Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I had picked up a sheet from the breeder I bought my chameleon from and re-read it. According to the sheet he says that babies learn their surrounding colors. It says that the brighter the surrounding colors when their babies will result in a brighter adult. He recomends to place royal blue on the back, yellow on the sides, and lime green on the bottom using construction paper.
Has anyone ever heard of this, and is it possible that they do learn colors?

Thanks
Nez

I have never heard of that. The colors a cham has is because of their genetics, not because of their surrounding colors. They will "change" colors depending on their stress level...not because of the color of their environment. Where did you get your cham from?
-----
Experience and appreciate nature's creation.

www.zenexotics.com

I bought it at a reptile show. He seemed like a good breeder dealing only with chams. not snakes and everything else. He also left me his home phone number to call in case of problems. But I agree with you that it has to be genetics.

Thanks
Nez

that is on a website somewhere but i cant remember where. i bet he just did a search and printed off the first site that came up.

unless that site was his...and the color thing is his idea
dont know.

I think someone has a good imagination! The colors a cham can turn has nothing to do with learning its surroundings. But, over many generations some individuals will be more successful at hiding from predators or in displaying to females due to their particular colors. And, a male who occasionally sees rivals may turn more intense colors at those particular moments than those who never do. Chams are known to react more intensely to clothing their keepers wear sometimes too, but actually "learning" the colors of their habitats? I can't go that far with the idea.