Member of the Internet Link Exchange

Free Home Pages at GeoCities

Brown Anoles

(do YOU know what they are?)

What Are Brown Anoles, Anyway?

Brown anoles are small lizards. Other than that, they are exactly what their name implies. They are brown in color, although they can change from light to dark brown and any shade of brown or yellow in between. They have a striped diamond pattern on their backs and are usually light colored on their bellies. All anoles have a fold of skin under their throats that they can puff out called a dewflap. The dewflaps on brown anoles are red with a little bit of yellow around the edges. Their heads are triangle shaped and their eyes are on the sides of their heads. They can move each eye separately from the other. They have a compact body that tapers into a long tail. Brown anoles have tiny claws on the tips of their toes that help them grab onto almost any surface. Brown anoles only grow to be about five inches long.

Keeping Brown Anoles as Pets

Here is a list of some basic things you need before you get some anoles:

Enclosure

- First you need a place to keep your anoles. A critter cage or an aquarium are good choices. You can get one from your local pet store or maybe you have one lying around from when you had some fish. The cage you use should probably be at least 10 gallons.

Lighting

- You absolutely must have full spectrum light bulb to light your anoles cage. Brown anoles need full spectrum light to live. A brand I would recommend is Vitalight. You can get these at your local pet store, too.

Heat source

Substrate

- Brown anoles like to dig and hide underground so it is important to provide a deep enough substrate. About three inches deep should be okay. You have ever l choices as to what you use for your substrate. I like one particular brand called Naturebark that you can get at the pet store. Naturebark is small wood pieces that absorb moisture well. You can also use sand, fine gravel, or rabbit pellets. There are probably even more that I can't think of right now and will add later.

Hiding Areas

- Even though brown anoles like to hide in the substrate it is still a good idea to provide some hiding and climbing places for your anoles. You can use rocks to make caves or there are hiding logs you can buy at the pet store. Another idea is cholla wood, which is often used for hermit crabs and is also available at your local pet store. If you want you can use live plants in your terrarium or you can buy plastic ones at the pet store. Anoles like to climb so you can add some logs and branches with or without leaves.

Water Dish

- You need to place a small water dish in the cage. It should have water in it at all times. You also need to get a spray bottle. The spray bottle is used to mist your anoles at least once a day. This is really important because anoles can't drink from the water dish. They only see water when it is in droplet form. The dish is still important for maintaining humidity in the cage though.

What Should I Feed My Anoles?

Well, they can eat crickets, mealworms, and most small bugs. If you plan on feeding you anoles crickets, I would recommend getting the smaller ones. Oftentimes the regular size crickets are to big for brown anoles to eat. Mealworms are my personal favorite.
I feed my anoles by placing a small dish in the cage and dropping mealworms onto it. I try to keep several mealworms in the dish at all times and my anoles simply eat when they get hungry. You can also even feed your anoles by hand if they are really used to being around you. Don't forget to mist your anoles once a day!

Should I Handle My Anoles?

Some people think that anoles should be left alone, but in my opinion, it is okay to take you anoles out and hold them or let them run around the room. Just make sure there are no holes in walls or small places where you can't reach your anole. Brown anoles like to jump so be prepared when you take them out. They can also climb on just about anything, even sometimes walls. Once your anoles get used to being on your hand they will usually calm down and sit still. Since brown anoles are kind of high strung, if you want an anole that you can take you and play with for long periods of time I would recommend another type of anole, the green anole. Green anoles are usually very calm.

BACK TO THE MAIN PAGE!

Anole Lynx!

Cheryl's Brown Anoles -All about my own brown anoles.

Here's a good Anole Care Page

click here!

© 1996 Cheryl L. Prins

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page