Voodoo Chameleon

jajeanpierre

jajeanpierre

Chameleon Enthusiast
Where is Voodoo from? West Africa, including Cameroon. Where are T. q. graciliors from? Cameroon. Is it a coincidence that the painted face of voodoo practitioners has the same look as the labial scales of a chameleon and chameleons are feared?

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I thought this was about the vendor VooDoo Chameleons they are the only breeders I know of that sells CB Rudis (Trioceros sternfeldi) Chameleons
 
Hmm. I'm not certain, but I think actual vodou priests from West Africa don't do the skull face paint. It seems like more a theatrical addition that popped up as vodou moved from Africa to the Caribbean and then into New Orleans. It could be that the large eyes and labial scales remind them of a skull, of death, or their shifting colors and patterns suggest something not permanent, part of an other world. Creatures seen as liminal are often sources of superstition and mysticism. It isn't only in Africa either.

When I got my first reptile, a Blue Tongue Skink, it took me a bit of work to convince some of my family members that the skink was not "poisonous." There's some old wives tale here in the South that skinks are poisonous, or venomous.
 
KLowery88 said:
When I got my first reptile, a Blue Tongue Skink, it took me a bit of work to convince some of my family members that the skink was not "poisonous." There's some old wives tale here in the South that skinks are poisonous, or venomous.
Click to expand...

My great-grandmother used to say that, too. That they could sting and were "poisonous". She had skinks living under per porch at the farm. I thought it was just because she didn't want the kids trying to catch them. Hmm.

Edit: Looking this up, I guess this is a very common myth. Learn something new every day!
 
Lathis said:
My great-grandmother used to say that, too. That they could sting and were "poisonous". She had skinks living under per porch at the farm. I thought it was just because she didn't want the kids trying to catch them. Hmm.

Edit: Looking this up, I guess this is a very common myth. Learn something new every day!
Click to expand...

It's definitely an odd one. I've had more people be uneasy with my skinks than my boa. When I first met my husband he would rather hold the snake instead of the skink, lol. Said that she creeped him out more even though he hated snakes then.
 
I find it hilarious that this myth has roots further than just my family.

kinyonga said:
Maybe people think the skinks are Gila monsters or beaded lizards which are venomous and look a little skink-like?
Click to expand...

I wish there was an obvious connection like that...but my Grandmother thought five lined skinks were poisonous. She gave me lectures about staying away from them as a child when I would venture in to the woods.

Too funny how information like this takes hold over time!
 
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