Reptiles
Parson's Chameleon
Calumma parsonii · also called parson's chameleon
Parson’s chameleon is a chameleon built on a grand scale: a heavy, deliberate, turquoise-and-yellow reptile the length of a forearm, with a helmeted head, warty nose-flaps on the males, and independently swivelling turret eyes. It lives in the rainforests of eastern Madagascar, and its buried eggs can sit in the ground for close to two years before they hatch.
Overview
Parson’s chameleon lives in the rainforests of eastern and north-eastern Madagascar, high in the canopy and mid-storey. Big males reach about 60–68 cm and up to 700 g, with a bulky body, a helmet-like casque, ridges over the eyes, and two flat warty projections on the snout. It snatches large insects with a projectile tongue longer than its body.
One of the largest chameleons
By bulk it is arguably the heaviest chameleon in the world. The Malagasy giant chameleon can be a little longer, but Parson’s is the more massive animal. Madagascar also holds the smallest chameleons, the leaf chameleons — so the island spans both size extremes.
A very slow breeder
The female lays a clutch of up to about 50 eggs in a buried hole, and they then incubate in the ground for well over a year, sometimes nearly two — among the longest incubation of any reptile. For a chameleon, the adult is also long-lived, with males reaching 10 to 14 years.
Status
Parson’s chameleon is Near Threatened and declining, affected by deforestation across eastern Madagascar and by heavy collection for the international pet trade, where export has been subject to fluctuating quotas and bans.
Parson's Chameleon: common questions
Is Parson's chameleon the biggest chameleon in the world?
It is one of the two contenders, along with the Malagasy giant chameleon, and which one is called the largest depends on the measure. The Malagasy giant chameleon can reach a slightly greater total length, mostly in the tail. Parson's chameleon is the bulkier, heavier animal, with a thick body and limbs and a large head, and big males can weigh around 700 grams. Both are far larger than the tiny leaf chameleons of the same island, which include some of the smallest reptiles on Earth, so Madagascar holds both extremes of chameleon size.
Why do the eggs take so long to hatch?
Parson's chameleon eggs are buried in the ground and left to develop on their own, and in this species that development is unusually slow, often taking well over a year and in some records approaching two years. The likely reasons are the cool, stable temperatures of the Malagasy forest floor, which slow embryo growth, and a life-history strategy in which the female puts a large amount of resources into a big clutch of well-provisioned eggs that hatch as sizeable, capable young timed to a favourable season. Keepers who breed the species have to be prepared to incubate a clutch for a very long time.
Can Parson's chameleons change colour, and why?
Yes, though like most chameleons they change colour mainly to communicate and to regulate temperature rather than to match their background. A calm Parson's chameleon is usually a rich green or turquoise that blends with foliage. It darkens when cold to absorb heat, and it flashes brighter or more contrasting colours, and gapes and inflates its body, when it is stressed, defending territory, or interacting with another chameleon. Males and females of the different regional forms also have characteristic base colours, such as green with yellow lips or with orange around the eyes.
Is Parson's chameleon a good pet?
It is kept by experienced chameleon keepers but is demanding and not a beginner's animal. It grows large and needs a tall, well-ventilated, planted enclosure, cool nights, high humidity with good airflow, careful hydration, and a varied diet of large insects, and it is sensitive to stress and to husbandry mistakes. It is also slow to mature and to breed. On top of that, wild-caught animals have historically dominated the trade and do poorly, and collection has contributed to the species' decline, so captive-bred stock is strongly preferred where it can be found.