# Green Anole Thread



## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Green Anole keepers seem far and few between in the UK and I've struggled to find much on them so I think a dedicated thread is needed even if it's only me that posts in it! I wanted some of these over 5 years ago but ended up with a Chameleon, BTS and a Tokay. I'm now finally getting the anoles. I placed an order today for 3 females and a male.

This is the caresheet I've been using as a guide: Green Anole Care sheet - Anolis carolinensis - TheReptilian.co.uk

To house them I am using an old aquarium that I already had and was trying to sell. It has a 2' x 2' foot print and 2' 6" tall. I've sat it on some heavy duty shelving that I already had. This splits down to make 2 shelving units the same height. These are bolted together and the tank itself is sat on some polystyrene. This is the shelving if anyone is interested: 5 TIER RACKING / GARAGE SHELVING SHELVES STORAGE UNIT HEAVY DUTY + MDF SHELVES | eBay

The substrate is bioactive i.e. soil from outside and leaf litter. Also a few large stones for bugs to make home. I've used all real wood from a local woods. Some rotting with free woodlice and moss and some rot free. I decided to use artificial plants simply because they're easier to keep than live ones plus I already had them.

I've got a mistking with 2 nozzles set to mist throughout the day. I'm using dechlorinated water (Pozzani 30,000 Litre Pond Dechlorinator (10" Big Blue)) in a 25L reservoir. UV comes via an arcadia 6% T5 with reflector. The unit is a twin so I'm using an old UV bulb just for extra light in the 2nd outlet. The basking spot is a halogen and the ambient temperature is a 150w ceramic. These are controlled by a Microclimate Prime 2 which I have set up to increase the ambient and basking temperatures throughout the morning reaching a peak at midday for 3 hours and then gradually dipping down to night temperatures.

I've made a screen top out of wood and aluminium mesh. The UV is fixed to the top with the fittings that the Arcadia units come with but the basking and ambient are suspended from the ceiling.

This is the finished enclosure awaiting the anoles next week.


















Updates to follow.


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## xtexterx (Aug 15, 2010)

looks a good setup mate how many you getting? heres one of my anoles


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

I've ordered 1 male and 3 females. I'm unsure how many could happily live in my set up. Quoted anole sizes seem to vary a lot. What size are yours from nose to tip of tail?


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## xtexterx (Aug 15, 2010)

maybe abit over crowded in a terrarium that size, mine are in a exo terra 45x45x60 i have two and always chase eachother over territory so will be getting a bigger one soon i have a exo terra 90x45x45 i might use but not sure yet. id say at a guess about 8-9 inches, there mostly tail though lol


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

I'm surprised at your reply. I thought I was playing it safe with 4 as the (american) guides talk about a 10 to 20 gallon tank as being suitable for 2 and my tank is 75 gallons. If I have to upgrade it's no biggie. Aside from the thermostat and mesh I haven't bought anything else, it was all stuff I had already so I wouldn't have wasted money. The ones I'm getting are only 5 to 7 cm (cm not inches) so if I need a bigger tank I don't think I'd need to rush.


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## xtexterx (Aug 15, 2010)

if there that small then you should be fine, its just when there bigger you may need to upgrade to a larger terrarium. im only going on what i have experienced with my 2 really. id see how it goes with them and if you need to upgrade then do so but they might be fine as by the sounds of things there young. also be carefull when you have the terrarium open there bloody quick lol.


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Yeah I'll see how they get on in that tank. Just had to order a new basking bulb as the current one is struggling to hit 32C so I've gone for an Arcadia 75w halogen basking spot.


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

New bulb arrived so the temps are sorted. Decided to base my temperature ranges and times on Miami as green anoles can be found there so temps are now hotter for longer.

I also want the tank brighter so I've ordered a 10w LED floodlight to try. It's supposed to equate to a 100w halogen flood so should be bright.


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## David V (Jan 3, 2009)

Im building an 8x8x8 enclosure for a pair of monitors and plan to get some green anoles to free roam the enclosure to catch any insects that make it up the walls ect


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## Arcadiajohn (Jan 30, 2011)

I must say that this is easily the nicest and best set up enclosure that I have seen for Anoles for a long time out of the Zoo network.

you have used common sense in its design and implemented "solar re-creation" in copying the wild habitat which is what we should be doing for every species.

Your light levels are high and as such you will be energising the animals well.

Anoles do still suffer I believe in captivity from a critical lack of vitamin A. This is why so many end up with stomata issues. I am sure that the large volume of crustacean food sources in the wild provide a god volume of Vit A. It would be worth supplementing this in some safe way. the limitation is that vitamin A as a pure source can be very toxic if over supplied so a beta carotene source is much better as it is turned into vit A inside of the body and cannot as such be over supplied. I think that both repashy and rep-cal have a supplement range now that includes beta carotene.

Im sure that you will get lots of youngsters in here. I would add in a good springtail and tropical woodlice culture to help with your biosystem and to provide a steady food source for the very tiny babies.

Thousands and thousands of anoles are imported into the UK alone every year. They are very common indeed. I wonder where they all end up??

id love to use your picture 

well done!

john




_simon_ said:


> Green Anole keepers seem far and few between in the UK and I've struggled to find much on them so I think a dedicated thread is needed even if it's only me that posts in it! I wanted some of these over 5 years ago but ended up with a Chameleon, BTS and a Tokay. I'm now finally getting the anoles. I placed an order today for 3 females and a male.
> 
> This is the caresheet I've been using as a guide: Green Anole Care sheet - Anolis carolinensis - TheReptilian.co.uk
> 
> ...


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## xtexterx (Aug 15, 2010)

Arcadiajohn said:


> I must say that this is easily the nicest and best set up enclosure that I have seen for Anoles for a long time out of the Zoo network.
> 
> you have used common sense in its design and implemented "solar re-creation" in copying the wild habitat which is what we should be doing for every species.
> 
> ...


now thats what i call a compliment to simon


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Thank you John  You're welcome to use the pictures if you've got a use for them. 

I should be getting a phone call at some point today to say they're at the shop. Over the past few days I've been playing with how best to heat the enclosure as the weather got significantly colder here and I wasn't happy with the heat gradients for basking or ambient. Swapping out basking bulbs and ambient bulbs left me scratching my head, with it being a fairly small space one heat source was impacting on the other. What I think I've decided on is a 250w ceramic to heat the entire enclosure. I'm treating the entire top as the basking area so as this heats up the rest of the enclosure below it also heats up. The temperatures are based on Miami, Florida. I've looked at the averages for a year to choose a temperature range and then looked at current forecasts to get an idea of how many hours a day that temperature range would cover. As I'm using a Microclimate Prime 2 I can program in the temperature range/times so that I have a daily gradient i.e. cooler in the morning, heating up and reaching peak basking temp for 6 hours of the day and then cooling down to night temperatures. With it being an arboreal tank and using the top section for basking and relying on the heat filtering down it's created a very nice vertical gradient so for example when the top is at 32C, about 6" below is reading 24C and then another 6" down I'm seeing 22C. The best indicator as to whether this is the best way to do it will be the anoles.

I want the tank brighter to recreate a bright sunny day. I'm hoping the LED flood light will give me the effect I'm after. If not I'll have a rethink. This should be here today. Ideally I'd like to be able to control the lighting the same way as the heat source i.e. replicating sun rise and sun set. This can be done fairly easily and cheaply with LED but having looked at how to do this for T5 I'm not sure it's worth it right now. I'm thinking it might be worth doing with the led flood so the T5 is a base amount of light and then the LED flood can replicate the sun.

As regards supplements T-Rex do a Repashy Green Anole suppliment but I can't find much info on it at the moment despite the fact it seems to have been on the market for years. T-Rex


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

No anoles today  Something to do with the wrong van (unheated) being sent. It'll be next thursday now.


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## Arcadiajohn (Jan 30, 2011)

Can't believe you can't find any???all the dealers have them by the hundred????

Seems strange

John





_simon_ said:


> No anoles today  Something to do with the wrong van (unheated) being sent. It'll be next thursday now.


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Arcadiajohn said:


> Can't believe you can't find any???all the dealers have them by the hundred????
> 
> Seems strange
> 
> John


The suppliers carry them but pet shops don't stock them. I ordered last week with a deposit expecting the shop to receive them today but I'm told the suppliers ordered an unheated van so couldn't send the anoles.


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Update time. The LED flood didn't work out but I'm now happy with a 60w CFL which comes on 10am till 4pm to coincide with the set peak temperature. 

Collected the anoles today. Lovely little lizards, super fast and great jumpers. They soon made me realise my DIY mesh top had a few issues. I've been so busy fixing the issues that I forgot to take pics! So that I don't have to worry about them escaping when I add food I'm fitting a funnel to drop the food down.


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

Just an FYI there a massive Anole thread somewhere in here too. 

I've kept and bred anole for years now, and my oldest male is now over 10. 

I've written a couple of large guides on them for both PRK and a few website will try and find them for you. 

Wi'll stick some pics of of mine when i get chance. 

jay


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

I've not come across the anole thread you talk about on here. I'll have another look for it. I'd be very interested in reading your guides, the info on the net varies especially when it comes to sizes and ages. Can I ask what basking temperature you use for your anoles? I had read 32C everywhere but I've noticed one of braver anoles has chosen a leaf that sticks up higher than the probe that's used for basking which will be hotter by a degree or two I should imagine.

Added the feeding funnel and used it, works brilliantly and means I don't have to disturb them to add food. It's siliconed in place. To block the opening I've just used a long screw, screwed through one of those sticky rubber feet which happens to be the perfect size for bunging the hole and then to make sure the anoles can't get into the tube I've screwed the screw through a large wall plug as well. It's a nice tight fit.

I had to add the wood on top of the enclosure to block line of sight for people to the 60w CFL. There aren't any domes I could find on the market deep enough to take a 20cm long bulb. If anyone knows of any then do let me know, I'm not keen on the wood at all.



















Some anoles!


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

Mine have a basking spot of about 33, though they can get close if they wish. They all have a 12%T5 Arcadia UV, and honestly even then i think they could need more. 

I dont have any recent pics but by own tank can be found here. 

This was my old tank, which has now changed, 

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/planted-vivariums/717598-videos-my-planted-vivs-after.html

Jay


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## mickmorelia (Feb 19, 2011)

Really enjoyed reading that ,Anoles don't seem to be as common in petshops now .


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Spikebrit said:


> Mine have a basking spot of about 33, though they can get close if they wish. They all have a 12%T5 Arcadia UV, and honestly even then i think they could need more.
> 
> I dont have any recent pics but by own tank can be found here.
> 
> ...


Amazing enclosure, I wish I'd put the effort into real planting now.


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

_simon_ said:


> Amazing enclosure, I wish I'd put the effort into real planting now.



I did some more recently, one for a new anole colony and one for some U.Phants. 

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/planted-vivariums/939254-step-step-planted-viv-pics.html


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## xtexterx (Aug 15, 2010)

hey just taken some fresh pics of my green anoles


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

What's the best way to catch anoles? I'm getting them a bigger enclosure in a few weeks and will need to catch the buggers somehow. Their current enclosure only has access from the top. I'm thinking maybe a big sweet jar and a small fish net might work? Perhaps turning the heat off for an hour or so will slow them down somewhat?


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

_simon_ said:


> What's the best way to catch anoles? I'm getting them a bigger enclosure in a few weeks and will need to catch the buggers somehow. Their current enclosure only has access from the top. I'm thinking maybe a big sweet jar and a small fish net might work? Perhaps turning the heat off for an hour or so will slow them down somewhat?


Just take the lid off and be quick lol. Takes some practise but yif you can just grabing then and transfering them quickly is best and less stressful for them. 

I've seen people use nets, but tbh i would fear broken limbs. 

Jay


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Spikebrit said:


> Just take the lid off and be quick lol. Takes some practise but yif you can just grabing then and transfering them quickly is best and less stressful for them.
> 
> I've seen people use nets, but tbh i would fear broken limbs.
> 
> Jay


I'll give it a go! Not very confident though, I've seen how fast they can move. Going to have to move them twice as it's quite a big job. I'll transfer them into my old unused chameleon vivexotic viva viv whilst the old enclosure (stupidly heavy glass one) is striped and removed and the new one is set up. Decided to go for the extra large vivexotic viva arboreal so they'll have loads of space and I get front opening doors. Access from the top is a pain especially with all the heating and lighting in the way.


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Managed to catch them today! They're all moved across to my old vivexotic viva chameleon viv. Oddly they seem happier, all bright green and basking before the lights went out. The females have been mostly brown in the glass tank.


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Bit of an update. The new enclosure is taking slightly longer than I thought mainly because it's costing more than I anticipated. I was going to get a big vivexotic viva but with deciding to live plant I wanted to play it safe with glass rather than wood. So I'm using a new exo terra 90x45x60 with the new style cabinet underneath. As you can see the drainage, membrane and substrate is in. The coco panels are stuck to the sides. There's a 12% Arcadia T5 on it's way to me for the UV and I have an Arcadia Plant Pro T5 for the plants. Those are going into a Maxibright twin T5 (the white unit sat on the shelf underneath). I've got a mass of wood sat outside waiting for me to choose the best bits and I need to go plant shopping. 

I know people add waterfalls and then always seem to remove them but I wanted one anyway. I've never had one and want to try, mainly so that the anoles have the option of drinking when they want to rather than waiting for the mister to come on. I faffed about with ideas for making my own but I wasn't happy with how they could be maintained or taken apart if the pump had a problem so I gave in and ordered a large exo terra waterfall.

The cork and assorted seed pods are just chucked in for now.


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Nearly finished. More substrate to go in, mister to sort and I need to get the T5 unit suspended.


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## Bradley (Aug 26, 2009)

Looks great! Anoles are so underrated and with how cheap they are more people should keep and breed them.


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## David V (Jan 3, 2009)

Hello anole people! I'm a monitor guy and im building an 8x8x5tall enclosure for a monitor. I want to create a little ecosystem in the enclosure so will be using live plants, bioactive substrate ect. I want to add a few anoles to free run the enclosure. I will have an arcadia t5 slim line and mvb basking lamps for the monitor but the angles could obviously make use of them too. The walls will be covered with cork bark tubes and there will be branches all over the place. Do you guys think anoles would do well in this set up?


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## mitsi (Feb 1, 2012)

Is a 2ft wide 4ft high and 18 inch deep viv big enough for 3 or 4 anoles?


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Finished and moved the anoles across.


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## Mollie100 (Dec 17, 2013)

Wow that looks fantastic!

Absolutely brilliant! I love it! :2thumb:


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## demon3000 (Nov 23, 2013)

_simon_ said:


> Finished and moved the anoles across.
> 
> image
> 
> image



looks stunning...well done:mf_dribble:


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## johne.ev (Sep 14, 2008)

David V said:


> Hello anole people! I'm a monitor guy and im building an 8x8x5tall enclosure for a monitor. I want to create a little ecosystem in the enclosure so will be using live plants, bioactive substrate ect. I want to add a few anoles to free run the enclosure. I will have an arcadia t5 slim line and mvb basking lamps for the monitor but the angles could obviously make use of them too. The walls will be covered with cork bark tubes and there will be branches all over the place. Do you guys think anoles would do well in this set up?


Wont the monitor eat (or try to, if he's quick enough :lol2 the anole?


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## Wolflore (Mar 3, 2010)

Looking good, how's it settling? (Another Green Anole keeper)


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## Wolflore (Mar 3, 2010)

My enclosure - need to get in there with the weed whacker!


Untitled by wolflore, on Flickr


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## David V (Jan 3, 2009)

johne.ev said:


> Wont the monitor eat (or try to, if he's quick enough :lol2 the anole?


Probably but i want there to be a population on anoles with the monitor controling that population. But im sure the anoles will be smart enough to stay out it's way and I will supply a shed load of hiding places out of reach of the monitor.


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Wolflore said:


> Looking good, how's it settling? (Another Green Anole keeper)


Had to do a few things, repositioned the misting nozzles to the front angled towards the back. Remove the big cheese plant leaf as it was hogging the light, lower the T5 light unit and remove the waterfall. The waterfall water went disgusting really quick and it's too big to keep taking out for cleaning.

All the plants are growing nicely, lots of new leaves. The anoles are still settling, more brown than green at the moment and they're just starting to explore more rather than hiding in a group.










You can just see the male behind the air plant and a female on the back to his left.


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## demon3000 (Nov 23, 2013)

Daft question.......

do you plant into substrate or leave in pots?:whistling2:


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

demon3000 said:


> Daft question.......
> 
> do you plant into substrate or leave in pots?:whistling2:


I don't know what other people do but I planted mine. This is my first proper live planted enclosure so it's a learning experience for me. The plants seem fine, like I say lots of new leaves and nothing is showing any signs of dying.


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

ok fellow green anole keepers I'm concerned that my anoles are still brown. They've had 3 very different enclosures in the short time I've had them and seem to always be more often brown than green. What I've noticed is, if I faff with the lights my male comes out under them afterwards and immediately turns green. I've just done this now and he appears to be basking under the UV tube in a lovely shade of green. This makes me think their colouring (well being?) could be UV related? I'm currently using a single 22" 6% Arcadia T5 alongside an Arcadia Plant Pro T5. I ordered a 12% T5 what seems like months ago but it looks like they're still not in stock as it hasn't turned up yet. I don't know if the % change will make a difference or not.

Does anyone have any input on the colouring? They're all eating, drinking and pooping fine.


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

I'm not sure how to answer this i'll be honest. I use a 12%. 

There doesnt always appear to be an explanation as to why my Anoles go brown or green. Sometimes mine go brown for no reason. yet if i take them out they immediately go green. 

I wouldnt take it as a sign, on it's own that anything is wrong. 

jay


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## Wolflore (Mar 3, 2010)

Spikebrit said:


> I'm not sure how to answer this i'll be honest. I use a 12%.
> 
> There doesnt always appear to be an explanation as to why my Anoles go brown or green. Sometimes mine go brown for no reason. yet if i take them out they immediately go green.
> 
> ...


I've noticed this with mine too Jay. Brown when in but green when sat on my hand!?


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

How odd! Mine go green when feeding then they're back to brown.


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

I found this whilst looking for answers. New Study on Color Change In Green Anoles | Anole Annals


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Anole porn


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

I've been trying my anoles on silkworms these past few weeks and they've been a great success. I'm now able to hand feed the anoles. They get very excited when they see them, even stealing from each others mouths. 

Thankfully this means no more crickets to escape, I seem to be forever finding them in the house.

I've also upped the lighting. I'm now running 4 T5s, one UV and 3 plant tubes. As soon as I added the extra 2 the anoles started using the front of the enclosure which these new tubes now cover. Previously they wouldn't come to the front.


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## Wolflore (Mar 3, 2010)

They do seem to love a lot of light. I'm wondering about an external enclosure for these.


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## luke1983 (Aug 25, 2008)

How do you fit that many bulbs atop your enclosure?

All looks good by the way. I like anoles!

Luke


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

luke1983 said:


> How do you fit that many bulbs atop your enclosure?
> 
> All looks good by the way. I like anoles!
> 
> Luke


Right now I have a twin T5 maxibright suspended from an iquatics suspension kit and I put the new bulbs loose on top via an Arcadia starter and reflectors. I just need to buy a 4 tube unit to neaten things up again.


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## luke1983 (Aug 25, 2008)

cool ta. Does the maxibright set work well? I'm considering getting the 4bulb version

Luke


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## spring (Feb 28, 2010)

Hi Anole guys!

Sorry to butt in to your conversation, I’m just after some advice from all the Anole keepers here.

Does anyone else here breed their Anole, if you what do you do with the offspring? Do you keep them or pass them on, if so who do you give them to? 

It seems to be within the last year or so that many of my local reptile shops have stopped stocking them, with one shop saying it took eight months to sell theirs through.

I myself breed my own colony of Green Anole but this year it seems even captive bred individuals are no longer wanted. I am having to seriously considering no longer breeding them. I don’t wish to be irresponsible breeding something no one is interested in, I would be unable to keep all future male offspring they might produce. 

It seems possible to me that by the time my existing colony dies out if I wish to keep Anole it may be extremely difficult to source any captive bred individuals, and if any laws regarding wild importation are bought in nigh impossible to find them at all. Very sad 

Here are some pictures of my Anole tank it is a fully planted 85G Anole terrarium-


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

spring said:


> Hi Anole guys!
> 
> Sorry to butt in to your conversation, I’m just after some advice from all the Anole keepers here.
> 
> ...


I missed this one! Love the planting. What plants are in there and what lighting/heating are you using?


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

Loving the plants, im curious as to what lighting you are using too. 

Just thought i would update though over the last week or so i have slowly lost most of my colony to old age, I rescued them 10 years ago, and stopped breeding them a few years ago. I am now left with just a 1.1 pair. Sad times but they were al very very old. 

Jay


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Had a fiddle with my decor


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## spring (Feb 28, 2010)

Hey all,

Thank you for the kind words.

Sorry I haven’t posted sooner, I’ve been having issues getting online.

Love the tank Simon, very healthy, pristine looking plants :no1:

Hi Spikebrit, was there a reason why you stopped breeding, or was it due to age?

Lighting for my big tank is through two 24W arcadia 12% T5 fluorescents and reflectors, one 39W T5 plant pro and one 39W Narva bio-vitals in a Glo canopy you can make out at the front. Basking is through two arcadia 50w halogen basking bulbs in clamp lamps placed either end of the tank, helping to prevent squabbles over basking and maintaining heat over such a large tank. As you can see even this is not bright enough for me to grow plants as the bottom of the tank which measures 110L/ 50W/ 90cmH, so I use branches, bracket fungus (bought from terra world tropical’s which seems to be growing well) and a water feature to add interest. 

The tank is about 4 years old now and has taken a long time to get fully established. It is completely different to how I originally designed it, with many lost plants along the way. With this being my first planted tank and experience with reptiles it has been a steep learning curve. I have found it best just to let the plants grow as they wish, so long as the lizards are happy. At some point I would love to redesign it as a USA eco system with Spanish moss and a larger water area, but since it has taken me this long to get this far...:whistling2:

Happily I managed to find somewhere to take the baby Anole I bred, who has also offered to take any future offspring, the grange reptile shop in Southampton. This was a big relief to me as I wished them to go somewhere where they would be looked after properly and be found good homes. Funnily enough the shop has an article in practical reptile keeping this month. Since locating somewhere that will take offspring I produce I may add to my existing colony with a few more females. 

I still find it a shame that more rare, expensive and brightly coloured species have all but pushed these little guys out of the hobby when in my mind they are perfect display lizards for those that want to first venture into the world of natural vivariums, oh well...


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

spring said:


> Hey all,
> 
> Thank you for the kind words.
> 
> ...


I have to admit I've cheated some what with the plants. As you've found even with the 4x T5's I'm using it's hit and miss what plants will grow. I lost a few and realised I'd made some bad choices with others as I was constantly having to remove big leaves that were hogging all the light. So I decided to keep the bromeliads which are doing great and the struggling pothos and the rest are artificial exo terra plants, normal ones and 7 or so from their smart range. It's cost a small fortune to go that route but I've been able to pack the enclosure out more and get the look I was after. The anoles have been more active in parts of the enclosure they didn't touch before and the females have been more green than usual which has to be a good sign.

Do you find yours use the basking spots much? Mine seem to use the T5's to bask under.


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## spring (Feb 28, 2010)

I too made some bad choices, originally I started with a tank full of expensive air plants, but I lost all of them over time. I sometime wonder if it would be easier to buy high quality fake plants to get the look I’m after while keeping the live soil, so it all still works. Fake plants may cost a bit initially but you don’t have to worry about maintaining them after that. My plants do seem to be growing pretty well now so the tanks pretty stable though perhaps not how I’d originally envisioned it. I think the taller your tank is the more difficult it can be, especially with varying humidity at different points.

My Anole do use the basking bulbs daily, but will spend most of their rest time as high to the UV as possible, they really do love their UV, the stronger the better. I also find with my tank sited near a window they reflect strongly the natural sunlight and will go through a noticeable winter period, eating less, which I have to keep an eye on and becoming far more active/ breeding during late May through to October.


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

I stopped breeding mine as they were so old, i had kept them for 10 years so they were old and i thought it was time they stopped. 

I can be really hit and miss with plants sometimes they work and sometimes they dont. 

jay


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## mickmorelia (Feb 19, 2011)

An enjoyable read and some great looking setups .


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## Duffy316 (May 22, 2011)

I don't really post on here much but I thought the thread could use a baby pic


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Babies here now too!


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

yay baby anoles for the win

jay


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## Duffy316 (May 22, 2011)

Second anole hatchling, hello baby Woodstock! Pics to follow later, little bugger arrived just as I was leaving for work!


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## JJIlvonen (Nov 25, 2013)

Three juveniles doing well, five eggs waiting. First one was born 20 days ago.


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## Duffy316 (May 22, 2011)

JJ, do you find any competitiveness between the hatchlings? All the info I've read has said they'll fight to the death if kept together.
Also, are your young hatched in the tank or incubated separately?
I've incubated mine but only because I was lucky enough to spot the females laying them!


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## JJIlvonen (Nov 25, 2013)

Duffy316 said:


> JJ, do you find any competitiveness between the hatchlings? All the info I've read has said they'll fight to the death if kept together.
> Also, are your young hatched in the tank or incubated separately?
> I've incubated mine but only because I was lucky enough to spot the females laying them!


So far the three hatclings have done great. I haven't seen any fighting nor aggressive behavior. They have plenty of food crawling around and their terrarium is a hectagonal 40x40x50cm (WxDxH) tank, which is quite a lot of room. That might alleviate tensions between them. As soon as I get the funds, I'm going to buy a 45x45x60 Exo terra, because it seems I'm getting more juveniles.

All my eggs have been hatched in the tank where the adults live. All the eggs I have found I have placed in a separate container within the tank, so that I can monitor the substrates humidity better. Two of the three hatchlings were born from eggs outside this container, because I hadn't found them. Temps have been between 22-28 and I spray all the plants three times a day, so the humidity stays high.


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## JJIlvonen (Nov 25, 2013)

And just to make it clear, the juvenile thank is on my table next to my computer screen (where I spend too much of my time), so if there were weird behavior between the juveniles, I woud have seen it.


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## Duffy316 (May 22, 2011)

Ok thanks.
Sounds pretty much like mine except I've got the in RUBs, roughly 30x30x45.
I recently had 3 females delivered from 888reptiles (excellent service by the way) so I'm hoping to introduce them as another breeding colony when they're old enough.
Don't suppose anyone has a fool-proof method of sexing youngsters?


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

My little guy is still doing well. He's very brave, bouncing around all over the place around the adults and doesn't care if I put my hands near.










4 adults but only the little one is visible!


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## Duffy316 (May 22, 2011)

Simon, do your adults take any notice of the youngster? Or do they ignore them?


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

They watch it hopping around but I've not seen them chase it.


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Now have 3 little ones now, all doing well. With the weather getting colder the wild bugs are scarce so back on different sized crickets. I've noticed since feeding wild and not limiting all the anoles to food that they all eat much more than I used to feed them and they're green more of the time so I'm going to put more crickets in and other bugs than I used to. It's quite incredible how much they eat for their size.


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

I really hate crickets, they were jumping out quicker than I could put them in.


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## demon3000 (Nov 23, 2013)

looks great......


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## Duffy316 (May 22, 2011)

Simon, how do you go about harvesting wild bugs? It seems to take me ages for very little reward!


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Duffy316 said:


> Simon, how do you go about harvesting wild bugs? It seems to take me ages for very little reward!


Depends on time of year and time of day as to how much you'll find. Until a few days ago I've had hundreds of baby flies on the inside windows of my shed every day so I just sucked them up with a turkey baster and blasted them back out into the terrarium. They were an ideal size for the baby anoles but the big ones also ate them. We've got a specific bush in our garden that has had tiny weevils on for months, I just brushed those off into a tub and then shook them in. Big flies like blue bottles tend to bask in the sun early morning and late evening and the trick to catching those is not to cast a shadow over them, I just line up a plastic tub and very slowly move it over the fly until about 1" away then move it quick and trap it. Stick the lid on and take it inside for the anoles. Hover flies are harder to catch, that's pure luck! Found a few caterpillas and various beetles in the bushes and small spiders are plentiful for a while. Harvest men are another easy catch, found a fair few in the shed and on the fence. Just hold a tub near them and poke them towards it with a finger.

Unfortunately with the weather getting colder there's not much around now. The spiders that are left have grown and are too big now. I bought a few different sizes of banded crickets the other day, got some wax worms and mini mealies due today. Wax worms are always taken, easy to get hold of and cheap enough. I know generally they're seen as treat food with most reptiles but I tried them exclusively for a few months and didn't see any ill effects. They didn't get fat and have had no issue changing to other bugs I've put in. The adults won't take mealies, the mini ones are to try with the babies. The babies are harder to feed unless I buy small crickets all the time but they're a pain in the arse what with escaping and the adults eating them. I've also used silkworms but they're quite pricey and I had no luck when I bulk bought little ones for growing despite following all the advice. Calciworms were useless, they all turned into pupae within days of getting them and they never turned into flies either.

I have spent in excess of an hour a day catching wild bugs but I'd rather use time than spend money  If you live anywhere near fields you could try just walking through them with a net.

I keep meaning to get some fishing maggots to allow to turn into flies. Many years ago when I kept praying mantids I bought a bucket and left them in the shed and had hundreds of blue bottle sized flies after a while. Not sure if it's possible to set up an ongoing life cycle with those, something I'll try at some point. It'd be nice to have a free year round supply of anole food.


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Baby number 4 appeared this morning!


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Baby number 5 has just emerged from the undergrowth :gasp:


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## Duffy316 (May 22, 2011)

Well done Simon, really pleased for you!


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

I wasn't expecting any, I'd read and been told that anoles were difficult to breed in captivity. I'm going to have to buy more plants to pack the enclosure out more I think, give them more places to call their own and escape the others. At this rate I'm going to need to convert a room into a giant enclosure lol


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## Duffy316 (May 22, 2011)

Yeah, I read the same- it seems to me that if the set-up is correct, they'll breed.
How many females do you have in there again?


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

1 adult male and 3 adult females.


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Managed to get a few pictures of my male 



















And with a female. She's not massively tiny, it's an optical illusion I guess as she's further into the tank.


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Counted 6 babies today!

Switched the lighting out to a Zoomed Reptisun LED UVB 91cm hood. I'll do a review in the equipment section.


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Done the review on the LED UVB hood: http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/equipment-supplies/1048329-zoomed-reptisun-led-uvb-91cm.html

One of the older babies with baby number 7!


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## Steviefull (Oct 28, 2013)

Cracking thread, just read all 9 pages and convinced me anoles are what I will put in my little setup. The wooden setup measures 560mm wide x 430mm deep x 900mm high, how many in theory do you think this could hold and what male/female breakdown do you suggest?

I'm not experienced enough to go for a live planted setup yet, will do with a complete glass setup in the future, but not at this time.


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Steviefull said:


> Cracking thread, just read all 9 pages and convinced me anoles are what I will put in my little setup. The wooden setup measures 560mm wide x 430mm deep x 900mm high, how many in theory do you think this could hold and what male/female breakdown do you suggest?
> 
> I'm not experienced enough to go for a live planted setup yet, will do with a complete glass setup in the future, but not at this time.


The guide I was given was one male to a few females so I went for 1 male and 3 females. However! Given what I'd read and been told about how difficult they are to breed I was not expecting to have babies. I've not witnessed the babies fighting each other to the death or the adults eating them like supposedly happens either. So, if you're ok having baby anoles at some point then by all means add a male to the mix otherwise I'd suggest a female only set up. The females are smaller and don't look as gnarly as the males but they're lovely to look at and still show dominance with press ups which is interesting to watch.

There doesn't seem to be any hard rules about enclosure size. Anoles spend much of their day laying around so arguably they don't need a massive amount of space but you do want an enclosure big enough to allow for them to have their own personal space. They do hang out together now and again but they'll also chase each other away. From my own observations adults like to be up high where as babies will use the ground cover as well. You are much better off using a longer rather than taller enclosure. If they all want to be up high you're going to have some arguments in a narrower enclosure, also you'll probably find they don't venture down more than a few inches so you'll have a lot of wasted space. You could start them out in the suggested viv and use your own judgement about whether they need a different enclosure at some point. I've had mine in 3 different ones!

I much prefer glass enclosures, you don't need to worry about moisture affecting wood and can have heating and lighting on the outside. If you shop around you can find big exos at very good prices. The downside is that you are limited in terms of size, wood vivs go to much bigger sizes than glass terrariums. I wish exo terra, zoomed or komodo did much bigger terrariums than what's currently available. To get something bigger you have to go the custom route at the moment. What would be immensely cool would be modular glass terrariums!


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Reading back through this thread it seems I missed out on my heating update. Back in May I wasn't happy with the heat gradient in the exo and the basking spot wasn't getting used. I had ended up using a ceramic heat emitter bulb so I removed that and stuck a microclimate 28.5 x 12 inch Heat Mat (38w) to the outside back, towards the top of the enclosure. This has resulted in most of the back acting like one big basking area. I decided to run this without a thermostat and I see temps on the coir panel anywhere from 30C to 40C depending on the ambient room temp. At the front of the enclosure where there's no heating whatsoever I'm seeing around 27C. I still have my Microclimate Prime 2 set up so I can see at a glance the temp at the back, front and ambient in the room. This method has been working a treat, the anoles have been more active and obviously there's the 7 babies that have now appeared. 

I will keep a close eye on the temperatures as the weather cools and may need to add additional heating or find a way of safely reflecting some of the wasted heatmat heat back at the enclosure. Microlimate say you can insulate the mat as long as there is an air gap so I think I need to try some polystyrene and some foil backing and see what happens. Failing that I think I will add a heat rock raised up from the floor. I know many people are against heat rocks however we've trialled a large exo terra heat rock in a snake terrarium for months now and couldn't be happier, it's slashed the electricity requirement and the snakes behaviour is perfectly normal, it uses it like a rock heated in the sun.

Prompted by another thread I roughly worked out how much the current set up would cost as is so if anyone is interested in how much it would cost them to do something similar... well over £1000 :gasp: I'll add it up properly at some point. That doesn't include stuff I don't use any more. Things add up when you're not buying them all in one go!

I forgot to post a picture of the set up with the new lights:


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Nearly forgot - baby food
The small crickets were useless, after I put them in and the babies gorged themselves (the adults picked a lot off as well, seems they don't care how small insects are) the crickets promptly vanished. Found a fair few in the room, I guess the rest disappeared into the undergrowth and the babies probably did have them but I feel happier when I can actually see them eating so they're now on calciworms and I've got a culture of bean weevils on the go. They all get dusted with Sandfire Super Foods Anole Dust by T-REX.


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## JJIlvonen (Nov 25, 2013)

Nice setup Simon!

At the moment I'm a bit too busy to write a full update on my 8 juveniles, so I'm just going to ask this quick question:

I just found out that one of the younger juveniles acts like it has the Parkinsons disease. When it walks, it shakes. If it tries to jump up, it does a backflip, thus prefering to spend most of its time on the ground. It doesn't hunt very well, but does eat when given food slow enough.
The big question is: euthanasia or what?


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

I'd repost that question in it's own thread so you can get more opinions. I guess what would matter to me is, is it in pain? How'd you'd know that I don't know.


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## JJIlvonen (Nov 25, 2013)

Finished the 45x45x60cm ExoTerra for the 9 juveniles I have at the moment. All babies doing well, except one with some sort of motor disfuction. I still have two eggs in the hatchery.








I tried to use plants only available to anoles in the wild, so all the broms and orchids can be found either in Central America or Caribbean. One basking spot, one heat mat, one uv-bulb and one natural light bulb.








Temperates in the top part are +28, in the bottom +21 and on the basking spot +36. Since it's summer, I haven't used the heat mat, but that will probably be used during the winter.
















I have also added isopods and springtails for maintenance.

































And about the juvenile with Parkinsons, it seems healty enough aside the symptoms, so I'll monitor the situation and see how it develops.


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## Steviefull (Oct 28, 2013)

_simon_ said:


> The guide I was given was one male to a few females so I went for 1 male and 3 females. However! Given what I'd read and been told about how difficult they are to breed I was not expecting to have babies. I've not witnessed the babies fighting each other to the death or the adults eating them like supposedly happens either. So, if you're ok having baby anoles at some point then by all means add a male to the mix otherwise I'd suggest a female only set up. The females are smaller and don't look as gnarly as the males but they're lovely to look at and still show dominance with press ups which is interesting to watch.
> 
> There doesn't seem to be any hard rules about enclosure size. Anoles spend much of their day laying around so arguably they don't need a massive amount of space but you do want an enclosure big enough to allow for them to have their own personal space. They do hang out together now and again but they'll also chase each other away. From my own observations adults like to be up high where as babies will use the ground cover as well. You are much better off using a longer rather than taller enclosure. If they all want to be up high you're going to have some arguments in a narrower enclosure, also you'll probably find they don't venture down more than a few inches so you'll have a lot of wasted space. You could start them out in the suggested viv and use your own judgement about whether they need a different enclosure at some point. I've had mine in 3 different ones!
> 
> I much prefer glass enclosures, you don't need to worry about moisture affecting wood and can have heating and lighting on the outside. If you shop around you can find big exos at very good prices. The downside is that you are limited in terms of size, wood vivs go to much bigger sizes than glass terrariums. I wish exo terra, zoomed or komodo did much bigger terrariums than what's currently available. To get something bigger you have to go the custom route at the moment. What would be immensely cool would be modular glass terrariums!


 Unfortunately im restricted with the viv I have, in that its part of a larger setup. 

I think ill go for 3 females and see how things progress. I'm proposing doing the following anything you can see wrong with it.

going to put Perspex around the base of the wooden viv and a couple of inches up the side to protect the wood from water damage and warping.

Going to go with woodchip for the base material.

For some reason im obsessed with having a waterfall in the setup.

Have a lot of fake plants and vines for decoration.

This is it so far but if I have a heat lamp in there surely I don't need a heat mat as well.

Great updates by the way


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Perspex is always a good idea, I've also used an off cut of pond liner in the past siliconed in place. Personally I wouldn't use a wood chip based substrate, they're not great for retaining moisture, I'd suggest coconut fibre aka coir, eco earth, plantation soil etc. If you're going to use a heat lamp then it needs to be guarded with a decent guard that's holes are too small for the anoles to get near it, same with the UV. You want at least a 5% or 6% (depending on brand) T5 UV, some people use 10% or 12%. Use them with a reflector. I've been using an Arcadia 6% but my new light unit has a zoomed 5% in it. If it's an option you might consider cutting some holes in the top of the viv and meshing them over so you can put the heating and lighting on the outside. Back to the heating it'll probably be trial and error to find what works best for you, I've had different wattage halogens and ceramics but the heatmat has worked best for my set up.

If you have a waterwall then be prepared to clean it out every few days. I was the same and bought a big exo terra one but it was just completely impractical to have to take the entire thing out for cleaning multiple times a week. The water went horrible really fast.

Be sure to set it all up well in advance of adding any anoles, that'll give you time to get your heating right.


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Picture from this morning with 3 of the young ones. I'd just added some tiny flies I found in the shed.


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

JJIlvonen said:


> Finished the 45x45x60cm ExoTerra for the 9 juveniles I have at the moment. All babies doing well, except one with some sort of motor disfuction. I still have two eggs in the hatchery.


Love the decor and planting :2thumb:


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## JJIlvonen (Nov 25, 2013)

Got a new macro lens and naturally I had to give it a try.


























Oh, and now I have 13 juveniles.
The three oldest juveniles have started to show some sort of a hierarchy, but besides some random chasing and showing the flap, nothing dramatic.


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## Duffy316 (May 22, 2011)

Gorgeous photos JJ!
If anyone in this thread is looking to swap bloodlines further down the line, would it be ok if we all posted on here? Surely we could arrange for a mini 'Anole meet' at Kempton/Doncaster?!


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## JJIlvonen (Nov 25, 2013)

Juvenile update.

My first juveniles hatched in the beginning of July and the youngest hatched sometime during this week. The size difference is big, but until today, I never thought it would pose a problem.

A moment ago I observed the oldest juvenile attacking the youngest one with the intention of eating it. I intervened, but so far I'm not sure whether the injuries sustained were fatal. I moved the two oldest (biggest) juveniles to the adult terrarium.

So what did I learn? Cannibalism does occur despite these fellows getting ample food and being almost too fat. I'm afraid this also explains why I haven't seen as many juveniles as would be expexted given their number. 

PRO TIP: separate the juveniles before the age difference is three months or the size difference is triple.


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## JMM (May 21, 2012)

Hi all, i have posted my own thread with my latest addition but thought i would add it here too, that and im now subscribed to this thread.
Just the one male for now but i hope to give him a partner when i find one.








Its amazing that this is the same animal just a few minutes apart.


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

JJIlvonen said:


> Juvenile update.
> 
> My first juveniles hatched in the beginning of July and the youngest hatched sometime during this week. The size difference is big, but until today, I never thought it would pose a problem.
> 
> ...


I've not once seen any of mine fight or chase each other around however I've seen a dramatic decline in babies visible in the enclosure. There's 3 or 4 which are growing nicely but I've definitely had more hatch out. At the moment I'm letting nature take its course but I'm in two minds about this. I assume the bigger the enclosure the less chance there is of this happening. I might have to DIY a much bigger one next year.



JMM said:


> Hi all, i have posted my own thread with my latest addition but thought i would add it here too, that and im now subscribed to this thread.
> Just the one male for now but i hope to give him a partner when i find one.
> imageimage
> Its amazing that this is the same animal just a few minutes apart.


A lovely shade of green aren't they  

My pothos has really taken off under the new lighting so thought I'd share an updated pic. You'll also notice a funnel top right, that's because I've taped the doors up in an attempt to stop the food escaping! So Now I pour the food down the funnel. The only things still escaping are the bean weevils, either that or the last lot that escaped have laid eggs in the room and they're hatching out. I'm struggling to find where they're coming from. I have this morning found a family of crickets living behind the fridge though!


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## JJIlvonen (Nov 25, 2013)

_simon_ said:


> I've not once seen any of mine fight or chase each other around however I've seen a dramatic decline in babies visible in the enclosure. There's 3 or 4 which are growing nicely but I've definitely had more hatch out. At the moment I'm letting nature take its course but I'm in two minds about this. I assume the bigger the enclosure the less chance there is of this happening. I might have to DIY a much bigger one next year.


With my recent experience, I strongly suggest that you build a separate enclosure for the babies. Decreases the chances of cannibalism but it also makes it easier to monitor their growth etc.

I also find feeding them much easier, if I know that everyone in the enclosure can eat food of the same size.


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## JMM (May 21, 2012)

I just love the weirdness of my Anole, here he is with a stripe of green on just one side of his body.









And this morning he woke up with a suicidal cricket. 








A minute later it got what it wanted, as did another shortly after.: victory:


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## 17denise68 (Oct 1, 2014)

Nice set up.had one similar but problem with anoles liking to be at top is they can easy jump out.love the little monsters tho


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

Rescaped the terrarium yesterday. Ended up taking all the artificial plants out, sloped the substrate, added new wood, stones and leaf litter. The pothos and broms are the original ones but I've added a couple of more plants, one I found in the garden and 2 from the reptile section from my local shop so back to all real plants again. Also added lots of moss from the garden, not sure it'll survive though. The few common uk garden woodlice I added last year have had a population explosion, they were coming out all over the place as I was removing the old stuff.


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## _simon_ (Nov 27, 2007)

It grew in nicely I think.

May this year









Today (November)









Since May I've swapped the lighting so it's now running 2x 22w Arcadia Jungle Dawns in an exo terra canopy and an Arcadia canopy with 39w 6% T5. Plant growth exploded with the Jungle Dawns.


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