What Did I Get Myself Into?

I took my daughter to a Carnival at a museum yesterday. There was a vendor from a place called St. George's adoption, he said he makes no money off of selling the anoles he had. I paid $15 for 1 male, he also had pregnant females, but I was buying this as a pet for my 7 year old so I thought 1 dragon will be enough!
Anywhoo, so my daughter loved handling the brown anole the vendor allowed her to hold. So, she convinced me and I convinced my husband into getting one. Both of us know nothing about owning this reptile. So, we just believed everything the vendor said and didn't ask many questions. The vendor said how we didn't need to clean the aquarium and that we could just place mealworms in the aquarium and the anole would be fed for 4 months. He said if we would go on vacation this would be the best bet and as for water/moisture to just place seran wrap over the lid of plastic aquarium. He did mention that to start with and when we are home we could feed it every other day just baby food (bananas and peaches). He also mentioned live crickets but didn't say when and how often they should have the crickets. I do not want to store the live crickets, I'm too scared to even handle them. I barely touch the anole. My daughter likes to handle the anole, but I think she stressed him out yesterday as it was his first day in our home and she handled him for a while, but the vendor never told us that would not be ok. I looked up info. on the net and it stated not to handle the anole for 3-4 days so that it can get used to its new environment.
What kind of basic info. should I know to care for this little guy, I don't want it to get sick or die. I did go to PetSmart today and was encouraged to buy a lamp with a 40 watt red bulb to keep the anole warm even though its summer and 94 degrees. Do I use this light all day? I don't have the UV bulb yet! I bought hime 4 crickets today and he ate 1 right away, I didn't even get to the counter when he consumed it! I was happy he ate so quickly because the PetSmart worker said he looked lethargic! He hasn't turned brown at all today, he has been a yellowish-green but more green then yellow. He has been drinking the water I spray on the aquarium and I placed a wet paper towel down to help with moisture. I believe his is a baby dragon so he probably needs to eat a lot, but how much/often. i gave him banana baby food yesterday night when we got home with him and today in the morning gave hime the 4 crickets. He ate 2 crickets during the day and 2 more crickets in the afternoon. I gave him a capful of baby food but he just tasted it and that was it! He has NOT turned brown today. My daughter only handled him for a few minutes until I got rid of the gravel that was in his aquarium and I set down a wet napkin as instructed by worker at PS. I will buy Eco Earth woon, but probably when I move him to a bigger Aquarium, but I'm thinking of getting the 5.5 Terranium instead, that way I can place his lights on top of it.

So how am I doing? Any other suggestions/advice? I already spent almost $45 and I thought this little guy and small container was only $15 but after buying him from vendor, I have bought food, a bark hide away, a lamp and bulb. The terranium i want cost $30 so I have to wait to buy it. About how long can I wait? Will he be ok in the tiny aquarium I bought him in for now? The lamp I bought is clamped on a table next to him, facing him directly. Is that ok?

Thank you in advance for any info.

Green Anole Caresheet (Anolis carolinensis)

I would suggest following this caresheet. It gives you advice on how to set up your terrarium and also how to care for this little guy. I will say that the vendor is full if it and you need to educate yourself ASAP. Even though it is 98 degrees outside it won't be that inside which is why you need the heat lamps. You also need to get the uvb bulb asap. He needs that to help digest his food and to keep his bones strong! Also don't waste your time on the baby food. He will eat live insects. Good luck! Also check Craigslist for aquariums or terrariums.

My parents actually bought me my first reptile, also an anole, from a similar kind of thing, when I was probably 14 or 15. I have came a long way since then...

Lets see...
- 99% sure he lied about making no money off them. they are probably wild caught and sold to him in bulk for less than $5 a piece.
- anoles do NOT eat baby food. in fact, they probably won't eat anything that doesn't move.
- not sure how big your anole is, but 4 crickets probably aren't quite enough.
- you should probably let it relax and handle it infrequently for the first week or so at least.
- he will needs UVB, but I don't know much about that since I don't keep anything that requires it now.
- you'll want to make sure the crickets are about half the size of his head. really, keeping crickets is better than having to run to the pet store every other day. buy 50 or 100 of them a little too small, feed them fruits and veggies, grains, cat food, and the gel water stuff (there is a care sheet on crickets too), and it is so much more convenient.
- here's the caresheet on green anoles which should also be helpful if you haven't found it already: Green Anole Caresheet (Anolis carolinensis)

You can also try calling charity shops in your area (ie Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc) for a tank. I got a 50 (or is it 55, I forget) gallon tank with a stand and guinea pig equipment (which I gave to a friend) for $25. The seals were good, the stand was sturdy, and it came with a lid. It was a heck of a deal. Barring that or craigslist, you might see if there is a reptile specialty shop in your area: they tend to have their aquariums a little cheaper, and are generally more knowledgeable than a corporate pet shop (do look for telltale signs that they are good, like active animals, clean enclosures, etc.). If all else fails, check Walmart.com. You can have items shipped to store (or to your house), and I know they have several sizes of aquarium available, and since it is Walmart, the prices will be pretty good. You can also pick yourself up an AccuRite digital thermometer/hygrometer while you're there to measure the heat and humidity inside his tank.

Hello! Welcome to HC!

First of all, if your anole is turning green, it's unlikely that you have a brown anole. You most likely have Anolis carolinensis, the common Green anole.

Can you please post some photos of the anole?

Next, while anoles regularly consume fruit, and should have the option to periodically, the majority of your anole's diet MUST be crickets. Further, you're going to need to gut-load the crickets, as well as dust them with multi-vitamin and calcium plus d3 supplements. Gut-loading means to feed the crickets a healthy supportive diet prior to feeding them to your anole. Gut-loads must be provided at least 24 hours prior to feeding the crickets to the anole. You can use bok choy, sweet potatoes, carrots, alfalfa, escarole, collared greens, romaine lettuce, whole yellow corn (I use ground corn), oats, and the like. It's best to feed organic to the feeder insects since they're sensitive to pesticides. Avoid kale, chard, and spinach as these veggies are high in oxalates which inhibit absorption of calcium. Sweet potatoes and carrots can be high in oxalates too so don't make them a staple.

Here's the pre-made gut-load I use. You just add warm water, then let it harden, like making Jello.

Repashy Superfoods :: RETAIL :: By Product Name :: Bug Burger :: BUG BURGER 4 oz BAG - Repashy Ventures - Distributor Center

As previously mentioned, a UVB bulb is essential, ESPECIALLY for green anoles and other trunk-crown and crown giant Anolis species. You need to get an Exo Terra 5.0 "tropical" bulb. You can use the coil, or the linear fluorescent.

Next, a 5.5 gallon tank is not large enough. A single individual can be housed in a 10 gallon tank, at the minimum, but larger is always better. Larger tanks are essential because they allow for proper thermoregulation. The smaller the tank, the more uniform the temperature gradient.

The two temps you need to be concerned with are the 75*F "cooler" area and the 90*F basking SURFACE temperature. The latter is the temperature of the basking spot, and must uniformly cover the anole from snout to vent.

Also, I'm sorry to say the individual at Petsmart also mislead you to a degree. You only need a night light if the temperature in the tank falls below 65*F. Further, reptiles require full spectrum lighting, so UVA wavelengths in addition to visible light. You can buy a special reptile bulb, but I just use common household incandescent flood bulbs. And, you only need a light if you need to increase the ambient/surface basking temperature to 90*F. If you already have an area in the tank that is 94*F, without the light bulb, then you don't need a light bulb.

Remember, the entire tank CANNOT be 94*F. You need a cooler area of 75*F.

The ambient humidity will be lower around the lights, but should be at least 60% in the cooler areas of the tank.

You cannot use stick-on analogue thermometers to measure the temperatures or humidity. You need to use a digital probe like this one: Shop AcuRite Digital Thermometer with Humidity Gauge at Lowes.com which can be purchased for around $10 to $12 from Wal-mart or Lowe's. I also use an infrared temp gun to measure the basking surface temperature since the probes are hard to position spot on.

Like this one: Pro Exotics :: Temp Guns ::...

You can increase the humidity in the tank by misting several times throughout the day and by restricting air flow through the tank. I accomplish this by covering exposed screen with plastic, plexiglass, or ply depending on the size of the enclosure.

Anoles only drink from water droplets so misting the tank is essential for this reason as well.

Finally, you must offset the lights such that the anole can bask for heat without exposure to UVB.

And please, ask about anything that may be confusing!

It's funny how such a small cheap lizard can be very costly to first set up. Best of luck with the little one hope all goes well Photos once he settles in.

Originally Posted by pandorasbox

Lets see...
- anoles do NOT eat baby food. in fact, they probably won't eat anything that doesn't move.
- you'll want to make sure the crickets are about half the size of his head. really, keeping crickets is better than having to run to the pet store every other day. buy 50 or 100 of them a little too small, feed them fruits and veggies, grains, cat food, and the gel water stuff (there is a care sheet on crickets too), and it is so much more convenient.

Anoles regularly consume fruit in the wild, and can be fed baby food. However, opting for frozen-thawed cut-up fruit chunks is a better idea since there's no added sugar.

I don't encourage feeding cat food to crickets. Cat food is super high in protein and feeding it to insects may contribute to gout in reptiles.

And a full grown male carolinensis can easily consume large adult crickets.

To the OP, feeding larger crickets will decrease the amount you need to feed.

An adult male should eat about 10 crickets about every other day if underweight.

Handling should be avoided for at least the first two weeks.

Stress exacerbates health issues and should be avoided until the anole has recovered. And, they exhibit caudal autonomy, or "drop" their tails, so don't touch its tail.

An anole was my first pet. And boy that 7 dollar lizard needed 100 dollars worth of equipment. Good luck! They are so much fun to watch once you get the right habitat set up!

Originally Posted by AjaMichelle

Anoles regularly consume fruit in the wild, and can be fed baby food. However, opting for frozen-thawed cut-up fruit chunks is a better idea since there's no added sugar.

Not 100% sure about anoles, but I know that a few of the herps that have been through my house would completely snub fruit unless it was freshly misted. One of these guys may correct me, but if he won't eat fruit, try lightly misting the tank after you put fruit in. Also, it helps if the fruit is cut up into fairly small chunks (I don't think it needs to be pureed, though).

Originally Posted by AjaMichelle

Anoles regularly consume fruit in the wild, and can be fed baby food. However, opting for frozen-thawed cut-up fruit chunks is a better idea since there's no added sugar.

I don't encourage feeding cat food to crickets. Cat food is super high in protein and feeding it to insects may contribute to gout in reptiles.

And a full grown male carolinensis can easily consume large adult crickets.

To the OP, feeding larger crickets will decrease the amount you need to feed.

An adult male should eat about 10 crickets about every other day if underweight.

Handling should be avoided for at least the first two weeks.

Stress exacerbates health issues and should be avoided until the anole has recovered. And, they exhibit caudal autonomy, or "drop" their tails, so don't touch its tail.

The cricket care sheet here says cat food. And the green anole caresheet says half the size of the head. I recommended buying them a little too small because they will grow, this way they won't get too big if you are buying several weeks' worth.