sometimes blues and this is what tells a female that he is looking for a mate. Now, your female should display some sort of breeding colors as well, although not nearly as pronounced as the male. They will sometimes even turn a little spotted, a little lighter green and that that will tell the male that she's ready to breed. Now, females, it's often--often, females that don't produce the breeding colors do not actually attract any males. Even a male who's interested is not going to pay any attention to a female that is not in the breeding colors."