| Green Anoles (anolis carolinensis) are gentle little lizards that are easy to keep and fun to watch! With a total length of 5 to 7 inches (snout to tail tip)~females being a bit smaller, a pair can easily be housed in a 10 gallon aquarium. They enjoy an overhead light during the day for basking and want total darkness to sleep at night. Their temperatures can drop to about 75 degrees but temps any lower than this can be damaging, they will parish quickly if exposed to the cold. Anoles will live well on a diet of gut loaded crickets offered live daily or every other day. An adult will stalk and quickly grab them if hungry. There are commercial cricket foods to make the crickets fully nutritious for your Anoles, or gold fish flakes, dog kibbles, orange slices can all be added as well as a tiny bottle cap filled with water (crickets will die without water). Anoles also love a treat of peach baby food! We use this delicious treat to "tame" our Anoles...if you are very slow & patient, and you extend a finger tip full of this baby food slowly toward your Anole, he may eventually reward you by hopping on your hand or arm to lick the fruit from your finger! Be careful though when you have your Anole out ~ they are quick to get scared & jump very well! Do not try to handle or disturb them daily however, as they are small and scare easily and this could lead to stress. Talk softly to them and move slow ~ remember, unlike snakes, lizards 'can' hear and are sensitive to loud noises and commotion! Keep them in a quiet room ~ an added bonus would be near to a window to give them a view of outdoors but not in direct sunlight...their tank could overheat & kill them. Before we had our Anoles, we always read that they should be misted daily in order to provide "dew" for them to drink. The pair that we have had for years have always been provided a shallow water bowl and have obtained their drink of water by visiting the bowl & lapping up a drink, however until you are SURE your lizard will use a water bowl, misting daily should be provided...in other words some will use a water bowl & some will not. An occasional misting is good in other ways as it provides moisture to their bodies and aids in good health and shedding of the skin. Anoles shed their skin in pieces, often using their mouth to pull various pieces off. Sometimes these skin pieces are discarded and sometimes they are eaten. Anoles LOVE to have tree limbs & plants in which to hide and climb and must be provided these items. Plants can be real or plastic, we have found that using astro-turf as a substrate and home-made plants & trees or store bought plastic foliage made for easy cleaning...lizards poop randomly about their cage & should be cleaned accordingly, at least twice a month. Use only hot water or mildly soapy hot water to clean their furnishings. Rinse well. If you are going to house more than one Anole together, make sure you either have 1.1 (one male & one female) or 0.2 (two females) due to the fact that like almost all lizards...two males will fiercly fight each other. To tell the difference between the sexes, look closely at the animal: males are larger & bulkier looking with a large head and have a pink colored dewlap (fold of skin under the chin) that they will often display. Female Anoles are smaller framed with a smaller & more delicate head and either no dewlap or one that is barely evident. They have a light cream colored zig-zag down their back as well. (be careful~juvenile Anoles of BOTH sexes also have this line until the male matures and loses his!) Females can live together without harm. For a ten gallon enclosure we recommend either a pair or three females, no more. They are active and must chase prey so you don't want to cramp them. Larger enclosures may provide for larger groups, but be careful housing males together, even in large enclosures! When housing adult pairs, mating may occur. The male will arch his back & display his bright red dewlap and "bob" his head, with a bright eye on his female. She will sometimes "bob" back to him and then either let herself be caught (to mate) or she will run. Males are not aggressive to them but may hold a female by the back of the neck if allowed to mount her. Your female Anole may sometimes drop eggs throughout the enclosure. These are Tic-Tac sized cream colored eggs. If left under heat, they will quickly dry up. If a hatchling is desired, the egg should be immediately removed to be place on damp vermiculite and incubated for 55-57 days at 84 degrees. Hatchlings must be housed alone and feed on newborn, "pin-head" crickets or fruit flys. They can join the group once they attain a larger size. Anoles are very inexpensive pets~averaging $3.00 to $7.00 dollars each...the set-up will cost a bit more. Crickets can usually be purchased and then kept alive at home & doled out to the lizards. It is usually about $1.20 per dozen crickets. In the summer we also offer small moths & small black spiders which they quickly chase down & devour! Make sure all wild collected insects are from insecticide-free areas! When well cared for and in good health, your Anoles will provide you 3 to 6 years of enjoyment. They are a great observation pet, running, hunting, jumping and communicating with each other! They make no sounds & are hardy. A list of safe terrarium plants will be available on our front page ~ advice is offered via email, we are always happy to help. Aside from the Green Anole (anole carolinensis) there are many other Anole species to explore. These make great little pets! |
