Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 2: Creating the right environment
• Part 2 of 2: Feeding, monitoring and holding your lizard
• Tips
• Warnings
• Necessities

It's a delightful little lizard, the green anole (Anolis carolinensis), and a popular pet. It's the kind of pet that will keep you entertained with its active antics, and its beautiful colors are delightful to watch. Although caring for anole is a daily activity, they are fairly easy to care for, as long as you create the right living environment for them, provide them with the right food and keep a close eye on their health.

To step

Part 1 of 2: Creating the right environment

1. Use a 38 tall terrarium or aquarium to contain your lizard. The size of the terrarium depends on whether you are going to keep 1-2 anoles or a larger colony of lizards. A 38 liter terrarium offers enough space for 2 anoles. For larger colonies, increase the size of the terrarium by 19 liters for each additional lizard.
   • For example, if you plan to keep 5 anoles together, you will need a terrarium of about 95 liters.
   • Always use a lid on the terrarium. Other pets, such as cats, like to "play" with anoles, which usually means death for an escaped anole.
2. Keep the terrarium 5 feet off the ground. Anoles also live higher up in the wild, in trees and other high places. Raising the terrarium is a good way to boost your lizard's lifestyle and keep it from getting anxious.
   • This is especially important if you plan to place your lizard in a high-traffic area of ​​the house. If the lizard is a bit higher up, it will become less frightened by children and other animals that constantly walk past the terrarium.
   • When purchasing the terrarium, opt for a longer option as this will allow your lizards to climb higher, which they will certainly love.
   • The best way to make sure your raised terrarium is safe is to place it on a sturdy, flat surface, such as a thick wooden table.
3. Cover the bottom of the terrarium with 2 inches of soil, bark or moss. Fill the terrarium evenly with about 5 cm of substrate. Anoles are not burrowing lizards, so the substrate does not have to be deep. Use untreated soil, bark or moss as a substrate to ensure that the environment in the terrarium is moist enough for your lizard.
   • If you are using bark, make sure the pieces are large enough that your anole cannot swallow and choke them. The pieces of bark should be larger than the head of your anole.
   • Never use unsterilized bark or bedding that you are unsure of. Ask the pet store or vet for advice if you are unsure.
4. Place items in the terrarium for your lizard to climb or lie on. Make sure to place enough plants (real or plastic, or a mixture of both) in the terrarium, as well as things to lie on, such as branches or flat stones. Things your lizard can climb on, such as vertically placed pieces of driftwood or vines, are also important.
   • If you put more than 1 anole in your terrarium, make sure you provide enough lying areas to avoid competition. For an ideal environment, provide at least 1 place to lie down per lizard. If you only keep 1-2 lizards, 1 place to lie down is sufficient.
   • Be aware that unless it is mating season, anoles of different sexes can become very stressed when kept in the same environment. Contact the vet if you have any concerns.
   • Only place plants that are not harmful to reptiles in the terrarium. If you are unsure whether a plant is harmful to your green anole, check with your local vet or pet store. Here you can find a list of reptiles harmful plants: http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Reptile-Health/Habitats-Care/List-of-Plants-That-Can-Be-Toxic-To-Reptiles/
   • If you put real plants in the terrarium, make sure they have not been treated with pesticides. If you are unsure of how clean they are, rinse the plants thoroughly under running water to remove any harmful chemicals.
5. Keep the temperature in the aquarium between 24 and 30 degrees Celsius. Anoles should be within a temperature range of 24-30 degrees during the day and any lying areas in your terrarium should be 32-35 degrees. The nighttime temperature may drop to 20 degrees, but certainly not lower.
   • Use 2 thermometers, 1 at the top of the terrarium and 1 at the bottom, to monitor the temperature in your anole's habitat.
   • A 40 watt fluorescent bulb will provide the correct temperature during the day, but should be turned off at night and replaced with a black light.
6. Make sure there is a humidity of 60-70% in the terrarium. Green anoles are tropical lizards, so they are used to a warm, wet climate. Spray the substrate and plants with water to maintain proper humidity levels in the terrarium and create a more tropical environment for your lizard.
   • Attach a hygrometer to the side of the terrarium to constantly measure the humidity in the terrarium.
   • You can also use a drip system in the terrarium to maintain the correct humidity.
7. Keep the terrarium lit with UVB light for 14 hours a day. Anole lizards need to be continuously exposed to UVB lighting in order to produce vitamin D3 and to ensure that their metabolism continues to function properly. Use a UVB lamp to illuminate the terrarium and let it burn for 14 hours a day to keep your anole healthy.
   • You can also expose your anole to UVB light by temporarily putting its terrarium outside on sunny days when it is warmer than 21 degrees Celsius. Make sure there is a secure lid on the terrarium, so that the lizard cannot escape and predators cannot get in! You can leave the terrarium in the sun as long as the temperature is high enough and there are enough places with shade in the terrarium.
8. Clean the terrarium every week to keep the lizards healthy. Captive reptiles are susceptible to health problems caused by bacteria and debris that gradually builds up in the terrarium. So it is very important to maintain the habitat and clean it weekly. Use soap or dishwashing liquid to clean the inside of the terrarium, as well as any decorations you have placed in the terrarium.
   • Make sure to place your anoles in a separate, clean terrarium with a lid when cleaning the primary habitat.
   • Unless the substrate looks or smells particularly dirty, you only need to replace it every 6 months.
   • Never use cleaning products that contain phenol to clean your lizard's habitat. Reptiles are not very resistant to this chemical.
   • Any remaining uneaten food should always be removed after meals to keep the terrarium clean.
   • To make cleaning the terrarium easier, you can put a piece of plastic on the bottom before laying out the substrate. This allows you to remove dirty substrate in 1 easy step and prevents stains on the bottom of the terrarium.

Part 2 of 2: Feeding, monitoring and holding your lizard

1. Feed your anole 2-3 insects once a day. Anole lizards are insectivores and usually eat small insects such as crickets, mealworms and waxworms. Feed each young lizard in your terrarium 2-3 insects daily and each adult lizard 2-3 insects every other day.
   • To feed anoles, simply place the live insect in the terrarium where the lizards can see them. When feeding your lizards, you can place them in a shallow dish to keep them from escaping or hiding from the lizards.
   • The anole also needs to get the right vitamins and calcium in its diet. Since it eats insects, all additional nutrients must be present in those insects. If you keep a lot of crickets for food, feed them a vitamin rich cricket diet before feeding them to your lizard. In this way, all the nutrient-rich food that your cricket has just data will be transferred to the anole.
   • You can also dust the crickets with a supplement powder before each feeding session to help ensure your anole is getting enough calcium and vitamins.
   • Avoid feeding insects larger than half the size of your anole's head. Also, do not feed your anole larvae of the morio beetle, as they have strong jaws that can injure your anole.
   • Anoles also eat waxworms, fruit flies, small worms, canned crickets, small spiders and earthworms. Sometimes fast prey, such as small cockroaches or flies, is also welcome, and these can give your lizard some necessary exercise.
2. Water your lizard by spraying the plants in the terrarium 2-3 per day. Anoles prefer to drink water in the form of drops that drip from the leaves of plants. To make sure your lizard can drink water this way and to make sure they have enough water, use a spray bottle to spray both the anoles and plants in the terrarium wet. Do this 2-3 times a day for 10 seconds.
   • If you choose to place a small water bowl in the terrarium instead of spraying the plants, make sure it is a shallow bowl. Anoles can drown if they fall into a deep, steep-edged water bowl. The water level in the bowl should never exceed the height of your lizard.
3. Keep an eye on your anole and keep an eye out for common health problems. The most common ailments that anoles get stem from habitat overcrowding (leading to fighting) and lack of vitamins. Watch for symptoms of a vitamin deficiency, such as lethargy, weight loss, or mucus in the mouth and nose, and feed your lizard a nutrient-rich diet or vitamin supplements to minimize the risk of a vitamin deficiency.
   • Other common symptoms of a vitamin deficiency include swelling, lumps or sores on the skin, difficult breathing, and limb paralysis. Contact your vet immediately if you see these symptoms in your lizard. Make sure that the vet is a specialist in exotic animals.
   • Symptoms of fights between the male anoles are usually minor injuries and / or bites that can be seen on the head or back of the lizard.
   • Some anoles develop infections on their snout, along the mouth. You can cleanse the infection by gently and gently wiping the muzzle with a cotton swab slightly moistened with hydrogen peroxide or an antibiotic ointment. Consult your vet to find out which reptile-friendly product to use.
   • Failure to clean the terrarium can also increase the risk of health problems. Make sure to clean the terrarium every week, maintain appropriate humidity and remove any mold immediately when you see it. When you clean the terrarium, temporarily place your anole in a separate, clean container.
4. Consider adopting multiple anoles if you want them to reproduce. While anoles can live on their own and it is certainly easier to keep just 1 lizard, you may want to adopt more than 1 so that they reproduce (or just to have a more lively terrarium environment). If you want to adopt multiple anoles and want them to mate, choose a total of 5 lizards, 4 of which are female and 1 is male.
   • A female will lay an egg every 2 weeks from late spring in a moist environment. Feel free to leave the eggs in the terrarium and keep the area moist until they hatch (usually 2 months later).
   • Be aware that if you want more than 1 male, you must have a terrarium that is large enough for them to avoid each other easily. Male anoles are often territorial and aggressive towards other males.
   • Newborn anoles need about twice as much food as adult lizards. Make sure to feed the newly born lizards in the terrarium a lot of small, live insects that have been treated with vitamin supplements.
   • Be aware that not everyone agrees that anoles are social enough to live in a closed terrarium environment where they cannot escape from each other. Some people believe that anoles should be kept separate from each other, in separate terrariums. This is more comfortable for the lizards that live in the terrariums, and less unnatural. So it is less stressful and healthier for the anoles.
5. Handle the anole rarely and with care. It is possible to grab an anole and let it eat from your hand. He can learn to sit on your hand in exchange for a reward, but don't put it there yourself. Let him crawl onto your hand on his own, this causes him much less stress. Also remember that anoles move very quickly and are very nimble, so don't hold it somewhere where it can escape. In general, however, the anole is more of a pet to look at than to hold, so keep handling to a minimum.
   • If you have to move anole (for feeding or cleaning the habitat, for example), be very careful. Hold it tight, but very gently and move it quickly.
   • Always wash your hands after handling a green anole, as with any reptile and pet. Also wash your hands after handling the bedding or decorations in the terrarium to prevent the spread of salmonella.
   • Your anole may bite you gently when you handle it. Do not be afraid! It will be a very light bite and shouldn't hurt. Try not to overreact and pull your hand away if your anole bites you, this could injure your lizard's jaw.

Tips

• Much of this advice applies to other anoles (of which there are about 300 species and subspecies), but the brown anole prefers a more terrestrial habitat than the green one (so give it a wider habitat, rather than a higher).
• Anoles only develop fat stores in their tail, so a thick-tailed anole is a well-fed anole.
• While these lizards are cheap to buy, keep in mind that they are not cheap when it comes to need. They require special heating / lighting, the weekly purchase of crickets, vitamin supplements and special watering techniques. Their terrariums also need to be cleaned and maintained weekly. Make sure your budget is generous enough to meet this requirement before buying an anole.
• Pay attention to the products you use to clean the terrarium. You must make sure that there are no dangerous chemicals in them, as these can cause serious damage to your lizard and even kill it (and other animals exposed to the substance).
• Males often hunt females in the habitat during the mating season, but it is often the female who decides when to mating, so she will decide when to approach the male. Chasing can cause stress to the females, so remove the male from the terrarium during the mating season to avoid stressing the females.

Warnings

• Having a UVB lamp won't remove the need for vitamin supplements, and vice versa. The insects fed must contain all the nutrients the lizard needs!
• Remember that the majority of their heat and light comes from the sun, so a heat source that gives off heat is very unnatural.
• Be very careful how you heat a habitat:
  • Do not use heat stones or caves. These often overheat, resulting in burns or death.
  • Avoid using heat stones.They like anoles very much, but they can cook the lizard from the inside out due to too much exposure.
  • If you are using a solar lamp or infrared lamps, make sure it is not directly on the lid. Many people have lost their anole due to overheating of the terrarium.
  • Do not use a heat pad. These pose a potential fire hazard if not used in proper set-up.
• UVB lighting is important, especially for the regulation of calcium. Without this relief, the anole will become weak and eventually die. Don't forget to replace the UVB bulb every 9-12 months as it will gradually stop producing UV rays.
• If you are not familiar with a species of insect that you want to feed your lizard, do your research until you know it is non-poisonous and has no stings. Wasps, hornets, bees, wolf spiders and scorpions are not suitable for anoles. Even if your anole does not try to eat it, it can still be injured if it is in an enclosed space near the insect or arthropod.
• Anoles do not have a good immune system at all. Make sure that whatever you feed them is pesticide-free, as they have almost no white blood cells and they get sick easily.

Necessities

• terrarium of 38 liters or more
• water spray bottle
• decorations that provide hiding and lying places
• heat lamps with pear of suitable wattage
• vitamin powder for sprinkling the crickets
• crickets and other insects to feed the lizard