New Anole enclosure

[catfishrod69]

here is my new enclosure i just set up for some green anoles i got, there are 2 males and 3 females, although theres one missing in the pic, i think hes up top....but its like 4-5" of coco fiber, then a thick layer of frog moss, with two live potho plants...they are really cool....they are in a 1x12x18 exxo terra

 

[High_Rolling_T]

Is the water dish for humidity? Anoles can't drink from water dishes, so you need to mist regularly for them(well they can but it is extremely unlikely). But humidity wise it will of course help.

My other concern is that there is not enough room in there, especially for 4 anoles. I've heard that anoles need about 10 gallons per an anole and I've also heard a 10 gallon is fine for 1 male and 2 females, so I'd say its somewhere between the two. In my experience, I used to have a male/female in a 10 gal when I was younger, and that worked well for them. Currently though I have a 10 gallon with a male in it, and every friend I've gotten him has mysteriously died(about 3 other anoles, and 1 long tailed lizard), so I have a feeling it has something to do with him. You definitely can't keep 2 males in a small enclosure though(and its still risky in a large enclosure), it will not end well.

I need to redo my little guys tank. Right now its got some Jungle Mix(wood chipish/dirt mix), some fake leaves and a castle, but I wanna set up a well planted enclosure like yours. Yours looks good!

 

[H. laoticus]

Does your setup have UV lighting? You can stick in a small schefflera plant and your anoles will love it. The plant has leaves/stems that can hold the anoles' weight and it also grows upward which is great for your 18in tall tank. I have one in my tank and it does great.

 

[catfishrod69]

yeah the water dish is mainly for humidity, but i think that anoles will drink our of a dish easier than what people say, i have a golden gecko that is supposed to not drink out of a dish, but i have seen him doing it, i still mist them everyday though....i am just kind of winging it, there are 2 males and 3 females, if one male gets killed im not too worried about it....i didnt mean to get 2 males, but couldnt tell them apart until i looked up how to sex them, the pet stores anoles all looked like males, then i found out about the scales at the base of the tail....

Is the water dish for humidity? Anoles can't drink from water dishes, so you need to mist regularly for them(well they can but it is extremely unlikely). But humidity wise it will of course help.

My other concern is that there is not enough room in there, especially for 4 anoles. I've heard that anoles need about 10 gallons per an anole and I've also heard a 10 gallon is fine for 1 male and 2 females, so I'd say its somewhere between the two. In my experience, I used to have a male/female in a 10 gal when I was younger, and that worked well for them. Currently though I have a 10 gallon with a male in it, and every friend I've gotten him has mysteriously died(about 3 other anoles, and 1 long tailed lizard), so I have a feeling it has something to do with him. You definitely can't keep 2 males in a small enclosure though(and its still risky in a large enclosure), it will not end well.

I need to redo my little guys tank. Right now its got some Jungle Mix(wood chipish/dirt mix), some fake leaves and a castle, but I wanna set up a well planted enclosure like yours. Yours looks good!

---------- Post added at 03:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:16 PM ----------

yeah it has a uv light i just havent plugged it in yet...need to do some rearranging to get them near an outlet....that sounds like a cool plant, ill have to look it up...thanks

Does your setup have UV lighting? You can stick in a small schefflera plant and your anoles will love it. The plant has leaves/stems that can hold the anoles' weight and it also grows upward which is great for your 18in tall tank. I have one in my tank and it does great.

 

[dtknow]

I'd definetly remove one of the males. The enclosure is definetly too small for two of them. Keep in mind studies have shown these guys can spot rival males 20 ft away and defend territories bigger than most cages. Allowing one of the males to wither away and die is not exactly the smartest option.

 

[catfishrod69]

yeah i thought about that....i might be able to take him back to the pet store, im really good friends with them....i dont want either to wither and die, but i was just gonna see what happened first, so far they havent made any movements at eachother at all, but of course sooner or later they will turn into big mean roosters defending their hens.

I'd definetly remove one of the males. The enclosure is definetly too small for two of them. Keep in mind studies have shown these guys can spot rival males 20 ft away and defend territories bigger than most cages. Allowing one of the males to wither away and die is not exactly the smartest option.

 

[dtknow]

If they are on opposite sides of the cage they are trying to avoid each other. Just because you don't see any actual intimidation doesn't mean it is not occuring. I'd take the subordinate male back to the shop.

 

[catfishrod69]

well last night i watched them sitting side by side on the same leaf, but who knows whats happening when im not around.....yea im gonna take the smaller one back

If they are on opposite sides of the cage they are trying to avoid each other. Just because you don't see any actual intimidation doesn't mean it is not occuring. I'd take the subordinate male back to the shop.

 

[Introvertebrate]

catfishrod, what are you feeding them? Full-size crickets? I wonder if they accept lats.

 

[catfishrod69]

i have been feeding them full size, and medium crix, and i threw in a bunch of medium lats, but not positive if any got eaten or not....i think they did eat some...

catfishrod, what are you feeding them? Full-size crickets? I wonder if they accept lats.

 

[Introvertebrate]

Thanks catfishrod.

 

[catfishrod69]

no problem...

Thanks catfishrod.

 

[bugmankeith]

They LOVE the fruit flies you can buy at the pet store, I think thats their favorite food as they go in the branches unlike crickets that are on the ground.

 

[Introvertebrate]

They LOVE the fruit flies you can buy at the pet store, I think thats their favorite food as they go in the branches unlike crickets that are on the ground.

Interesting. That's pretty much all that captive dart frogs live on. I would assume it just takes a lot of fruit flies to get them full.

 

[catfishrod69]

thats one thing i will not use, if it comes to that, the anoles are gone...i had fruitfly cultures for my baby assassins, before i realized they could take down alot bigger prey, and they were horrible....i try to stay away from anything requiring that much care, and all my cultures did were dry up bad, and hardly produced, and i had 140 babies to feed and not enough flies...

They LOVE the fruit flies you can buy at the pet store, I think thats their favorite food as they go in the branches unlike crickets that are on the ground.

 

[bugmankeith]

thats one thing i will not use, if it comes to that, the anoles are gone...i had fruitfly cultures for my baby assassins, before i realized they could take down alot bigger prey, and they were horrible....i try to stay away from anything requiring that much care, and all my cultures did were dry up bad, and hardly produced, and i had 140 babies to feed and not enough flies...

Nothing wrong buying a tube and feeding them all off at once as a treat then.

 

[catfishrod69]

yeah but they would be able to climb through the screen and then breed with the flyers, and then would be little babies in moist kritters..the tubes i bought didnt really have that many in them...

Nothing wrong buying a tube and feeding them all off at once as a treat then.

 

[Ziltoid]

When I use to keep Anoles I had 2 male and a female. the two males would sometimes fight. more over once they got into a fight and removed the others leg. the one with all fours live for about 3 more months and the other for 2 years. I would just avoid keeping male Anoles with any other lizards they will tend to fight.

 

[catfishrod69]

yeah...i really am not that much into reptiles as i once was, but thought a planted enclosure with anoles would be cool...turns out the males so far havent been fighting to my knowledge, but i havent gotten a chance to return the other male....and of course the moss is wanting to get little spots of mold on it....

When I use to keep Anoles I had 2 male and a female. the two males would sometimes fight. more over once they got into a fight and removed the others leg. the one with all fours live for about 3 more months and the other for 2 years. I would just avoid keeping male Anoles with any other lizards they will tend to fight.