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Furcifer labordi is a species of chameleon, a tetrapod with an obligate year-long lifecycle, (like many other species of chameleons in Madagascar: F. antimena, F. lateralis). In their natural habitat in Madagascar, eggs hatch with the first rains in November, the growth is rapid, and adulthood is reached by January, at which time they breed. By later February or early March, females have deposited the eggs which will hatch next year, and the entire population dies until the next hatching. In captivity, eggs of Furcifer (Chamaeleo) labordi have hatched after 4 months of incubation at 26 degrees Celsius. Babies grow very rapidly, reaching in fact, adulthood after 3 months. Females that were properly fed grew with eggs and a vivid colouration, whereas females that were fed a less caloric diet grew thiner and only showed a green colouration. Males outlive females in the wild, as many females die soon after the oviposition, many males live older by digging burrows in the soil as the ambient air becomes drier, they will sit quiet for months before coming out again with the rains, at the start of the rainy season.
