Chameleons are Cool - Especially on Birthday Cakes

For my son's birthday cake, I can do the football, the grass is pretty easy, the Lego dudes I just have to steal and sanitize, but the chameleon could be problematic. I have pulled up photos of every type of chameleon cake I could find as well as photos of real chameleons. I think the best way to go on this is to do a realistic looking lizard with just a hint of a smile, blending into the football that he's perched on.

The first photo here is of a real panther chameleon, and all the rest are cakes. When we go into a pet store where they sell chameleons it's almost always a veiled chameleon, which is a small green and unremarkable looking lizard. The big panthers you have to get from a specialty breeder and they cost several hundred dollars. Add that to a $300 starter cage with proper lighting, heating, humidity control, and other vital stuff to keeping the little bugger alive and you've spent a fortune on a little pet. But wait, there's more! Did I mention that you also should raise your own crickets that have been fed a special diet to "gut load" them? That way your chameleon gets the proper diet and nutrition from his insects. Oh, and you're not supposed to handle them too much because it stresses them out and they'll die! There's just no way I'm getting one for a 7-year-old boy.

This year I'm opting for chameleon accessories. Books, videos, and stuffed versions. We're also encouraging his interests in rocketry and building robots, since you don't have to feed them gut loaded crickets. I'll put special effort into the cake and the little chameleon perched on top, and that way my son has a little bit of the lizard he thinks is incredibly cool.