chameleon species in areas near human habitation, it falls victim to introduced predators such as domestic cats, dogs and foxes. This species runs fast for a chameleon however and will do so to evade potential danger. It will also defend itself by quickly turning black, inflating the body and gular pouch, hissing, and gaping the bright yellow mouth in an attempt to startle the threat to buy enough time to flee. If cornered, it will charge and try to bite the attacker with its powerful jaws, and if successful, violently rips and tears at the flesh without letting go. Social Namaqua chameleons become fiercely territorial upon reaching adulthood, and begin to maintain vast territories. Territorial conflicts when territories overlap are common. Such conflicts between same sex individuals are far more common, but male-female conflicts occur as well. Females are larger and more aggressive than males; as a result, territorial disputes between females are somewhat more common than in males. Nevertheless, females hold far smaller territories than males. The average territory size of females is 868 m² amongst inland and 382 m² amongst coastal populations. Males hold territories averaging 1,250 m² amongst inland and 1,718 m² amongst coastal populations. During such conflicts, individuals often severely injure each other. After mating, the individual holding the territory will forcefully evict the other. Juveniles meanwhile are not seen as a territorial threat by adults and are in this respect ignored. Juveniles do not hold territories and have a shifting home range, and as such will even sleep with other juveniles when given the opportunity. While territories cannot be held in captivity, they are known to defend resting and nesting areas of about 35cm in diameter in captive settings. However, the defence of immediate nesting sites occurs only in captivity. Reproduction Breeding can occur at any point in the year, after which eggs spend a gestation period of 35-45 days inside the mother. Adult females lay around 2-3 clutches of eggs a year, although occasionally may lay up to 4. Each clutch consists of 10-13 eggs, but may be as large as 22 eggs or as little as 6. Eggs are buried under loose gravel and in a layer of moist sand, as dried sand shrivels up the eggs. Sometimes an extension of their resting burrow may be excavated for egg laying. Such behaviour may indicate a level of parental care of eggs due to