Yemen Chameleon — Fact Sheet

Chamaeleo calyptratus · Yemen Chameleon

📋 At a glance

🏠 Enclosure

• Tall, well-ventilated enclosure; screen or hybrid setups often work best
• Adult enclosure should provide vertical movement, dense cover, and easy access to basking and UVB
• Use live plants and branches; keep drainage under control
• Avoid glass boxes with stagnant air, loose substrate ingestion risk, and constant handling

🪨 Enclosure furniture

• Dense plant cover, horizontal basking branch, shaded retreat, and drinking surfaces
• Branches of varied diameter secured firmly
• Drainage layer or removable floor protection under misting

💡 Lighting

• UVB essential with a linear T5 HO tube
• Bright plant-safe visible lighting helps activity and plant growth
• Separate basking lamp controlled by distance and measurement
• Photoperiod: 10-12 h; no light at night

🌡️ Temperature

• Basking spot: 29-32 °C

• Warm zone: 22-25 °C

• Cool zone: 13-18 °C

• Night: 18-21 °C

• Clear gradient required; the animal must be able to move between warm, cool, and hidden zones

• Measure basking surfaces with an infrared thermometer and ambient zones with digital probes

• Avoid heat rocks and unguarded heat sources

💧 Humidity & water

• Misting/dripper cycles for drinking, with drying periods between them
• Good airflow is as important as humidity
• Night humidity can rise if temperatures drop safely
• Avoid constantly wet branches and dirty drainage

🪳 Diet

Feed regularly:

• Appropriately sized crickets, roaches, locusts, and other feeder insects

In moderation:

• Waxworms, mealworms, superworms, and fatty larvae

Avoid:

• Wild-caught insects, oversized prey, spoiled feeders

Supplements:

• Calcium as needed; vitamins in a controlled schedule; UVB does not get replaced by powders

🩺 Health — warning signs

• Sunken eyes → dehydration or systemic illness
• Weak grip or bent limbs → UVB/calcium problem
• Open-mouth breathing at rest → overheating or respiratory disease
• Persistent dark stress color → husbandry or health problem
• Swollen joints or casque/limbs → veterinary issue

Consult a reptile- or exotic-animal veterinarian for severe weakness, injury, breathing signs, swelling, or prolonged refusal to eat.