ANOLES
What is a green anole? Anoles are small,
subtropical reptilian lizards. They are a reptile for a number of factors:
they lay eggs, are cold-blooded, and have scaly, plated skin for a few
reasons. They are in the family of iguanid which is a very large group of
New World lizards. New World lizards are some species that are more evolved
than others. Many Old World lizards are true chameleons which eyes' move
independently and which toes are connected to grip onto branches. The
differences between cold-blooded and warm-blood are mainly metabolic. When
we eat food, some of the energy we get from that used to warm our bodies. In
reptiles, it is not used to heat there bodies, but goes into fat stores.
That is a reason lizards can hibernate and go without food for long periods
of time. Some snakes can go months on end without a mouse to eat. Anoles
have one skill that sets them apart form the crowd: they can change color!
There pigment range is usually from green to brown. But they have been know
to change to whitish and black. Contrary to popular belief, anole do not
change color to match there surroundings as a form of camouflage. But they
are certain colors according to many factors, such as: heat, cold, UV rays,
parasites, humidity, breeding season, food, and more. In my experience, the
top 2 factors are temperature and UV exposure. When warmed to a
satisfactory temperature, they will usually turn green. When it is to hot
they will hide and/or turn whiteish (not a good sign.) Anoles also turn
green when exposed to supreme amounts to UV rays.
Feeding Anoles
Most people are wondering about feeding anoles but it is a proven fact that
most reptiles get about 70% of there energy, endurance, stamina, (I sound
like i'm advertising slimfast) vitamins and minerals from natural unfilterd
sunlight. But I'm going into feeding first. Anoles do not have a really
broad diet range, they stick to bugs and occasionally fruit. The most common
type of food is crickets. I feed mine those. They will eat about 3 middle
sized crickets a day each. But I have an growing colony of anoles (at least
25 now) so I'll focus on my 2 favriot anoles: Moonscape and Neon. Moonscape
is frankly; a pig. She'll pack down 5 in one feedng. Neon is slim quick and
agile, he'll fast some days and others he'll eat about 2.You should feed
anoles about once a day. You should also mist them with water to help wash
it down. The size of crickets depends on the size of the anole. I follow a
simple risk-free rule. Crickets should be no more than slightly smaller than
the anoles mouth size. Heres a good site to order any size crickets from
Russel's Live Bait You should dust crickets no more than once a week. To
much cricket dusting could have a chance of causing vitamin toxicity. (An
exception to this rule is in breeding season when females will need more
vitamins). Another form of feeding is mealworms. SMALL mealworms. There is
some controversy over if mealworms burrow out of there prey's stomach.
Thinking about it, a mealworm might be able to do so if it was very much to
large and if the anole did not chew it.
Housing and Lighting
Lighting is pretty easy to understand but it can be costly. Heres an ideal
set up: A florecent UV emmiter in one side of the tank. On the other side,
a heat lamp of some sort.The Best anole temperature is 84-90 F. They will
usually thrive in that. Heres some good aquarium sizes and anole capacity.
10 gallon aquarium Max. 2 anoles of opposite sex 20 gallon aquarium Max. 4
anoles (1 male 3 females) 35 gallon aquarium Max. 7 anoles (2 may be males)
50 gallon aquarium Max. 18 (3 may be males). But of course, you need a cage
top that fits firmly in place . It is best to be careful when opening it
because you could squish the little guys when you go to close it if they
jump up onto the top. Substrate can be astroturf but peat moss is my
personal favoriot. Anole are aboreal so you should have some fake plants,
sticks, e.t.c...... You should have lots of plants with big leaves for them
to hide in. Remember, you want the anoles to feel as comfortable in there
habitat as they can be.
Breeding
If you have warm temperatures, a mature pair, fair
humidity, and plenty of food they will most likely breed on there own. Most
people ask about cycling (hibernation). It is not necessary. But if your
having a difficult time getting them to breed you might want to try it.
Personally I want to hibernate them anyway. The males have bred like crazy
(Neon) and it takes a lot out of the females to breed and lay eggs so i'm
giving them a rest time. Anyway here's a basic brief idea of hibernating.
Slowly over the course of about 6 weeks reduce heat and light slightly each
week and cut down the day hours. Click here for a full schedule that I use
routinely. (You might want to fattin them up before you do this.) Cut down
feedings to once every 3 days. Then after the 6 weeks, wait 1 more week
with conditions the same. After that slowly increase feedings, lights, heat,
humidity. Over another 6 weeks until the conditions are normal again. A week
or 2 after, they will most likely show breeding activity. For an in-detail
printable schedule click
here When
females lay eggs put them in an plastic butter container with holes in it.
Use vermiculite as a substrate. Do not move eggs from the position that they
were found in. Make the temp around 87- 90 degrees. Make the humidity high
but not too high. (Fungus thrives under humidity.) When the eggs hatch feed
the hatchlings about 3 days after they hatch. Feed them the smallest bugs
you can dish up.
Handling
In one word, don't. I wouldn't recommend it. regardless to what I say you'll
probably do it anyway. I only handle anoles when it is totally necessary.
But when it is needed, hold the anole firmly but not to firm, by its rib
cage area. Don't grab the tail! It could fall off. Yet I do get them to grab
food from my hand. Handling causes stress on the anoles. Thanks for
visiting!=)
Other Anoles
Green anoles are native in the USA in southern states. From Florida to south Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama mostly. In the early 1900's, Bahaman good's traders sent ships down to southern Florida and abord the ship were
