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Caring for Your New Green Anole Scoop from Aqualand on North American "Chameleons" |
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Great Starter Lizard. Okay, you just bought your first anole – what we like to think of as our “starter lizards.” Most people start with anoles because of their price. They cost less than any other lizard because they grow thick as flies in many of our southern states. Maybe not quite as thick, but thick enough to reduce the fly population.
Catch Your Own. If you’ve vacationed down south, you may have tried to capture green anoles on your own. On a hot summer day you may catch a dozen or so (if you’re an Olympic athlete). They’re fast little varmints in the hot sun, and they dart into the prickly bushes where you can’t go. (We’re speaking from personal experience here.) Native Floridians (if there is such a critter) think you’re nuts. Anoles even run around their houses.
Too Hard to Hand Pick. But professional green anole pickers know the tricks of the trade. They go out on a cool morning and spread sheets of plastic beneath small trees. Then they shake the trees (probably with a fruit tree shaker) to loosen the anoles’ grips on the branches. Anoles have no traction on the plastic sheets -- like an excited poodle on the linoleum floor in your kitchen. Anoles are thus harvested by the thousands and shipped by air the same day. One hundred green anoles will squeeze into a two-pound coffee can with grass and leaves. They will usually be in a new state within 24 hours of their capture. And that’s why anoles sell so economically compared to other lizards.
Low Maintenance. In comparison to other lizards, green anoles require very little. Their requirements include: ● Warmth ● Live insects ● Drops of water ● Places to climb ● New research indicates UVB light. People with sunrooms filled with plants don’t even need cages. They can let the little varmints scurry all over their plants. Green anoles add a great deal of interest to any plant display. If you’ve visited the Des Moines Botanical Center lately, you may have noticed anoles running around on their foliage. Most visitors love them. As long as the anole does not leap upon them and rend them into miscellaneous bits.
Warmth. Anoles survive okay at room temperature for awhile – especially in the summer. Winters are hard on them. Anoles need more than our 72o rooms (even little sweaters don’t help). Green anole batteries slowly run down at low temperatures. They can’t digest their food as well. When their metabolism slows, they also can’t ward off diseases. Anoles prefer an 80o temperature or better over the long haul. They survive fine at 75o but really love 80o.
Ideal Heat. Put a 50-watt aquarium heater in a quart jar of water and crank it up. You will give your green anoles humid heat that would keep their little cheeks rosy (if they ever got rosy). Hide it behind some rocks or glue some type of natural-looking rocks or foliage onto the jar. Upscale the idea by putting a submersible heater in their waterfall (more about the waterfall later).
Dew Drinkers. Not many anoles will drink from a bowl. They evidently drink the morning dew. Mist them heavily or sprinkle them at least once per day. Two or three times would be better.
Make Their Cage Larger. Green anoles require little room, but you can easily enhance their crawl space with ● Rocks and terraces ● Ledges and shelves ● Wood and twigs ● Potted plants ● Hanging plants ● Waterfalls ● Carpeted walls and backs ● Carpet “baffles” Each carpeted baffle (like a fish tank divider) adds nearly two extra square feet of crawl space. Baffles jutting out at different distances actually make an eye-appealing display. Leave enough space between them to clean them with a vacuum cleaner hose.
Rock Your Walls. Few anole keepers get into making their own décor. However, Silastic aquarium sealer enables you to expand your mind (no, not from the fumes). Start with one wall and work up. You can’t do this with anything in the cage (and here we assume your cage is a glass aquarium). Step 1. Lay your cage on its back (the wall you probably want to rock first) and smear the back with Silastic. Or apply Silastic to each piece as you go. Start by adding big rocks at random. Think in terms of where you want your anole to bask. Too low and he won’t see them. You can put rocks in a row to make ledges, but random usually looks more natural. Keep same colored rocks away from each other. By the way, these better be clean rocks or they won’t stick. Step 3. Cover the rest of the wall with natural gravel. Note: These instructions assume your goal is a “natural look.” There’s nothing wrong with using fluorescent materials to achieve a more modernistic look. With colored gravels you can add stripes or any other type of design you prefer. Step 4. Allow your creation to dry and air out at least 48 hours. Silastic emits a vinegary odor (acetic acid) which could irritate anything that had to put up with it all day long. You’re done. Do other walls if you prefer. You needn’t wait 48 hours before starting on the next wall – just long enough to let the Silastic set -- 12 to 24 hours. Make a mistake? A single-edge razor blade easily removes any goofs. Green anoles rarely criticize their accommodations.
WOOD the Walls. Most people put sticks and branches on the floor and don’t think much more about it. Just as you can ROCK your cage walls, you can also WOOD them. Glue the twigs and limbs wherever you want them. If you change your mind, Silastic peels off with a razor blade.
● Submersible power head ● Flexible tubing ● Spillway ● Basin
Your power head and flexible tubing go in the basin behind the spillway. This hides them. You’ll just see the water coming down the spillway. Use a fairly shallow basin unless you have a tall cage. And as we mentioned earlier, you can put your submersible aquarium heater in this basin and keep your anole warm and humid at the same time. Due to the evaporation of water, you we need to re-fill nearly every day. Go for Two Layers. Some people eliminate the basin altogether and cover the cage floor with water. Using a 20XH tank one-quarter filled with water yields a 10-gallon fish tank with an anole jungle gym on the second floor -- otherwise known as a paludarium. (From the Latin word paluda meaning I like aquariums AND terrariums.) You see larger versions of these in some zoos. Today’s technology enables you to build these yourself with a minimum of expense and effort.
Enhance Your Wood. Not everyone can afford to go out and buy a new piece of wood when they get tired of the old one. Here’s a way to spice up the old one. Use your electric drill and make some holes in it. Insert small pieces of plastic plants into the holes. Use natural or fluorescent colored plants for effect.
This technique even enhances those gnarly grapevines from
Consider Other Lizards. Feel free to use these suggestions with other small lizards. See Terrarium I for ideas. Be sure to reinforce all hanging plants by tying fish line to them at three-inch intervals. (Otherwise your lizards could pull them apart.) Try some of these ideas. You’ll have even more fun with your green anoles.
Breeding Comments. When you see a larger anole grab a smaller one by the scruff of the neck, do not panic. The big guy (male) is grabbing the smaller female for purposes of continuing the species. Anoles breed often in captivity -- especially when uncrowded.
Last Words. When we originally wrote most of these words, there were no waterfall kits available. You need not build your own waterfall anymore. You can choose from dozens of designs. They all have the same drawback -- You need to refill them constantly. You lose at least an inch of water per day. LA. Joe
Carrieri, February 3, 2006 Josh V, February 15, 2006 A1: In the decades I've kept
anoles, I've never seen one ingest substrate. I've seen them lunge
at a cricket and get a bit of dry leaf. They just scrape it out with
their "fingers." I would think they'd be more likely to
eat dirt than gravel. I hate what happens to dirt when you sprinkle
or mist anoles. Dirt has to be my least favorite substrate. © 1985, © 2003, © 2004, © 2005, © 2007 LA Productions
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