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 #2084488


Qwest
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 Question about my new green anole

Hello, I purchased a young green anole yesterday. I put in 2 small crickets this morning around 6:30, and when i came home from work she still hadn’t eatten them. They are the same kind the pet store was feeding her. She seems healthy, but I am completely new to taking care of a reptile, so I wanted to ask someone more experianced their oppinion why she might not be eatting. Is it possible she is stressed out from the change of home?
She was housed with 2-3 other anoles in a small aquarium at the pet store, is it possible she is uncomfortable with being all alone in a bigger home?

She is in a 20 gal aquarium with 5.0 UVB/UVA and a basking lamp during the day, and an undertank heater at night. She has plants and to climb on i have been misting the aquarium once in the morning and once when i got home. the temperature and humidity are in acceptable paramiters.
Is there anything i can do to stimulate her appetite? Could she be sick? and what should i look for, if so? Or should i just give her time to settle in?

~ worried anole keeper



10/15/09  11:16pm

 #2084582


Draconiz666
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   Message To: Qwest   In reference to Message Id: 2084488


 Question about my new green anole

she may just not be hungry or the crickets too big (pet stores tend to put food in and leave it to get big).
inevitably when you havent got food the right size to hand she’ll be hungry!!

try offering mealworms or locusts for a bit of variety, or if you can get hold of one - a moth - even if they’re well fed an anole cant resist moths/beetles (though some beetles might be poisonous so the ones the mealworms turn into are probably the safest bet)

so long as she is warm, has things to climb on and is well watered and looking healthy i wouldnt worry
10/16/09  08:51am

 #2084629


Qwest
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   Message To: Draconiz666   In reference to Message Id: 2084582


 Question about my new green anole

thank you. I work at a feed store, and we have lot of moths that like to get into the grains and seeds, so, i am going to try to catch some today : )
10/16/09  10:36am

 #2084763


Draconiz666
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   Message To: Qwest   In reference to Message Id: 2084629


 Question about my new green anole

haha, thats a lucky anole!! mine have to wait until my waxworms turn into moths before they get any!!
10/16/09  03:55pm

 #2084769


Qwest
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   Message To: Draconiz666   In reference to Message Id: 2084763


 Question about my new green anole

My boss said he has been trying to kill all the moths, so i didn’t find any : ( But they are very abundant, so i think more will spawn/hatch later. Too bad i need some right now : ( I did find a green caterpillar, and put him in the terrarium. I also totally canged out the substrate after reading Atrax’s caresheet. i had been using fir bark! how terrible : ( But now it’s mostly "forest bed", looks like dirt. But my green anole is still acting strangely. She stays on the very far end of the "cool side" (around 70 degrees) and she climbs up as far as she can get, sometimes sitting in-between the wire mesh and the thermometor/hygrometer. She looked at the caterpillar, but has not eatten it : (
10/16/09  04:20pm

 #2085099


Draconiz666
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   Message To: Qwest   In reference to Message Id: 2084769


 Question about my new green anole

if your boss is trying to kill the moths by poisoning them it might not be the best idea to feed them to your lizard!
when i first got my anoles, one of them stayed buried for most of the time...give her time to settle, she’s probably not used to being stared at.

i used to clean my guys out on a weekly basis so they’d get used to me.

kinda worked
10/17/09  01:30pm

 #2085112


Qwest
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   Message To: Draconiz666   In reference to Message Id: 2085099


 Question about my new green anole

i already knew about not feeding bugs exposed to pesticides. the moths in our feed bins aren’t contaminated. but thanks for the concern. My boss was using scent traps, that attract the moths and they get stuck to the paper.
The green caterpillar i gave her was from a safe area outside, far away from buildings and cars. She did eat him too! I also picked up some mealworms last night, and was very happy today when she quickly went after one that i put on the vine she was sitting on, she didn’t even wait for me to close the screen!
I also removed the piece of wood i was using for a hiding/basking spot. It turns out it is made of pine, a type of conifer. i don’t understand why they wold market it for lizards when it could damage them neurologically, they didn’t even say what it was made of on the label. i felt very cheated about that. But perhaps that explains why she wouldn’t go to the side of the tank it was in. I am curious to see if she will move around the tank more now that it’s gone.
10/17/09  02:33pm

 #2085126


Qwest
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   Message To: Qwest   In reference to Message Id: 2085112


 Question about my new green anole

oh my.... "Annabell" as i have started to call ’her’ bobbed her head at me and exposed a very small pink dewlap.... her chin doesn’t appear pink at all ussually. is it possible for females to have some pink on their dewlaps?

it’s just my luck that that right after i start calling something by a girl’s name it turns out it isn’t a girl....
10/17/09  03:05pm

 #2085136


Qwest
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   Message To: Qwest   In reference to Message Id: 2085126


 Question about my new green anole

Sorry to keep posting... i decided he wasn’t bobbing his head at me, because he did it again when i was far away from the tank. Dewlap looked a little bit bigger even... so i’m thinking he’s a he. so now he’s either "Edgar" or "Hemingway" can’t decide.
Also, removing the pine seems to be helping, he seems to be slowly moving to the warm side of the tank now.
10/17/09  03:39pm

 #2085342


Tabbyfoo
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   Message To: Qwest   In reference to Message Id: 2085136


 Question about my new green anole

Female anoles also have a pink dewlap, it just isn’t as large or colorful as the male’s. Female anoles have shorter snouts that are more rounded and less angular, and their heads overall are smaller. They also often have a dorsal stripe that is white, grey or tan. Males have a bulge at the base of their tail, as well. Once you know what to look for, it’s really pretty easy to sex them.


One of my females - note the stripe down the back


Scarecrow, my male. See how much longer and larger his head is?

Hope that helps.
10/18/09  01:26am

 #2085603


Qwest
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   Message To: Tabbyfoo   In reference to Message Id: 2085342


 Question about my new green anole

Thanks for the pictures Tabby. Mine does have a stripe down it’s back, but i thought young males had the stripe and then grew out of it, is that right? Mine is only 2" or 2 1/2" not including it’s tail, which is very long, so i think it’s kinda young still... i got a good view of it’s under-tail today while it was exploring and stretching from vine to vine - and i didn’t see any bumps... Also, it’s nose looks a little longer than your females, but deffinately not so long as Scarecrow’s.

Also, as an update, "Annabell" is behaving much more active and curious, and is eatting : ) Only, she/he doesn’t like to drop down and hunt crickets... still won’t touch them. so i’ve been feeding her meal worms, she ate 2 today, and had 1 yesterday.
10/18/09  06:31pm

 #2085751


Atrax27407
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   Message To: Qwest   In reference to Message Id: 2085603


 Question about my new green anole

None of those traits are consistently accurate. Check on the underside just past the vent. A male will have a pair of enlarged postanal scales (you might need to use some magnification). Females don’t. These are present even in the egg. Put quite simply, if it has the enlarged postanal scales it is a male. Otherwise, it is a female.
10/18/09  11:10pm

 #2086240


Qwest
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   Message To: Atrax27407   In reference to Message Id: 2085751


 Question about my new green anole

I see. Thanks. I don’t want to stress her out by trying to check out her postanal area... so i’ll just keep calling her Annabell for now untill i can be sure what gender.
By the way, she shedded her skin today! (i had to share my excitement over this, even though i know most of you have probably seen your anoles shed lots of times. It’s just new to me, and very exciting)
10/20/09  01:52am

 #2089090


Tiari
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   Message To: Qwest   In reference to Message Id: 2086240


 Question about my new green anole

A good thing to get is an "escape proof" worm bowl for your anole. This keeps the worms exactly where you want them. I used to have a regular worm dish, but even "escape-less" worms got out of this. The one I have has a lid/lip around the top so worms that climb it fall back into the bowl. You can place crickets inside the bowl too. They will eventually get out, but it does hold them hostage for a time for a lazy Anole.

Though mealworms are not the best suggested food for an Anole, I have to admit, its the food of choice for my anoles...... they will eat them over crickets any day of the week. They even prefer them to phoenix worms and waxworms.
10/27/09  03:11pm


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