Chamaeleo tempeli is a small to medium-sized chameleon reaching a total length of up to 8.5 inches although specimens of 5-6 inches are more common.  Hillenius considered tempeli to be a member of the bitaeniatus group. Inhabiting trees and bushes of montane rainforests it is found at altitudes from 1500-2400 meters in southwestern Tanzania, it's presence has been recorded in the Uzungwa, Ubena, and Ukinga Mountains, between Lakes Rukwa and Tanganyika.

C. tempeli is  most easily identified by the double gular crest of light-colored, greatly enlarged spinose scales that bifurcates as it proceeds posteriorly from the chin to the throat. A ventral crest is absent but a prominent dorsal crest of widely spaced conical scales extends along the entire length of the body and more than half of the tail. The casque has prominent occipital lobes and the anterior parietal crest is forked. Scalation is heterogeneous. Basic body coloration may vary from a pale brown or green to dark brown. There may be two light-colored, horizontal bands, one on the dorsal flanks and the other on the ventral flanks. 

Virtually nothing is known of the captive husbandry of this species. It reportedly gives birth to between 15 and 28 live young.