Reptile & Amphibian Forums

can chameleons suspend down from vines with their tails??
- the reason y I ask this ? is because i have a vine about 2 and a half feet off the ground in my free range setup. Every now and again i will see the chameleon down on the carpet. I know that he cant reach to get down but there is a possibilit that he could hang from his tail and realize that its not that far down. whenever i see him on the ground i pick him up check him over and put him back in his tree and he always checks out to be fine. No broken bones or nothing maybe just a lil cool. does anyone know about this any info will be appreciated.
Thanks again

Yes, they sometimes do a sort of controlled "fall" from branches by first reaching with front feet, letting go with all feet, hanging by their tail, and letting themselves fall. Once they hang by the tail only it is pretty difficult for them to reach back up to the branch again, so they are sort of committed to falling at that point.

that little jerk outsmarting me. Im going to try and raise the vines up and see if i still will catch him on the floor thanks a lot

Chameleons can hang from their tails and drop. I've seen a couple
of mine get down in this way.

I have also seen more than one change its mind and climb back up
its own tail to get back to the branch.

Raising the branches may work, but I have also had chameleons
that will "jump" or "purposely fall" from as high as the top of
the curtain. They could have easily climbed down the curtain but
repeatedly "jumped" to the floor. Surprisingly none of them
ever hurt themselves either. They splay their legs, puff their
bodies up with air and release the air when they land.

I once saw a chameleon fall from a branch and catch another
branch with its tail during the fall.