wild chameleons

[Sepioteuthis]

I don't think I've ever shared these pictures here.

Last June my husband and I went to the island of Malta for a week and of course one of our main priorities was to find some wild chameleons. And we did! 2 adults and 2 juveniles.
Here are some pictures of the first 2 we found:

 

[Brad Ramsey]

FANTASTIC!

-Brad

 

[Sepioteuthis]

Thanks! I must say I was grinning ear-to-ear for a good solid hour after finding that first one (which was the small one in the last three pictures). I would have kept on grinning but my cheeks started to hurt ...
Eventhough I get to 'play' with chameleons every day at home, finding those wild ones was just a whole new level of cool.

For those who are wondering; it's Chameleo chameleon. (forgot to add that)

 

[dectr6]

Great looking chams....Now I've got to start working on my wife about the benefits of going to Malta over England this spring. I take it these can't be exported to the US?

 

[Sepioteuthis]

I'm pretty sure they can't be imported. I didn't look into it, though. If you do end up going to Malta, send me a pm and tell you where we found them. They only live in certain parts on the island, from what I gathered. The four we found were all within a 1 mile radius.

BTW Chameleo chameleon is not native to Malta, they were introduced there in, I think, the 19th century.

 

[Will Hayward]

You're right, Chemaleo chameleon isn't on the CITES Export list for 2008. Wasn't on the 2007 or 2006 lists either. I suspect that there may have been a few may have slipped in as C. africanus or another similar species in the last couple years though.

Nice photos and what a feeling it must be to find chameleons in the wild.

 

[dectr6]

I'm pretty sure they can't be imported. I didn't look into it, though. If you do end up going to Malta, send me a pm and tell you where we found them. They only live in certain parts on the island, from what I gathered. The four we found were all within a 1 mile radius.

BTW Chameleo chameleon is not native to Malta, they were introduced there in, I think, the 19th century.

Just kidding about Malta, we have friends in London that we haven't seen in 15 years, so no way of changing her mind. I'd love to see them in the wild though. Would like to spend a few weeks in South Africa to see some of the Bradypodions. Must have been a great feeling when you spotted the first one. How long did you search in total to spot these?

 

[Sepioteuthis]

Friends or chameleons...hmm tough choice.

I think we spent a total of 4 hours walking around in that area, but not just looking for chameleons, there were some neat ancient ruins and once-inhabited caves there as well.
The first one we found near a tree that we had been directed to by a time-share sales person whose daughter had seen a chameleon there. We searched that tree for a good 20 minutes before giving up. I spotted the chameleon (which was sitting, basking, in full view) as we were walking away.

 

[lillamy]

My parents have a house in South Portugal. Everytime I wisit them I see at least one Chamaeleo chameleon! It's so cool! They live in a tree behind the house, stone oak (translated from Swedish, dont know if it is the correct name i English). Three years ago a big fire broke out in the neighborhood and we thought all the chamaeleons were killed. But this summer I saw an adult one and my parents later found a juvenile
Sorry I can't show you any pictures; I've had a computercrash... Now I have learned to always make back ups.

 

[tryme]

amazing very nice