Anoles

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 6:07 pm

I won an anole at a festival. Anoles are those little lizards that are green and brown. I've been reading up on them, but I was wondering if anyone here knew anything about them (or had experience). I have bought packaged crickets (already dead). This is mainly due to the fact that I am trying to keep the lizard a secret. My mom just told me "no more pets," but I won her fair and square LOL. I've named her Lily. I bought a UV light, a lizard "carpet" for substrate, fake trees, fake vines, and a fake rock. I also have rock bowls for water, since they like to bathe in it. I have misted her cage 4 times today. I already have a fountain in my room... one of those castle ones. I set it next to her cage, and I ran it for a while. I read that they like the sound of running water. It's not in her cage, so I don't know if that makes a difference. This is all I have done. Please point me in the right direction. And wish me luck with her and my new hermie (I'm having bad luck with hermies in general).Crabbie Gina

Jedediah · Post by **Jedediah** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 6:57 pm

Anoles need a tall enclosure, they live mostly high up in the trees. In my opinion, even one anole shouldn't have anything less than a tall twenty gallonThe UV-light is a very good idea, you'll need a basking spot, too. A normal household bulb is fine, it just needs to heat the anole up so that he can be active and digest his food.The temp under the spot should be between 85 and 92°F.He will need live crickets and small locusts (for variety) sooner or later, those dead crickets can't be gutloaded any more (fed with fresh veggies for a week to make them nutritious). Flies are good for anoles, too, but let them feed on something like marmelade before feeding them to the anole. And you will need a calcium-vitamin supplement to dust the insects with.Here's a great anole care website:http://www.kingsnake.com/anolecare/

Gaby · Post by **Gaby** » Sat Jun 25, 2005 2:33 am

Oh my goodness! I was just going to post about these wonderful little guys last night, but my hubby was hogging the computer, lol. We are seriously thinking about getting some. We went to Petco yesterday afternoon and looked at them, and all the stuff we would need to convert one of our many tanks into an anole home. I think the gal at Petco confused us more though. I read a lot before we left, and there is a lot of contradictory information out there on the web. Some sites say no more than one anole in a 10 gal tank, some say you can have 2 or 3. Most sites say no more than 1 male, but the gal at Petco said that if we wanted to put them in our 46 gal bowfront tank that we could have 2 or 3 colonies in a tank that size with a colony consisting of 1 male and 3 females. She said we could also add green tree frogs to the same tank too, after the anoles are established. The gal at Petco recommended Eco-Earth for a substrate, but I have read a lot of people just recommending astro turf, so it can be removed and disinfected regularly. She also recommended more of a UTH. I have a small to medium one (10-20 gal I think) on the 46, but I have never had to plug it in. The tank stays a nice 75 degrees, and sometimes in the summer it will even reach 85. Does anyone think I need to get another UTH for anoles? I know I will need a UV light, and a basking heat lamp too which I would think would heat up the whole tank easily to 80 degrees in the daytime. I am off to check out the website that Jedediah recommended - THANKS Jedediah!!! Any other recommendations would be greatly appreciated!Edit: One more question. The site Jedediah recommended says that immediately after purchasing your anole(s) you should take them to a vet for an evaluation. Is that necessary? I would be happy to take it to the vet if there seems to be a problem, but if I even got a dog I wouldn't drive straight to the vet unless I thought there was a good reason to. Can someone give me their opinion on this please?

Jedediah · Post by **Jedediah** » Sat Jun 25, 2005 4:12 am

Unless you have a huuuuge tank (I'm talking 300 gallons+ here) it's not a good idea to keep more than one male. Even the females can stress each other. But if you want to keep a group and breed, get one male and two, better three females because then the male won't bother one female all the time. Otherwise, get only females.I don't think you will need the UTH. Room temp is enough for anoles during the night unless your house it very cold.Astroturf is of course easy to clean, but I like to set up my terrariums as self-cleaning Use EE or FB as substrate and then get some moss from outside and maybe some woodlice (either normal ones or white, tropical ones). You won't have to change the substrate anymore, even the anole poop that falls on the floor will be eaten. Plus EE is better for live plants. Pothos Ivy is a great plant for anoles, it gives them lots of hiding places and they need those to hide from each other. They are more relaxed and actually more visible in a tank where they can hide easily than in a bare tank.I don't think you must take the anole to the vet, but you should let the vet check a feces sample for parasites. If you can find a breeder near you, get the anoles there, not from a pet shop. The anoles there are very often wildcaught and they have parasites for sure.About anoles liking the sound of running water: llizards are not great in the hearing department, so I think they don't really care for this. But they might like the fountain for drinking, many reptiles don't recognize standing water.

Hermie Luver · Post by **Hermie Luver** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 5:26 pm

My rule is one anole per 10 gallon. My female green anole is really active, and I plan to get her a bigger cage if possible. EE is good, though I would recommend Jungle Mix: Lizard Litter. It's 100% organic (is EE organic? I forgot) so if an anole gets a mouthful of it along with prey it can pass through the anole's digestive system without clotting it's intestines.CrabbieGina, do you know what kind of anole you have? Also, you don't need the water bowl. Anoles will only drink from running water or droplets. Anoles are more sensitive to sound than other lizards, however. They don't like loud sounds and it stresses them alot. They aren't "cuddling" lizards either. They are easily stressed.Jedediah, you're an anole expert too! I've had yrs of experience with them, I'm glad that you have too.

Jedediah · Post by **Jedediah** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 7:29 pm

Actually, I have never kept anoles. A friend of mine has them and has bred them for a while and I have read a lot about them. I'm an obsessive gatherer and reader of herp links, boards and literature

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Jul 01, 2005 9:10 am

Thanks for all your help, everyone! I appreciate it, and so does Lily Lizard. Does anyone have a secret for crickets. We have started to buy little ones, since they don't chirp, yet I have found 3 have escaped from the tank we keep them in (not even a 5 gallon tank). Also, how many should I feed her- they are tiny crickets, and we bought 2 dozen to start with. I've been giving her 3 a day, plus peach baby food and anole food from the store. The crickets have been dusted with calcium. Thanks again!Crabbie Gina