Chameleon who thinks it's a parrot

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MOSSEL BAY NEWS AND VIDEO - A chameleon in Mossel Bay seems to think it's a parrot.

It has made a bird cage its home and no matter which surface it walks on, it does not change colour as most chameleons do, it remains gloriously multi-coloured - like a parrot.

The chameleon first made its appearance in the garden of Heiderand resident Liani Swanepoel about seven weeks ago.

"We have an old, vintage bird cage. I put one plant inside it," Swanepoel says.

The chameleon sleeps on the swing in the bird cage at night. During the day he walks around, eating flies and drinking water. Swanepoel thinks the chameleon emerged from trees in her garden, which are about 20 to 30 metres away from her verandah, where the bird cage is.

She says: "The trees are far from the verandah. I don't know how he got to the bird cage from there. Also, he had to climb up the wall or up the stairs to get to the bird cage."

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Swanepoel also points out that there are cats and four dogs in her garden, which could have preyed on the chameleon, yet somehow he made it to the verandah unscathed.

The chameleon is extremely tame. Swanepoel catches flies and he takes them from her hand with his long tongue.

She has had two other chameleons in her garden in the past two years, but none of them came as close to the house or were as tame as this one.

"He decided the bird cage was his home. I put other plants on the verandah to make it work for him. Every night he goes back into the bird cage and sleeps on the swing."

Swanepoel said she thought she should take the chameleon back to the trees in her garden, but she was reluctant to move him because he seemed happy where he was.

"He's my new pet," she says with a laugh.

It does not change colour as most chameleons do, it remains gloriously multi-coloured