Anole Help

[sarahlovesmiike]

My little sister had a pair of anoles dumped her by a friend. From what information we've found we think they're brown anoles. They were set up in a ten gallon tank with some dirt for substrate and a tree to climb on, and a heat pad. He told her that they had only been fed like six times in the year that he had them. She bought them a 75 watt uvb bulb and a bunch of fake plants. We changed the substrate to repti-carpet with sphagnum moss to keep the humidity up. From what information I've found they should be kept with a temp gradient from 95-70* with humidity levels of about 60%. She's feeding them gutloaded crickets.


I was just curious if anyone on here keeps them and if they could give us anymore info on them. Thanks in advance

[sarahlovesmiike]

bumped

[steveboos]

Well chances are you bought a 75 watt UVA bulb as there isn't really a 75 watt UVB bulb and you don't need a separate UVB bulb, but it helps.

I would go ahead and use a basking lamp instead of heat pads. Anoles are fine at room temp, you just want to provide a warmer basking spot in the upper 80's. Mist the tank once a day very well and that should keep the humidity up.

You can feed them more often, but some Anoles are reluctant to eat very often, some will eat every time, anytime. I would attempt to feed them 2 times a week and see if they take. If not, just try once a week. Or if they gobble up all the crickets you offer, then offer them more often.

[sarahlovesmiike]

They are eating everything in sight so she's been giving them two crickets each per day. They're already starting to look a little better As far as the light goes it said it was a uvb/uva bulb, we kinda just figured something was better than no lighting at all.

[steveboos]

Ok well if that's the case, keep them on that schedule and see if they continue.

Also if you did buy a UVA/UVB bulb, they are usually pretty expensive around $30-50, but that would be a perfect heating element for you to have in that Anole tank.

Glad they are doing good for you, they can be really easy and great pets. Just make sure the lid is on secure!!!

[sarahlovesmiike]

I'm not sure what they spent on the bulb itself but they spent a little over $40 on the light and moss. I bought her a critter keeper and a calcium supplement for the crickets. I can't stand seeing pets in conditions that aren't optimal, but I can't really find a whole lot of info on them. I'm glad bp.net members know about all sorts of animals and not just balls.

My boyfriend wants a lizard so bad now lol. I'm thinking a pair of leos or something....

[steveboos]

Well i also work at a PetSmart so i consistently have those customers that come in and say...
"My kids found these 2 lizards outside and we want to keep them, what do we do???!!!"

So me having owned all these animals at least once or currently, i am more than willing to help someone set up a tank or enclosure within their budget.

I'm glad that you decided to rescue these guys, cause they really are fun to watch eat and hang around. Especially since they are so inexpensive to purchase and maintain, it's worth every penny.

[sarahlovesmiike]

They are pretty darn cute too! I like that they are more of a display pet then ball pythons. I was just kinda discouraged by the lack of information there is about their husbandry needs.

[WingedWolfPsion]

Gotta disagree with steve on some of this.

Anoles absolutely do require UVB lighting. I would recommend using a fluorescent UVB reptile light, as the mercury-vapor reptile lights get too hot to use with a 10 gallon tank. (A 20 gallon would be better, but a 10 gallon can work if it's well-planted). Price tag doesn't factor into this--it is what these animals require. It's standard equipment for any diurnal lizard, regardless of size or cost. If the bulb you got was incandescent, it is NOT a UVB light.

The basking spot should be about 90F. The cage can drop to room temperature (above 65F) at night.

Make sure the crickets are dusted with a good calcium/d3 supplement, as crickets are too high in phosphorus.
Crickets should be no larger than the space between the lizards' eyes. This is usually going to be 1/4 inch crickets. They'll also happily gobble flightless fruit flies (D. hydei are larger, but they sell D. melanogaster at Petco, so you can easily culture them at home). The occasional small newly-shed mealworm, wax worm, or butterworm will also be appreciated.

Feed them every other day! Feed as many as they'll eat in 15 minutes, and remove anything remaining.

Anoles also enjoy crested gecko diet or day gecko nectar. This can be offered in small elevated cups once or twice a week. (Don't overdo it, or they might get obese).