Crooked cascue? Wild Veiled Cham questions

[beansbeth]

I live in florida and see/catch tons of wild veiled chameleons and sometimes I bring them home for a while but I really dont keep them. Its my first time on here so bear with me. Sorry if its a long read I have a few possibly basic questions about chams.

First, is there a difference between the black vs tan colorations that chams get? Like on the edge of their cascues/eyes where they dont change colors, and the horizontal lines on their body. Some have black and some have tan, or spotted, or ive seen a few yellow. Is it age, genetics, where they originate from, or health?

Also is there a name for the horizontal lines on their body lol? Ive seen some pretty crazy looking variations and was curious. I'll add some pictures of some of the ones I've caught.

This one had tan accents and wacky vertical lines:

And this one has dark black

Second question.. I've seen a lot of adult male chams with pretty crooked or curved cascues. Is that a health thing or normal? What causes that? Everything I've found online says its from bulb burns (which wouldnt make sense in the wild) or MBD, but the ones I've seen have straight legs and seem otherwise healthy. I'll add pics of one that I brought home for a few days that had a pretty crooked casque, that was kind of bowl shaped. (Also that enclosure is NOT what they stay in I have a big outdoor cage full of live plants)

 

[MissSkittles]

That’s odd about their casques being bent. I’ve no idea how that could happen in the wild. Maybe they aren’t getting enough calcium in their diets. I would assume that they eat the baby anoles which would be a good source of calcium. Obviously they are getting more than enough D3 in the sunshine. It’s just as odd that these guys followed you home and made their way to an enclosure for a few days. (Psst - it’s illegal to put them back after you’ve taken them or even held them)
Their vertical bars are called bars. I’m not sure if there is a specific name for the horizontal bars. There are some natural variations where some males will have a deep black and others will be more of a gray. When they aren’t ’fired up’ (excited me, angry, etc) their colors are duller and the bars may look tan.
I’m in central Florida (space coast) and ended up with a male that was found by some kids. He was very sick with giardia and I wasn’t sure he’d survive. I’ve done what I can to give him a good life, but it was a difficult transition to being caged and while he accepts his fate finally, he seems depressed. So, even though they are invasive, I’m all for leaving them as is in the wild. If you do choose to keep one though, I’ll help you as I can to meet his/her needs. I keep bioactively, but not outdoors.