This species inhabits coastal forest, both moist and dry savannah, woodland and bushy grasslands, it has also been found in rural and suburban areas (Patterson 1987, Spawls et al. 2002, Largen and Spawls 2010, Tolley and Burger 2007). The species is arboreal, however it can often be observed crossing the ground (Tilbury 2010). The bulk of the diet consists of grasshoppers, beetles and other edible invertebrates; large individuals may eat vertebrate prey, such as geckos and other chameleons (Tilbury 2010). This species is commonly preyed upon by the boomslang (Dispholidus typus) and the twig snake (Thelotornis kirtlandi; Tilbury 2010) as well as a variety of birds and mammals. In southern Africa, mating usually takes place in November/December and gestation lasts about four months (Tilbury 2010). Females lay between 10-40 oval eggs, which take about 10-12 months to hatch (Tilbury 2010). Growth is rapid and sexual maturity is reached within one year of hatching (Tilbury 2010).

This species is widely distributed throughout southern and eastern Africa. It has been described as ranging from as far west as Cameroon (Welch 1982), east to Kenya, southern Ethiopia and Somalia, and south through Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola into Botswana, Namibia, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa (Tilbury 2010). Possible records of this species from West Africa (as C. quilensis) may be referable to the recently-described C. necasi (J-F. Trape pers. comm. 2012). There are limited records of the species occurring in Rwanda and Burundi (Spawls et al. 2002), however, this could be attributed to low recorder effort rather than genuine scarcity of the species in the area. The species has recently been confirmed on Lolui island in Uganda (S. Spawls pers. comm. 2010).

It occurs through most of southern Somalia, and in the Toghdeer region of the north as well as adjacent Ogaden in Ethiopia (Lanza 1990). There is a record of this species from Djibouti (Schätti 1989), but this author did not specify the basis for this (Ineich 2001) and its occurrence in this country is consequently in need of confirmation.

This species is listed under Appendix II of CITES (CITES 2007). There are no other species-specific conservation measures in place for this species, however, in places its distribution coincides with protected areas. No further conservation measures are required at this time. There is uncertainty about the status of subspecies, so that research is needed to clarify the taxonomy of the species.