Can red make Chameleons die?

[Jonah]

When I was a child I lived in southern Africa. We used to get quite a few chameleons. I seem to remember being told that putting them on a red background caused them stress eventually leading to death of the animal. I was only about 5 or 6 years old but the memory has stuck with me. Is this true or was this someone having fun with me? JT

[Tiamaria]

It's probably true, I heard of a chameleon that was left next to something fluorescent. It maintained the bright orange for a while, then got duller and duller until it eventually turned grey and died. I dont think its red in particular, I heard it was anything that was too difficult to maintain for a long period.