Page 9 - Chameleon

Diet

Chameleons eat insects and birds.
To catch their prey, they creep along
very slowly. Once the prey is in reach,
their suction cup tongue shoots
out and sticks to the insect. Their
tongues can be as twice as long as
their bodies when stretched out to
catch prey, according to Encyclope-
dia Britannica. The insect is drawn
back into the lizard's mouth to be
digested by strong stomach acids.
Water is very important to cha-
meleon growth and health.
They either slurp water up us-
ing their tongues or the inhale it.

Habits

Besides changing skin color, chame-
leons have another feature that no
other animals have. Their eyes can
move independently of each other,
enabling them to look in two different
directions at once. Chameleons have
a full 360-degree view and can focus
their eyes quickly and enlarge what
they are looking at like a camera lens.
Chameleons are loners. In fact,
most of the time females don't want
males to even come near them.
During the rare moments when the
female is willing to be touched, the
male will approach for mating. A
brighter colored male chameleon
is more likely to convince a female
to mate than a duller colored male.

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