Handfull of chameleon poop
Has it ever happened to you that while handling a chameleon outside of its terrarium, it defecated on your hand? Or have you heard about it or experienced it regularly? Some people let their imagination run wild and claim, for example, that chameleons need to feel space beneath them in order to defecate, or that they try to impose the concept of an anthropomorphic chameleon - an aesthete and hygienist - who only defecates outside of its enclosure to keep its tank clean. However, these explanations are not based on truth and are merely products of fantasy. To understand this behavior, it is necessary to delve into chameleon physiology and ethology, and to comprehend their natural behavior in the wild before making assumptions about their unnatural and peculiar behavior when exposed to a completely unfamiliar environment in captivity.
The fact is that defecating on the owner while in captivity is completely normal, regularly observed, and reported worldwide. It logically occurs when these animals are taken out of their terrariums and handled. The interpretation that they take advantage of the situation (or even wait for it and save up their excrement) in order to defecate from a height into open space seems far-fetched and anthropomorphic to me. The reasons for this behavior are as follows:
1. In nature, it is common for species of animals, especially mammals and birds, that live high in the tree canopies or above them, to not care about where they defecate. They do not contaminate their own habitat, nor do they reveal their location to predators since their excrement is located meters below them on the ground. For example, clawed monkeys are known to defecate and urinate anywhere they please, and many birds even defecate while flying - if you get hit, consider yourself lucky LOL. The same goes for chameleons. Animals that live on the ground, such as African antelopes, digdig, defecate in one big pile as a whole family, while llamas choose a specific place for their toilet, and chinchillas, hamsters, etc., all have their own strategies (confusing predators, hygiene, marking territory, etc.). However, this does not apply to chameleons. Although we sometimes encounter the phenomenon of defecating in one spot in their terrarium, it is due to their loyalty to a location and limited space - they simply prefer to defecate on a certain branch. Consequently, the excrement falls on the same spot. But this is not intentional behavior; it is an artifact of how we keep them and the enclosures they are in.
2. Chameleons that are taken out of their terrariums usually defecate wherever they please, and if there is anything remarkable about it, it is the fact that they don't care where. They don't specifically choose a spot or pay attention to whether the excrement falls from a great height. It doesn't matter to them whether a person is standing upright or sitting; they just defecate on them. In fact, they often make an effort to keep the excrement on the hand or even rub their cloaca on it sometimes.
The guide for proper interpretation will provide us with three perspectives:
1. What actually happens from the perspective of the chameleon objectively
2. Observing the chameleon in its natural environment, in the wild, interacting with both natural elements of its habitat and humans...
3. What it may remind the chameleon of from the wild
And I invite you on this journey...
So:
What actually happens from the perspective of the chameleon when we take it out of the tank?
A huge living creature, very similar to natural enemies and predators, takes the chameleon off its branch and moves it elsewhere.
What does it resemble?
It resembles a situation where something wants to eat me, the chameleon thinks.
What physically changes in the state in which the chameleon was before and after?
It sat still for hours in one place and hardly moved (or scratched the terrarium door, which people like to interpret as showing interest and communication with humans, but it is just a fantasy). And now, on the hand, it moves significantly more intensely: climbing and crawling, being active. (And the person is happy, thinking that the chameleon is enjoying crawling and frolicking.)
How to understand this?
A happy chameleon sits in one place like a rock and doesn't move even a millimeter more than necessary, at most rolling its eyes. When the chameleon moves, and the faster and more intensely it moves, the more it is a clear expression of stress, discomfort, and the search for another place where it can sit like a rock again and do nothing.
A climbing and active pchameleon outside the terrarium is stressed, fearing for its life, and the situation seems to it as if it will be eaten.
Let's gradually put together some observations from the wild.
In a significant percentage of cases when you catch a chameleon not in a terrarium, but in the wild, and start manipulating it – even carefully – it often defecates, directly on you. The probability of this happening is higher when the chameleon reacts strongly to you as a potential predator, which can be easily recognized by typical anti-predatory mechanisms, such as:
1. Fast and frantic movement and running anywhere to simply escape
2. Inflating and flattening the body and gular pouch, swaying from side to side, opening the mouth, and hissing
3. Cramped body curling into a disc or a similar rigid posture within the so-called thanatosis – playing dead.
And believe it or not, during all these activities, it very often happens that the chameleon defecates.
The same happens when a chameleon is manipulated by a monkey (such as baboons - the resemblance to humans cannot be denied) or when it is offered to the Cape Parrot or Boomslang. Chameleons simply poop in that situation. In addition, some species of the Trioceros genus also expose a disgustingly smelling content from their temporal pouch when intimidating enemies, a substance they produce themselves in the corners of their mouths using remnants of their cells and borrowed colonies of gram-negative bacteria.
I remember a situation when I was in Madagascar receiving several dozen legally captured chameleons for the purpose of conservation breeding. We gradually took out each animal from cloth bags, carefully placing them on a branch and visually assessing them. Almost without exception, all the animals defecated during this process, which allowed us not only to reflect on the legality of this process but also to collect dozens of fecal samples that were later analyzed for parasites and the natural diet spectrum of the respective species, which I also inform you about continuously.
Why do chameleons purposefully defecate in such situations?
Because they are trying to communicate to a potential predator that it is not worth consuming something that smells like "feces." Other reptiles, such as agamas, lizards, and even snakes, commonly use this anti-predatory mechanism, some even smearing potential predators with a disgustingly smelling product from their para-anal glands through swift tail movements. Have you ever held a wild snake in your hand? Well if so$76, you must be familiar with all these tricks, including thanatosis, tail whipping, defecation, and smearing of feces and smelly secretions on your hands.
What is the common denominator in all these situations?
Intense muscle activity and increased pressure in the body cavity.
What happens to the content of the intestines, especially the content of the rectum, where the final dose of feces is already formed, when there is an intense increase in pressure in the body cavity?
A strong urge to defecate is triggered.
Moreover, if I want to escape from a predator, will it be easier with full intestines, or is it better to get rid of unnecessary weight?
Of course, it is better to defecate and get rid of unnecessary grams of burden in order to run faster.
In summary:
This phenomenon is not about poetic feelings of the space below or tank hygiene, but about a simple interplay of instincts that work like an automatic response. The situation, which the chameleon's brain evaluates as similar to exposure to a predator, is addressed through defecation as a logical consequence of the interplay of several factors:
1. Getting rid of unnecessary weight and gaining an advantage in escape
2. Defecation as a logical result of increased muscle tone and movement and increased pressure in the body cavity
3. Excrement and their odor as part of anti-predatory behavior.
I remember a situation when I was in Madagascar receiving several dozen legally captured chameleons for the purpose of conservation breeding. We gradually took out each animal from cloth bags, carefully placing them on a branch and visually assessing them. Almost without exception, all the animals defecated during this process, which allowed us not only to reflect on the legality of this process but also to collect dozens of fecal samples that were later analyzed for parasites and the natural diet spectrum of the respective species, which I also inform you about continuously.
Why do chameleons purposefully defecate in such situations?
Because they are trying to communicate to a potential predator that it is not worth consuming something that smells like "feces." Other reptiles, such as agamas, lizards, and even snakes, commonly use this anti-predatory mechanism, some even smearing potential predators with a disgustingly smelling product from their para-anal glands through swift tail movements. Have you ever held a collar snake in your hand? Well, you must be familiar with all these tricks, including thanatosis, tail whipping, defecation, and smearing of feces and smelly secretions on your hands.
What is the common denominator in all these situations?
Intense muscle activity and increased pressure in the body cavity.
What happens to the content of the intestines, especially the content of the rectum, where the final dose of feces is already formed, when there is an intense increase in pressure in the body cavity?
A strong urge to defecate is triggered.
Moreover, if I want to escape from a predator, will it be easier with full intestines, or is it better to get rid of unnecessary weight?
Of course, it is better to defecate and get rid of unnecessary grams of burden in order to run faster.
In summary:
This phenomenon is not about poetic feelings of the space below or tank hygiene, but about a simple interplay of instincts that work like an automatic response. The situation, which the chameleon's brain evaluates as similar to exposure to a predator, is addressed through defecation as a logical consequence of the interplay of several factors:
1. Getting rid of unnecessary weight and gaining an advantage in escape
2. Defecation as a logical result of increased muscle tone and movement and increased pressure in the body cavity
3. Excrement and their odor as part of anti-predatory behavior.