Chameleons are known for changing into many different colors. The colors are usually bright and vivid. However, there’s one color that’s usually not seen often, which will terrify most people when they see it. The color is black! Black is not a normal color for a chameleon and it will have a lot of people looking for an answer.<\/p>\n
Why is my chameleon black? Chameleons change to the color black for three main reasons. The chameleons are either scared, stressed, or cold. It can be any of these three reasons or a combination of these.<\/strong><\/p>\n While there are some situations where you can’t prevent the chameleons from turning black, there are ways to help prevent it from happening often.\u00a0 If they do turn black, there are ways to help care for them.\u00a0 Keep reading on how to prevent them from turning black and what to do if they do turn black.<\/p>\n If you have a baby or juvenile chameleons with adult chameleons in the same cage, they could be scared.\u00a0 Some chameleon species are known to eat smaller chameleons.\u00a0 The cause of stress is living in fear of getting eaten by the adult chameleons.<\/p>\n If you notice the baby or juvenile chameleons are always black or in a darker shade for most of the day, this is them being scared.\u00a0 When this happens, it’s recommended to remove them from the enclosure and put them in an enclosure by themselves.<\/p>\n Introducing new chameleons to each other is another reason why a chameleon might turn black.\u00a0 When you have a new pet chameleon and putting them in a cage with other chameleons, they all will be scared.\u00a0 When this happens, they will turn black.\u00a0 However, don’t do anything yet as they might need some time to adjust to each other.\u00a0 Monitor them closely to see if they change back to their normal color.\u00a0 If after an hour or so and they are still black or in a darker shade, remove the new chameleon from the enclosure.<\/p>\n Chameleons like to roam freely and have plenty of room to move around.\u00a0 When the enclosure is too small for them, they can’t move around much.\u00a0 Chameleons on average move to a different area about 3 to 5 times a day.<\/p>\n In their natural habitat, when they sense danger, they will move higher up into the trees or plants.\u00a0 The like to be higher up so they can see what’s going on and able to escape danger if needed.\u00a0 When the enclosure is too small and doesn’t have room for them to move, especially going up, they will get stressed.<\/p>\n It’s easy to see if the enclosure for them is too small by looking at their color and their location.\u00a0 If the chameleons are always sitting near the top of the enclosure with their skin color black, they are both scared and stressed.\u00a0 This means it’s time to get a bigger enclosure or move to a bigger one.<\/p>\n For baby and juvenile chameleons, a small enclosure is perfect for them.\u00a0 In the wild, they will usually stay under the leaves of plants for most of the day.\u00a0 The small space makes them feel safe and secure.\u00a0 When they get older, they will require more room to move and this is when a small enclosure will no longer be needed.<\/p>\n Chameleons are arboreal, which means they spend the majority of their lives in trees.\u00a0 <\/b>Trees and plants are part of their natural habitat and this is what they need in the cage.\u00a0 Without plants and trees, they will be stressed because they use trees and plants for sleeping, hiding, and hunting.<\/p>\n While you can’t replicate their natural habitat with large trees, you can go with smaller types of trees such as ficus or yucca plants.\u00a0 These trees are smaller in size but they are also found in the wild where the chameleons like being around.<\/p>\n Chameleons are slow-moving creatures so they need hiding places to keep them safe.\u00a0 These creatures hunt by hiding themselves in trees and plants.\u00a0 As prey comes along, they will flick out their tongue to catch the prey.<\/p>\n Besides hunting, they need plenty of hiding places to sleep.\u00a0 Chameleons will not sleep out in the open due to fear of being eaten by predators such as birds and snakes.\u00a0 When they are sleeping in a hidden place such as under a plant, it will be hard for the predators to locate them.<\/p>\n In the enclosure, have a lot of plants, especially plants with large leaves.\u00a0 Chameleons love to hide under the leaves of plants.\u00a0 Some of the best plants for chameleons are ficus, hibiscus, croton, and jade plant.\u00a0 These tropical plants are also found in their natural habitat.<\/p>\n Crickets, locusts, and other insects could cause the chameleons to be stressed.\u00a0 When they are fed to the chameleons and some are not eaten, they may bite them at night while sleeping.\u00a0\u00a0 Crickets will bite the chameleons, while locusts will crawl over them.\u00a0 This will cause the chameleons to be irritated.\u00a0 When the chameleons can’t sleep, they will be stress.<\/p>\n When there are too many people in a room, this could be another reason for chameleons to be scared.\u00a0 Chameleons are used to living in a habitat where there are not too many activities.\u00a0 They will look at everything that moves as a threat and will focus on it.\u00a0 When you have a party and there are too many people, they can’t focus on a single person.\u00a0 When this happens, they will become scared.<\/p>\n Chameleons are one type of lizard that doesn’t like to be handled, especially by a lot of different people.\u00a0 Chameleons are better off left in their cage and being watched than handled.<\/p>\n Other pets in your home such as cats and dogs could cause the chameleons to be scared.\u00a0 The dog will be no harm to the chameleons, but the chameleons see them as a predator.\u00a0 Dogs and cats are curious animals by nature.\u00a0 They like to seek and discover new things around them.\u00a0 When the dog sees the chameleons, they might start barking at it.\u00a0 The chameleons will be startled and scared.\u00a0 They will turn black and may drop to the floor as self-defense.<\/p>\n To make sure your other pet and the chameleons can live in harmony, give them spaces.\u00a0 If the dogs and cats seem to be causing them to be scared, put them in a room where the other pet doesn’t have access to them.<\/p>\n In addition to dogs and cats, other pets such as another lizard could scare the chameleons too.\u00a0 Chameleons should never be put in with another lizard species.\u00a0 They will most likely end up hurting each other and even kill one another.\u00a0 If you decide to raise other lizards, keep their enclosure separate from each other.<\/p>\n Having the enclosure by the window could cause the chameleons to be scared.\u00a0 Birds are their natural predator in the wild and this could cause them to turn black.\u00a0 Most birds around your home are no threat to the chameleons, but the chameleons can’t tell which one is the predator and which isn’t.\u00a0 For that reason, they will get scared and turn black.<\/p>\n Like many other reptiles, chameleons need heat to maintain optimal body temperature. When they are cold and need to absorb the heat, they may turn black or another darker color shade.\u00a0 In this situation, turning black would be normal.\u00a0 Darker colors absorb heat more quickly and you may see your chameleons in black color for an hour or so. After they are warm, they will change to a lighter color.<\/p>\n To help them regulate their body temperature, you can install a basking light on top of the cage. Basking light will help keep the chameleon warm.<\/p>\n The basking spot temperature should be different from the rest of the enclosure. The optimal temperature for the chameleon will depend on their species. For most species of chameleon, about 95 Fahrenheit is normal for them.<\/p>\n However, during night time<\/a>, the temperature should drop lower to around 80 to 90 Fahrenheit.\u00a0 The colder temperature is to induce sleep.\u00a0 During the night time, you may notice that the chameleon is black or a darker shade.\u00a0 There’s nothing to be alarm about as they change to the darker color to absorb heat during the night.<\/p>\n Your chameleon turns to the color black and all of sudden, it drops to the floor. If you see this, don’t panic! This is their natural response to protect themselves when they are scared. Predators are less likely to eat dead animals and this defense usually works.<\/p>\n One of the reasons could be a person is too close to the cage. The chameleon will feel threaten, turn black and drop to the floor.<\/p>\n Another reason could be a pet in your home. A dog may come too close to the cage and start barking, and this could scare the chameleon. In response, they will turn black and drop to the floor.<\/p>\n The last reason could be simply a bigger chameleon is scaring them. This is often the case when a baby chameleon is put into a cage with other adult chameleons. Remove the baby chameleon from the cage and put them in a cage on its own.<\/p>\n If you do see the chameleon turning black and dropping to the floor, do not try to help the chameleon.\u00a0 It’s better to just walk away and let them be.\u00a0 You might be worried they could be hurt from the fall.\u00a0 There’s nothing to worry about as the chameleon will puff themselves out before hitting the ground.<\/p>\n When they have fallen to the ground, do not try to help them.\u00a0 If you do try to help the chameleon, they may feel even more scared and could bite you.<\/p>\n In about an hour or so, come by to check on them to see if the chameleon is ok.\u00a0 More than likely, when they feel they are not in danger anymore, they will get back up and climb to their favorite spot again.<\/p>\n The next time you see your chameleon black, don’t panic!\u00a0 They are either just scared, stressed, or need some warmth.\u00a0 The best thing to do is to remove all the elements from their cage so they won’t.\u00a0 Just remember, chameleons that are under stress for a prolonged period of time can die.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Chameleons are known for changing into many different colors. The colors are usually bright and vivid. However, there’s one color that’s usually not seen often, … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reptilesguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2416"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reptilesguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reptilesguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reptilesguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reptilesguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2416"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/reptilesguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3290,"href":"https:\/\/reptilesguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2416\/revisions\/3290"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reptilesguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reptilesguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reptilesguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reptilesguide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Chameleon Turn Black Due To Stress<\/h2>\n
Other Chameleons<\/h3>\n
Small Enclosure<\/h3>\n
Lack Of Plants<\/h3>\n
Lack Of Hiding Places<\/h3>\n
Insects<\/h3>\n
Chameleon Turn Black Because They Are Scared<\/h2>\n
Too Many People<\/h3>\n
Other Pet<\/h3>\n
Enclosure By Window<\/h3>\n
Black Chameleon Due To Cold Temperature<\/h2>\n
Reasons Why Chameleon Drops To The Floor After Turning Black<\/h2>\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n