GREEN ANOLE HELP!!!! what am i doing????

Question

A relative of mine received a young male green anole as a gift about six months ago. A few days after he got it, he decided he didnt like it because he was unable to hold it like he wants to, and the poor little guy ended up in my care. I have done a great deal of research on the topic, but I am way over my head. He barely moves and is never green unless he sleeps. I have a heat lamp on the cage during the day( i was told to turn it off at night) I mist the cage when I can(i have classes during the day) but he just doesnt look healthy. when i first got him he would jump out of the way of the mist when i sprayed the cage, but now he just fliches. I feel terrible. I want to turn him over to the pet store but im worried that his condition will keep him from getting food when he is among his kind. I have great knowledge in other animals but I have absolutely no experience with reptiles. PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!

he has artificial and natural leaves in his cage nad eats mealworms and crickets. These crickets have been feed calcium and other nutrients at the store so im told that i dont need to dust food with calcium. thanks for the replies. they are very helpful.

Answer 1

Anoles tend to turn brown when thier cold. So he might just be cold and conserving his energy and that's why he isn;t moving that much. But being him being brown and cold most of the time could also mean heis sick. But probally not unless u notice his eyes looking cloudy or skin lesions. Also him not being that active could mean he is getting ready to shed. Try instead of the heat lamp put him next to a window where natural sunlight can come in. And keep the room he is in very warm. you may want to get a thermometer to put inside his terrarium to make sure temp is between 75-80F. You could try getting a heat rock for him too. It wouldn't hurt his eyes as much as the bright heat lamp. My anoles were never that active until you put food in there or misted them sothey don;t worry if hes not moving around all the time like a puppy would. Oh yeh don't mist him more than once a day or so because you might his hime a little to moist wich could lead to fungus on him or in his cage.

Anoles like lots of foliage. I personally like plastic plants. You have to rinse them off every once in a while but you don't have to be so cautious concerning what kind of plants to put in there.

Food- I gave mine the small baby crickets. They were always a little scared of the big crickets. Its a good idea to make sure the crickets have been eating well or to dust them with a mineral powder so they can be more healthy for the anole, otherwise he could get a vitamin defiecincy. They also like spiders too- so if u see like a little black spider in the window you can put that in his cage. A couple of my anoles used to like to eat bananas. I'd put a little in there so the crickets that didn't get eaten right away would come out of hiding later. Reptiles tend to take very long good naps after they eat.


Obviously your pretty worried so you smight consider calling a herp vet if one is in your area. ANoles don;t usually have much treatmentswhen they get sick but they could give you a general idea of what might be wrong since u say he is more lethargic than normal.
Good Luck I hope your little anole is okay.

Answer 2

Only mist with warm water (make sure the spray is warm- lukewarm water in the bottle comes out cold in spray)- they don't really need it often, maybe only once a day or so. As for flinching- he may be used to it now and not care. Just make sure the spray is pretty warm.
Some green anoles are more of a brown coloring- not all are a bright green. Females, I believe are brown more of the time. At night, he would be green because the pigments stop shifting and changing (all chamelid types do this).
It sounds like you are doing ok with him as long as he is eating. What are you feeding him? If he is eating a couple crickets every other day, he is doing fine. Are you dusting the crickets with calcium? The Ca:P ratio is bad in crickets and for proper nutrition, they need to be dusted. A lack of calcium can also make him lethargic.
Also...
What type of heat lamp are you using? They need full spectrum lighting (UVA/UVB). I don't know where you are located, but if possible, put him near an open window (glass will block the rays he needs). See if a little sunlight will perk him up.

Answer 3

You have some good answers here. Many of which I agree with.

Check temp and temp gradient from hot spot to cool spot and from top to bottom. Be sure that if you mist with tap water that it is conditioned to contain no chlorine. Use the extra vitamins EVEN if you're told the bugs are gut loaded. Be sure his enviroment looks and feels natural as possible. No gravel in the bottom. If you're not using an undertank heater and a sunlamp, get them. When you mist be sure to SOAK the tank. Try to mix up the bugs more. Be sure to mist at least 3 times a day, not more then 5. You don't want him swimming, but water drops are the main way they drink.

Sometimes they are just brown, though usually it is a sign of stress. Honestly, I'd say look for an exotic vet in your area and take him along with pics and specs from your vivarium. Keep a daily log of the temps and humidity for a week. Bring that with you too.

Best of luck

Answer 4

Warm him up! Do you have a UVA/UVB bulb? They are baskers and need it or direct sunlight. They need to be maintained at about 80 degrees. Chances are he is not drinking from a bowl, very few do, they drink the drops off the plants from the misting, which is why the misting is so important.. Once a day misting is ok but couldn't you mist in the morning and evening/night? If he is cold he will not eat, and he needs the sunlight to help absorb what he eats. Its amazing what natural sunlight will do, the sunlight needs to come through a screen on his cage, not thru the glass or the windows as it is useless.. You can try an emergency helper.. sugar water or pedyialite (bad spelling sorry)..put some on your fingers and try to get him to lick it off..or a drop on his mouth as you open it, dont drown him though! you didn't say what kind of home he has but he needs plants to crawl up. He needs at least a 10 gal enclosure, check for parasites!! If you can get him hydrated and warmed up feed him very small crickets till he is up to his normal self.. Good Luck.. You could try taking him to the vet too!!

Answer 5

From your coloring thing, might I suggest that you have a female instead of a male? I've only had one anole but they live all around our house. I don't think he needs the temperature as hot as other lizzards...we just kept ours on the back porch. Also, try giving him a lot of fresh greens to eat, and I don't think you should be misting him...just by judging their natural habitat, they aren't misted daily here, and they get in cool places during the day but come out at night when it's cooler out. If you live in the south where there are anoles just let it go...I wouldn't say that about any other animal, but in this case it's a little reptile that has instincts.

Answer 6

Brown is a stressed condition for a green anole. Both sexes show it.

I'd start with these things:
1) Make sure the temperature is high enough
2) Increase humidity
3) Does he have UVB light?
4) If this is a male, can he see his reflection anywhere?
5) Does he have plants & greenery where he can hide (and climb)?

Sources & more info:
http://www.wnyherp.org/care-sheets/lizards/green-anole.php
http://www.kingsnake.com/anolecare/
http://www.anapsid.org/anole.html

Answer 7

crickets,mostly.if you are going to feed them worms, the best choice would be earth worms or wax worms.the wax worms are easier for your anole to digest. if your anole is small, then only feed it little things. do not feed it roaches. if you feed it something to big,it will kill it.they will not eat fruit.

Answer 8

Green anole.com?

Answer 9

what's an anole? oh, a reptile? well, go to your neighbourhood library and search for books on anoles. if not, go to pet websites and see what they have to say. haha. hope i was of some help...
-__-lil