We do know that Chameleons have those super fast tongues. In the chameleon world, the smaller you are the more powerful your tongue. The most impressive chameleon tongue can go from zero to 60 mph in 1/100 of a second. And it stretches more than twice the reptiles body length. How does this happen you ask? Preloading most of the motion’s total energy into elastic tissues in their tongue. They can get their prey from afar. These reptiles 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 Encyclopedia Britannica. The insect is drawn back into the lizard’s mouth to be digested by strong stomach acids.
Water is very important to chameleon growth and health. They either slurp water up using their tongues or the inhale it.
What do Chameleons eat?
Chameleons can eat:
- Crickets
- Worms including: silkworms, calcium worms, earth worms, buffalo worms, morios, butter worms, meal worms, wax worms, bamboo worms and pachnoda grubs
- Cockroaches
- Locusts
- Indian stick insects
- Flies, including blue bottles, green bottles, curly wing fly, black soldier fly, wax month and fruit flies.
How Often Do Chamelons eat?
Adult chameleons only need to eat once every two days or every other day. When it comes time to feed them, set aside 10-15 minutes for its meal.