Anole compatability?

thumpersalley

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What species of other herps are Anoles compatable to live with where there is no risk of any danger between the 2? I have seen reference to it somewhere & cant find it now. I have also asked on some herp forums with not much help. Kim
 

pitbulllady

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I found adult male Anoles, the Greens, at least, can be very aggressive towards ANY lizard, regardless of species, if it's not a female Anole. I once tried keeping one with a fairly large Broadhead Skink(from the same yard) female, but he'd harrass her and threaten her repeatedly, approaching her stiff-legged like an aggressive dog, fanning out his dewlap, and eventually would bite her on her legs or sides. Needless to say she was very stressed by this and I had to separate them. If you're going to keep more than one Anole with anything, it probably needs to be a female. Male Anoles can be very territorial and "cheeky" little things, small size notwithstanding.

pitbulllady
 

LeilaNami

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I just keep different small species of anoles together. I was given a green male and bahaman female and they are pretty chill. All I know is, anoles will eat house geckos like ice cream ;) Though the bahaman and green have a different local, I had no choice but to mix them when I was handed the two and the exoterra cage. They had been living together since they were younger and were in the same cage for at least a year. I don't really recommend mixing species from different geographic areas but there's not too much you can put with greens that they won't stress the crap out of/kill.
 
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Tleilaxu

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Green anoles and green tree frogs get along well in my experience, in fact the male tree frog started courting the female anole, I have never seen such a look on a lizards face before, it was priceless, the male ignored the frogs, also they seem to do well with brown anoles, both species occupy different areas in the tank so they left each other be, keep in mind this was in a 10 gallon back when I did not know better, if you have a large tank issues can be minimized.
 

pouchedrat

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In the past I used to keep green tree frogs and anoles together as well with zero problems. Also, an unknown species of brown medium sized toad was on the bottom of the tank. The anoles and tree frogs never ventured to the bottom of it, and the toad of course didn't leave the ground. This was a 55 gallon tank (and it was like 15 or so years ago I did this).

Most will say dont' mix, especially amphibians with reptiles, but eh, they were cheap creatures that could both be found in Florida everywhere. The pet store I bought them in housed them together regularly, which is the only reason I did as well.

I've also had no problem with bahama and green anoles together, but that's really it. My bahamas were always so much more relaxed than the greens, who seemed more aggressive.
 

LeilaNami

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We have done the same (anoles and small tree frogs). We fed twice a day (morning and night) to allow the tree frogs to get crickets while anoles were sleeping.
 

mitchrobot

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i had luck keeping bahaman anoles with green anoles and gold-dust day geckos. they were all in a very large tank (an 80gal tall) and had plenty of room to get out of each others way. i never saw any problems, they all lived together for about 2 years.
 

thebugfreak

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when i was in 2nd grade long time ago and i didnt know any better, i put a green anole and a T together because i thought they could be "friends". an hour later when i checked, the T was eating the lizard.
 

JoyJoy

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Green anoles and green tree frogs get along well in my experience, in fact the male tree frog started courting the female anole, I have never seen such a look on a lizards face before, it was priceless, the male ignored the frogs, also they seem to do well with brown anoles, both species occupy different areas in the tank so they left each other be, keep in mind this was in a 10 gallon back when I did not know better, if you have a large tank issues can be minimized.
Do you think green anoles get on well with barking tree frogs?
 

lizardminion

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I knew a guy who kept a green anole with his 18ft+ reticulated python. The anole often piggy backed on the snake.
 

MantisGirl13

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Does anyone know if a green anole can live with a gray tree frog??.
I have three anoles with a female gray tree frog and they get along fine! I was wary about mixing species, but they ignore each other for the most part, since the anoles are diurnal and the frog is nocturnal.
- MantisGirl13
 

Wayfarin

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I knew a guy who kept a green anole with his 18ft+ reticulated python. The anole often piggy backed on the snake.
Ironically, that is probably safer than cohabiting anoles with smaller species of lizards, frogs, and snakes. A reticulated python will rarely ever eat something as small as an anole, and an anole is way to small to effectively constrict. However, there is always the risk that the python with just squash the poor lizard like an insect with all of it's clumsy crawling.

I personally think that one of the best combinations would have to be cohabiting green anoles with green tree frogs. It provides maximum diversity (I mean, it doesn't get much more diverse than cohabiting two entirely separate classes) while at the same time providing minimum conflict. In fact, anoles are much more likely to fight with their own species, or brown anoles and geckos, than they are to fight with frogs. Fighting with frogs is just not on their agenda.
And as long as the frog pretty small, and is fed properly rather than underfed and neglected, the lizard likely won't end up on the menu.
Some people worry about interspecies disease transmission, but I've never heard of that happening between frogs and lizards.
In fact, an anole is probably more likely to kill itself with it's own germs in an poorly-maintained tank than it is to die in a well-kept cohabitation vivarium.
Just make sure that the frog has a large cool spot to spend the day while the anole is basking. Otherwise, it will dry up and die.
And make sure that the frog has a water bowl, but not one that is deep enough to drown the anole.
And feed both to make sure that they don't feel like they have to compete to thrive.
And just a personal tip, I suggest not attempting such a cohabitation in a tank that's only about 10 gallons.
I would only attempt it in a 30-gallon tank, or a larger one.

(Also, please don't confuse American green tree frogs with Australian ones. If you put an anole with an Australian green tree frog, you'll only end up with a fat and happy tree frog. Also, no Cuban tree frogs with either species. Both green anoles and green tree frogs are on their menu. A Cuban anole might be able to coexist with both, though.)
 

moricollins

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Some people worry about interspecies disease transmission, but I've never heard of that happening between frogs and lizards.
The risk of it is approximately 0% when you're not mixing species. An easily avoidable risk .

the lizard likely won't end up on the menu
I prefer to avoid situations where one of my pets could become food for another.
 

Wayfarin

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The risk of it is approximately 0% when you're not mixing species. An easily avoidable risk .



I prefer to avoid situations where one of my pets could become food for another.
Animals can catch disease from their own waste products. And it's pretty common for reptiles to catch disease from the same species. Not exactly a 0% risk.
Maybe the particular risk of interspecies transmission can be avoided, but that doesn't mean anyone can let their guard down.

Also, the chances that a frog with a head the same size as an anole's head will successfully harm it through predation are close to a 2% risk.
That's lower than the risk of an anole killing another, or a cat scratching another's eye out in a multi-pet household.
I think having to live with a frog with a 2% chance of swallowing it, being kept in a spacious tank, is a pretty good life for a lizard that can be ordered as a feeder for reptiles with a more obvious capacity for swallowing them.
 
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moricollins

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Not exactly a 0% risk
I disagree. How would there be INTERSPECIES disease transmission with there's only one species in a tank?
Also, the chances that a frog with a head the same size as an anole's head will successfully harm it through predation are close to a 2% risk
Source? Or are we just making up numbers? Either way, it's still infinitely more risky than if the two species are not kept in the same tank.


I think having to live with a frog with a 2% chance of swallowing it, being kept in a spacious tank, is a pretty good life for a lizard that can be ordered as a feeder for reptiles with a more obvious capacity for swallowing them.
I fundamentally disagree. The only acceptable risk of one pet deciding to kill and eat another one of my pets is 0%.

30 gallons is NOT a spacious tank for animals that have a movement range of thousands of gallons in the wild.
 

Wayfarin

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I disagree. How would there be INTERSPECIES disease transmission with there's only one species in a tank?

Source? Or are we just making up numbers? Either way, it's still infinitely more risky than if the two species are not kept in the same tank.



I fundamentally disagree. The only acceptable risk of one pet deciding to kill and eat another one of my pets is 0%.

30 gallons is NOT a spacious tank for animals that have a movement range of thousands of gallons in the wild.
I misunderstood. There would be no INTERSPECIES disease transmission, but transmission within the same species is VERY common.
It is somewhat less likely, though, for one member of the same species to transmit a disease asymptomatically.

It depends on the size of the individuals, but a frog can't swallow something that it can't fit in it's mouth. And a frog's teeth would not do much damage to a lizard either.
If the frog is big enough, it could potentially stuff the whole head of the lizard down it's throat.
But any frog that's not big enough could not do much of anything to a large male lizard. As for the lizard, a male anole is much more likely to attack another lizard. Even a female, sexually.

If the frog keeps growing to the point of being significantly larger than the lizard, such as in the case of keeping females of both species, the frog should definitely not be cohabited any longer.
However, even a large frog is unlikely to eat an anole, because they are not active at the same time. The same bright light that wakes anoles up causes frogs to sleep in the shady corners.

Well, the only 0% chance of one animal killing the other is NEVER keeping more than one animal per enclosure, same species or not.
Lizards are not at all like mammals and birds. While mammals and birds are very keen on interacting and communicating with their own species, many lizards alienate themselves from the same species unless mating is involved.

For the maximum thriving capacity of ANY animal, the tank should be disproportionate to their size. While people cohabit anoles and tree frogs in 30-gallon tanks all of the time without issues, cohabiting species is most efficient if the tank is so large and heavily decorated that the inhabitants can go days without even coming in contact.


Except for dogs and cats, which can be bathed and vaccinated as well as strongly-bonded, and certain symbiotic fishes, interspecies cohabitation is probably never best for the animals ultimately. Disease transmission is too risky for amateurs to play around with, and for solitary animals, both same species cohabitation and interspecies cohabitation carries the risk of someone getting bitten.

However, when it comes to the particular risk of animals actually killing or eating each other, green tree frogs and green anoles are pretty peaceful together.
Their activity cycles line up in such a way that they are rarely ever active at the same time, further diminishing any risk of predation.
Heat lamps stimulate activity in anoles. They stimulate sleep in frogs.
 
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