Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know yer all gonna say that green anoles are nothing like chameleon's and only change their color dependent on mood..well I've had mine for about 4 months now..give or takea, and I've done some extensive studying on mine... and my results are that in a past life he may have been a chameleon..
his tank consists of large and small sticks all medium brown in color, and bark substrate (I keep meanign to change that, but he's had no problems with it) he has a large fake plant in there he likes to sit on alot during the day and sleep on... and a small water dish.. that he'll even come to if I do an aggresive drip with the water bottle....
IF the anole's color IS dependent on mood, I have a retarded anole, just to make that clear before we get started.This is what i've observed over 4 months and its been consistent
When he is up on the leaves, he is bright green... if he comes down for any reason, boredom, just wants to jump around, maybe a drink, chase a cricket, etc... he always turns brown when he gets to the sticks... usually almost right away...when he's done his business and heads back up to the leaves.. he turns bright green again..now I thought
Maybe he just doesn't like moving..maybe he's lazy..but occassionally when I see him hanging out on one of the branches, or very rarely (usually if he hangs out near the waterdish I've seen him do that like twice in the 4 months) he's always brown.. when he goes onto the glass and there isa green background..he turns green, but if its brown where he is..he stays brown..its craziness I tell you...
now if he's turning brown because of his mood, then he's kind of dumb because he hangs out in places that don't make him happy sometimes.. and for quite a long time ... has anyone else taken the time to monitor the color closely to see if this happens with your anole? I'll be moving a real plant into his tank in the near future I've been growing a philadendrom (sp?) from a piece someone gave me, and its' getting pretty good.
Yes I've been through the anole care sheet and he's got everything required in there..so he shouldn't be suffering from his environment...
he's well fed.. 2-3 crickets/day depending on how many I can coax outta the mini-terrarium I keep em in.. he hasn't show any signs of illness (not that I can afford a vet for more extensive testing) but his skin looks good, he doesn't have any spots, other odd behaviour, etc... all his other behaviour seems normal from what I can tell... and the pictures I've seen he looks to be a fairly average anole otherwise...

Hi there,

You mentioned you read "the care sheet" - which one? If you have not visited this site before www.kingsnake.com/anolecare/index.htm I think you should - it is jam packed with anything you ever wnated to know about anoles! LOL. In particular check out the "About" section, "General" and "Physiology" for more discussion on color change. I have 2 green and one brown - and of course my brown is always brown - but my greens are sometimes green on a brown branch, brown on a green leaf, sometimes almost 1/2 and 1/2. As for chams, their color changes are also due to mood, stress, domination, contented, etc.

Anoles do not only respond to "mood" (stress, etc.) but to temperature variants, light, and other causes. So he may be greener while basking and brown while enjoying the shade. One of mine seems to prefer the cooler side of the cage and is almost always brown.

I'm with you on watching them and trying ot "figure them out!" All the ectotherm (cold blooded) critters fascinate me!

Enjoy that site!

lele

by mood I meant stress and conditions..i.e. if he's not happy with his conditions (too hot/cold not enough humidity) Iv'e been told thats usually when they are brown...

but he is exclusively green on green and brown on brown..the only time he's brown up on the green leaves.. is if I forget to clean him and leaves a mess on his leaves..once I clean em off, next time he's up there he's green again...
part of his leaves are shaded (not under the light) and and some under the light... also some fall directly under the UVB light...
the sticks as well are partially under the light and not.. and I haven't observed a difference yet for my anole...

Do you have a separate basking light as well that gets an area up to 95 degrees?

I hope you didn't mis-read my reply as judgemental in any way! It was a combination of FYI and my own curiosity as to how others have their setups

funny, as a kid when I had anoles (Everyone called them chameleons back then - in the 60's - the word anole didn't exist in the mainstream pet trade) they seemed to be consistent in their color change as you describe.

I think, for me anyway, one of the most fascinating things about heprs is their behavior. Maybe it's b/c we relate better to other mammals that the herps seem so different. Had I known my fascination earlier I probably would have gone in for aniaml behavior as a career! I rear a number of moths and other insects as a hobby and I can watch them for hours, too!

lele

>>by mood I meant stress and conditions..i.e. if he's not happy with his conditions (too hot/cold not enough humidity) Iv'e been told thats usually when they are brown...
>>
>>but he is exclusively green on green and brown on brown..the only time he's brown up on the green leaves.. is if I forget to clean him and leaves a mess on his leaves..once I clean em off, next time he's up there he's green again...
>>part of his leaves are shaded (not under the light) and and some under the light... also some fall directly under the UVB light...
>>the sticks as well are partially under the light and not.. and I haven't observed a difference yet for my anole...