MUM is dead, dad is locked in a cage and only four of the youngsters are there to carry on the line.

Sydney’s Taronga Zoo has unveiled the latest additions to its spring baby boom: bright-green veiled chameleons.

Taronga took charge of a breeding pair of veiled chameleons, which are native to the oases across the deserts of Yemen and Saudi Arabia, in 2004.

The female laid eight eggs at the zoo six months ago but died shortly afterwards. Four of the eggs hatched last month, and the youngsters were unveiled to the public yesterday.

They have already doubled in size to 5cm in length, living on a diet of day-old crickets. “They eat all day,” said reptile manager Peter Harlow.

“To breed one of the world’s most intriguing species, the veiled chameleon, is a huge achievement.

“They could do quite well in the Australian climate, but it’s a very long process to import them. They have to go through medical and security checks, and get approval from all the state and federal governments.”

If they’re happy, the young chameleons are a pastel green colour. When angry, upset or threatened, they turn a dark olive-green.

As they age, their range of colours expands. The adults are a mixture of red, green, grey, yellow and black.

“You can tell when they’re cold, hungry or happy,” Mr Harlow said. “From the day they hatch, they have the ability to change colour.”

The father of the chameleons, bearing the breed’s large crest, lives alone in branches in a display cabinet. “He’s particularly shy,” said his carer Mark Grant.

Chameleons’ eyes move independently of each other, swivelling almost 180 degrees, and their tongues can measure 1 1/2 times their body length.

Chameleons are vulnerable to habitat loss, because many populations have evolved in small isolated pockets and are unable to relocate.