Chameleon/Swell-headed Dragon

Chelosania brunnea

This is a Kimberley dragon found in the western region to northern NT.

It is approx 115mm from snout to vent in length.

It varies in colours and patterns.

As you can see here in the photograph they like to sit in the small branches of trees.

It's named the Chameleon dragon not because it changes colour but because it walks like a chameleon in a rocking motion.  It is slow moving.

Clutches of approx 2-9 eggs are laid in shallow burrows.

Photographed at Perth Zoo

 

Did you know this animal has a pouch as do some of the other dragons and some monitors?  Its called the gular (throat) pouch and it is the skin under the chin that can inflate or expand.  (And you thought it was for carrying babies).  This is why its also called the Swell headed dragon.

This dragon was looking at its reflection in the glass.

 

 What do they eat? 

It eats insects either on the ground or in a tree.

 

 

<<<<  Photographed at Perth Zoo

 

Text
"Australian Reptiles A Photographic Reference to the Terrestrial Reptiles of Australia" by Stephen K Wilson, David G Knowles.

 

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