Green Anole Care Sheet
Below is a Green anole care sheet based upon my experiences with this prolific reptile pet.
Green Anole
Anolis carolinensis
Green anoles (Anolis carolinensis) are perhaps the most common, and least expensive, pet lizard available in the United States. The below Green Anole care sheet will detail how to successfully keep these lizards in captivity.
Range: Southeastern United States, Bahamas, Cuba, and several other Caribbean islands. It is the only member of the anole family that is native to the United States.
Physical Description: These lizards are, as the name implies, green in color, but can change to brown when under stress or irritated. Their undersides are white. Males have a reddish-colored dewlap (throat fan) that they will expand in a territorial display, or when attempting to attract a mate, and usually have a small but noticeable dorsal crest. Their toe pads, which are like that of a gecko's, allow them to climb smooth vertical surfaces with ease.
Size: These anoles are modest in overall size, reaching a total length of approximately 8" to 9", while hatchlings are closer to 2" in total length.
Behavior: Green anoles are diurnal (active during the day), and do well when kept in groups, despite the notion that males will fight occasionally. Avoid handling them as it tends to cause considerable stress. It's also worth mentioning that they are very quick (try catching one in the wild), and can dart away in a flash of green.
They can also drop their tails, so be aware of this when it is absolutely necessary to handle them. Although the tail will regenerate, it will never be as functional or visibly pleasing as the original. Adult Green anoles will readily cannibalize hatchlings.
Enclosure: Keeping several adults in a 20-gallon tank is perfectly acceptable, although do no use a screened top as it will allow too much humidity to escape the cage. The taller the cage, the better.
Don't make the mistake of thinking that these inexpensive lizards require equally inexpensive husbandry. They demand the same heat, humidity, food, and substrate quality as considerably more expensive lizards.
Use a sand and coco husk mixture (30/70) as a substrate, with a layer of sphagnum moss or leaves on the surface (this helps retain humidity within the soil). A substrate depth of 2" should suffice, as anoles are not burrowing lizards.
Provide several hide spots, preferably cork bark, across the cage floor. A medium-sized water dish should always be available.
Heating & Humidity: Green anoles are tropical lizards, and should be provided with humidity to match (around 60% to 70%). This can be achieved by keeping the substrate lightly moist, and misting the cage daily (they will lick droplets off the glass and branches). A drip system can also be utilized.
Driftwood makes an excellent basking medium, and anoles are no exception. Provide basking spots that reaches temperatures of 110F to 120F. Be sure to use a temp gun to calibrate. You should also include an under tank heater, preferably a heat mat (covering 30% to 50% of the exterior tank floor), so that a temperature gradient is created. This also makes heat available at night.
The air temperature within the cage should not be allowed to drop below 60F at any time.
Lighting: A good quality UVB bulb should be used for around 14 hours per day. This allows the anoles to synthesize vitamin D3. Anecdotally-speaking, I've found that their colors don't seem to be as bright without UV lighting, and their lifespans reduced.
Feeding: Contrary to what you may think, these lizards have large appetites. In fact, I distinctly remember as a kid watching one of the larger Green anoles I had caught during a vacation to Florida happily consume a hatchling I had put in the same travel cage. It was tough to watch, but showed how aggressive they can be when feeding.
Their diet should be primarily comprised of crickets dusted with a quality calcium supplement such as Miner-all. Mealworms and waxworms can also be offered, although they're usually not eaten with as much gusto.
Breeding: Breeding age is attained at approximately 12 months of age. Green anoles will reproduce readily, regardless of whether or not you lower temperatures for brumation.
Upon successful breeding, the female anole will lay one egg in the substrate (at times, two eggs). This can be repeated nearly every two weeks for several months.
Incubating the eggs at 84F degrees on damp perlite, they will hatch in about five weeks. Hatchling anoles should be fed pinhead crickets or large flightless fruit flies.
Price Range: Green anoles are usually less than $10 each, and are readily available as pets. You can buy a Green anole for sale on our main website.
Species Notes: Green anoles are often mistakenly referred to as "chameleons," as they can change color from green to brown. However, they are not related to true chameleons.
My grandma once informed me that back in the 1930's, it was very common for younger women (herself included) to buy a Green anole, tie a thread around its mid-section, and attach it to their shirts with a clothes pin on the other end of the thread. In return, the anole would change color to match the shirt. How's that for lizard fashion?
Side note: As a kid, my family used to spend each Thanksgiving on Captiva Island off the coast of Florida, and I would spend countless hours hunting lizards. My goal was always to bring anoles back to my then home state of Minnesota, keep them alive for a year, and then bring them back and release them the next year. I did it a few times. Not a recommended practice based on what we know today.
Green anoles are commonly used as feeders for finicky snakes.
Summary: Green anoles (Anolis carolinensis) are prevalent within the reptile market, are inexpensive, and make excellent display pet reptiles.
Copyright 2011 - BackwaterReptiles.com
Anolis carolinensis
Green anoles (Anolis carolinensis) are perhaps the most common, and least expensive, pet lizard available in the United States. The below Green Anole care sheet will detail how to successfully keep these lizards in captivity.
Range: Southeastern United States, Bahamas, Cuba, and several other Caribbean islands. It is the only member of the anole family that is native to the United States.
Physical Description: These lizards are, as the name implies, green in color, but can change to brown when under stress or irritated. Their undersides are white. Males have a reddish-colored dewlap (throat fan) that they will expand in a territorial display, or when attempting to attract a mate, and usually have a small but noticeable dorsal crest. Their toe pads, which are like that of a gecko's, allow them to climb smooth vertical surfaces with ease.
Size: These anoles are modest in overall size, reaching a total length of approximately 8" to 9", while hatchlings are closer to 2" in total length.
Behavior: Green anoles are diurnal (active during the day), and do well when kept in groups, despite the notion that males will fight occasionally. Avoid handling them as it tends to cause considerable stress. It's also worth mentioning that they are very quick (try catching one in the wild), and can dart away in a flash of green.
They can also drop their tails, so be aware of this when it is absolutely necessary to handle them. Although the tail will regenerate, it will never be as functional or visibly pleasing as the original. Adult Green anoles will readily cannibalize hatchlings.
Enclosure: Keeping several adults in a 20-gallon tank is perfectly acceptable, although do no use a screened top as it will allow too much humidity to escape the cage. The taller the cage, the better.
Don't make the mistake of thinking that these inexpensive lizards require equally inexpensive husbandry. They demand the same heat, humidity, food, and substrate quality as considerably more expensive lizards.
Use a sand and coco husk mixture (30/70) as a substrate, with a layer of sphagnum moss or leaves on the surface (this helps retain humidity within the soil). A substrate depth of 2" should suffice, as anoles are not burrowing lizards.
Provide several hide spots, preferably cork bark, across the cage floor. A medium-sized water dish should always be available.
Heating & Humidity: Green anoles are tropical lizards, and should be provided with humidity to match (around 60% to 70%). This can be achieved by keeping the substrate lightly moist, and misting the cage daily (they will lick droplets off the glass and branches). A drip system can also be utilized.
Driftwood makes an excellent basking medium, and anoles are no exception. Provide basking spots that reaches temperatures of 110F to 120F. Be sure to use a temp gun to calibrate. You should also include an under tank heater, preferably a heat mat (covering 30% to 50% of the exterior tank floor), so that a temperature gradient is created. This also makes heat available at night.
The air temperature within the cage should not be allowed to drop below 60F at any time.
Lighting: A good quality UVB bulb should be used for around 14 hours per day. This allows the anoles to synthesize vitamin D3. Anecdotally-speaking, I've found that their colors don't seem to be as bright without UV lighting, and their lifespans reduced.
Feeding: Contrary to what you may think, these lizards have large appetites. In fact, I distinctly remember as a kid watching one of the larger Green anoles I had caught during a vacation to Florida happily consume a hatchling I had put in the same travel cage. It was tough to watch, but showed how aggressive they can be when feeding.
Their diet should be primarily comprised of crickets dusted with a quality calcium supplement such as Miner-all. Mealworms and waxworms can also be offered, although they're usually not eaten with as much gusto.
Breeding: Breeding age is attained at approximately 12 months of age. Green anoles will reproduce readily, regardless of whether or not you lower temperatures for brumation.
Upon successful breeding, the female anole will lay one egg in the substrate (at times, two eggs). This can be repeated nearly every two weeks for several months.
Incubating the eggs at 84F degrees on damp perlite, they will hatch in about five weeks. Hatchling anoles should be fed pinhead crickets or large flightless fruit flies.
Price Range: Green anoles are usually less than $10 each, and are readily available as pets. You can buy a Green anole for sale on our main website.
Species Notes: Green anoles are often mistakenly referred to as "chameleons," as they can change color from green to brown. However, they are not related to true chameleons.
My grandma once informed me that back in the 1930's, it was very common for younger women (herself included) to buy a Green anole, tie a thread around its mid-section, and attach it to their shirts with a clothes pin on the other end of the thread. In return, the anole would change color to match the shirt. How's that for lizard fashion?
Side note: As a kid, my family used to spend each Thanksgiving on Captiva Island off the coast of Florida, and I would spend countless hours hunting lizards. My goal was always to bring anoles back to my then home state of Minnesota, keep them alive for a year, and then bring them back and release them the next year. I did it a few times. Not a recommended practice based on what we know today.
Green anoles are commonly used as feeders for finicky snakes.
Summary: Green anoles (Anolis carolinensis) are prevalent within the reptile market, are inexpensive, and make excellent display pet reptiles.
Copyright 2011 - BackwaterReptiles.com
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