So... over the past two months, I've come into the possession of more anoles than I know what to do with, and I'm hoping someone here can give me some pointers on what can be done with them-- how many can be housed together, if species can be mixed, and even which can be safely released in my area.

I'll back up a bit and explain. Bear with me, this might take a paragraph or two. :P

EDIT: Er, yeah... or eight... sorry about that.

If you want to skip the backstory, just scroll down to the next break after this one.

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I work at a garden center in southeastern Virginia. Obviously, we sell plants. These plants mostly come from local growers, but we do import some from as far away as Florida.

Occasionally, we get stowaways.

A few months ago I found a hatchling brown anole hanging around the citrus trees-- this was outdoors. I caught him, since I know he's not native, and figured I'd keep him. My previous lizard-- a local five-lined skink I'd raised from hatchlinghood-- had died, so I had a ten gallon tank handy.

A week later I came across three more baby browns, all in the same area I caught the first-- though these guys looked like they'd probably been in a cypress tree. I caught all three of them and put them in with the first one, who was initially a bit peeved about her new tank mates but quickly settled down. I know ten gallons is too small for four anoles, but since these guys were all babies I reasoned they'd be alright until I could get them a bigger enclosure (or separate ones, if need be).

That same day I caught the three, I also saw a bigger anole, which escaped. I caught her a week later-- she was hanging out about ten yards or so from where the babies all were. As best I can tell, she's a female brown-- her coloring's a little weird, but apparently they tend to vary alot. Anyway, I didn't want to put her in with the hatchlings, so I had to stick the poor thing in a large tupperware for a couple weeks until I could get a tank for her.

Since I caught them all in the same area, I figured that she must've come in on a shipment, and that the babies were probably hers-- I've come across brown anoles around the garden center in the past, but never so many and in so short a timeframe.

Unfortunately, it didn't stop there.

A week or so later I caught a juvenile green anole who jumped off a customer's plant at the cash register. I stuck her in a separate tupperware; while she seemed too small (and showed no signs of wanting) to bother the babies, they seemed pretty well convinced that she was going to eat them.

Anyway: I finally got an aquarium-- a 20 gallon long-- a week later, and put the big green and the big brown in it.

Then I caught another green anole-- this one an adult male, from the same general area I caught the big brown one. He went into the twenty long-- at the time, I thought the other green was a female.

Then one of the cashiers caught yet another little brown hatchling. I haven't a clue where she came from-- they found her sitting on the checkout counter. Unfortunately, she popped off her tail when being caught. She also has a crippled forelimb-- I can't tell if it's a deformity or an injury. She can't hop or climb very well, and she was kinda listless, so I put her in a large tupperware so the other babies (who are all pretty rambunctious) won't bother her. I didn't think she was going to make it, initially-- which was, I hate to say, something of a relief, since by now I was starting to get a little worried about housing all these stupid things-- but I got her to drink water out of an eyedropper and finally to eat pinhead crickets, so she pulled through. She's kind of pathetic, what with the stubby tail and gimpy arm, but she's pretty lively.

So, by now cold weather was starting to set in so I figured that was it for the lizards... and then a baby green anole hopped off of a cypress tree I was unloading from a truck. Poor little guy was kinda dazed initially-- and cold-- but her perked up when I got him inside. I put him in with the four baby browns.

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So, net result, I have the following:

- One ten gallon tank, containing:

• 4 baby brown anoles: one male, three females;
• 1 baby green anoles, male;
• 1 newly de-tadopled green tree frog

- One twenty gallon long tank, containing:

• 1 adult female anole, probably brown;
• 1 adult green anole, male
• 1 juvenile green anole, male
• 1 green tree frog

- 1 smallish tupperware, containing:

• 1 baby brown anole, female



Now, I'm well aware that these conditions are far from ideal, but I'm kind of at a loss as to what to do. I've checked around, and apparently green anoles are occasionally found this far north, but I'm inclined to wait until the spring to release them. Would this be best for them, or should I just let them out on a warm day and wish them luck?

And for the brown ones-- is it possible for them to overwinter in a cold areas? A bit of research suggested that they can't tolerate sub-freezing temperatures like the greens can, which is why they haven't migrated further north than Florida... but given how many of the things I've found in so short a window, could there possibly be a smallish population living around the garden center? I'd assume they winter in the greenhouse, but my boss tends to use an assinine amount of chemicals to kill pests (he bombs the greenhouse at least every two months), so I doubt they'd survive long in there.

I'm thinking that, if I decided to keep all of them, I'd wind up needing like four cages at minimum-- one for each of the four males. Had I the space and money I'd be tempted, but-- as a dirt-poor twenty-something college kid, I really don't. I don't want the poor little guys to have a crappy life in a cramped enclosure... bit I don't really want them to freeze to death either, which I'm given to understand is pretty much guaranteed for at least the brown ones.

So... thoughts? Any ways to economize space? Will the babies keep okay until summertime, at least, when I can see about maybe building a larger enclosure? Should I let the green ones go now, or wait until it's consistently warmer out? Is keeping the poor gimpy one in a tiny enclosure more detrimental than putting her in with the other babies?

I'd appreciate any advice or comments, even if it's exasperation at my even attempting to house so many. :P

EDIT: Hrm, apparently this board has a rather stringent swearing policy?

At any rate, censored words edited out.

Yeah we like to keep it clean around here. Since we have a lot of children as members as well.
We do appreciate your attention to proper grammar as well. Makes it easy to read especially for our international members who don't speak fluent english.

I would suggest adopting them out. Even giving them away with instructions on their care.
It sounds like you might be finding more in the future anyway.

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Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." - Mother Teresa

Either that or get a VERY large tank, minimum 55 gal and establish a large heavily planted anole community.
I would advise against letting them go outside.

__________________
Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

One thing that I will point out is that whatever you do with them, you need UVB and it sounds like you need it soon. Especially for the sick one. Male anoles should be able to go in a tank together, given that there is enough space, enough basking areas, and enough hiding spots. They should all be ok together. Make yourself a nice display tank that is as big as you can possibly get.

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What Merlin said. The anoles need to be in a very large, well planted community tank. And the frogs need to get out of there. They don't co-exist very well. If you can't do this, I would try adopting them out. The two green tree frogs would be fine in your 20 gallon.

And even though it might sound cruel to you, there are many herps out there and their owners who would gladly take some of those anoles off you as feeders.

And the Anoles, if you keep them, need a very special UVB producing light.

Here is a good care sheet for them
http://www.wnyherp.org/care-sheets/l...reen-anole.php


And here is a care sheet for your green tree frogs.
http://www.wnyherp.org/care-sheets/a...-tree-frog.php

__________________
My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

Welcome to HC, I might have a 55 gallon tank I can part with. I'm in Virginia Beach. If you can pick it up, you can have it.

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Ken
" The United States Marine Corps......sure we are a department of the Navy,,,,,,we're the MENS department "

Never a good idea to try to reintroduce captive animals into the wild - it can spread diseases to local populations and devastate them (among other problems).

Add to that that your brown anoles (If you have what I think you have) are most likely a non-native, and quite invasive species.

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Chinese Water Dragon (0.1)

"If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos."

Edward O. Wilson

Thanks for the warm welcome and quick replies, everyone. (I wasn't expecting any replies for a couple days, given how dead this sub-board seemed at first. :P)

Oh, yeah, that's cool. Y'all might want to add a section about foul language in the site rules, though. :P

Merlin, fire2225ems, schlegelbagel: So the green ones will do fine with the browns in the same tank, so long as it has sufficient cover? The greens don't seem to like the browns too much at the moment, though their tanks are pretty sparse right now.

I did read about the UVB light, but unfortunately I've been using an incandescent full-spectrum bulb that I thought generated UVB on the babies' tank... it turns out it's only good for UVA. I replaced it, but I hope I haven't done them any damage, since I know the babies are more susceptible than the adults to bone disorders.

Unfortunately, the little sick one died this morning, but it's probably for the best. I think she might've had some sort of neurological problem, too.

schlegelbagel: RE: the frogs-- Huh, I actually grabbed the two frogs (they're both wild-caught too, although they're native to this area) in part because a couple sites I came across (and a book I bought, I think) said they were ideal tank-mates for anoles... Why don't they get along? Do they stress each other out, or is it due to diseases? (I believe you, incidentally-- I'll separate them as soon as I'm able-- I'm just curious.)

kenman1963: Thanks, and wow, that'd be great. I'm sending you a PM for further details.

Dragoness: Yeah, the whole invasive thing is part of why I caught them all instead of leaving them be. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be able to make it through the winter here anyway, though... which is the other reason I caught them. :P

You are right on both parts about the frogs with the anoles. Even when they come from the same general area and need the same requirements the big difference between the outside world and being captive is that in a tank they can't get away. So you have the stress of being in a tank with an animal that could possibly be considered predator. But also there is an issue with possible cross contamination of parasites that might affect one but not the other.

If given enough space and enough cover the greens and browns should be ok together. If you keep an eye on them and find that they aren't then you might want to consider separating them at that point...

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Shell covered exactly what I was going to say on the green vs. brown anoles, and the anoles vs. the tree frogs.

__________________
My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.