Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi, new herp mommie here,

I've got a baby Brown (TINY critter!) who so far has defied any attempt at naming (nothing sounds right yet). right now it's between Aztec and Slick. s/he sort of got adopted to me a week and a half ago, and I'm trying to learn about proper care. I'm browsing the pages here. I'm paranoid that I'm going to kill the poor critter! way up here in Indiana, s/he's a long way from home!

in the way of housing, I've just got a little 1-gallon critter keeper for now. for her/his size, it seems okay. s/he spends a lot of time basking on the thermometer and clinging to the side of the wall. when s/he gets bigger, I understand I'll want to graduate to a bigger tank.

in the way of feeding, I've got little shreds of lettuce in there, which s/he has seemed to eat periodically because it's been disappearing. I've also put in there crickets, the tiniest ones they could give me. thus far I've gotten 30 altogether.

I know she's been eating at least some of these, because I count fewer than ten in there now.

the thing of it is, most of them are dead.

a Naturalist friend advised me to put a piece of potato in there for them to munch on so as not to starve to death before Aztec eats them. I've got a little piece of sweet potato in there. last time I looked, there was a cricket snacking on it, so I know they're not all starved to death.

I'm concerned that the others are dead, though. could this be indicative of something wrong with the habitat? should I clear them out of there and go get new ones? or is Aztec just saving them for another time?

thanks in advance.

~~Kim
Her Sacred Temple

Hi Kim,

I've addressed your questions in the body below:

in the way of housing, I've just got a little 1-gallon critter keeper for now. for her/his size, it seems okay. s/he spends a lot of time basking on the thermometer and clinging to the side of the wall. when s/he gets bigger, I understand I'll want to graduate to a bigger tank.

***Do you have plants in there? She needs a place to cool off and a place to bask. Are you misting or using a dripper? Water is the most important thing you need to provide.
temps: basking 85-92, over all 80, cool 75
humidity: 50-60%

in the way of feeding, I've got little shreds of lettuce in there, which s/he has seemed to eat periodically because it's been disappearing. I've also put in there crickets, the tiniest ones they could give me. thus far I've gotten 30 altogether.

***anoles don¡¦t eat much in the way of vegetation. They are insectivorous and may eat some fruit (you can put fruit baby food on a little lid or something in the cage. Just don't let it mold, which will happen within a day). The lettuce may be disappearing b/c the crix are eating it and/or it shrivels up quickly and may seem like less.

I know she's been eating at least some of these, because I count fewer than ten in there now.

***have you put all 30 crix in at once?? NO. Not a good thing to do. Crix will eat anything, including your little anole if there is no food. Only put one or two crickets in at a time so you can monitor to see if she is eating. All those crix jumping around is sure to stress her out and they leave a lot of feces around which is not a good thing for obvious reasons.

the thing of it is, most of them are dead.

***get the dead ones out pronto!!

a Naturalist friend advised me to put a piece of potato in there for them to munch on so as not to starve to death before Aztec eats them. I've got a little piece of sweet potato in there. last time I looked, there was a cricket snacking on it, so I know they're not all starved to death.

*** Always provide food for the crix ¡V apple holds up a little longer than potato. You can also use greens, other fruits and veges.

I'm concerned that the others are dead, though. could this be indicative of something wrong with the habitat? should I clear them out of there and go get new ones? or is Aztec just saving them for another time?

***She is trying to adjust to her new home so you need to disturb her as little as possible but get her setup correct. Here is (in my onion) the best site on the web for Anole Care. It is easy to navigate and is VERY comprehensive. Read it all and you will have a good handle on what her needs are.

***As for a name¡KI think you have decided on Aztec ƒº (and for what it¡¦s worth, I like it best, too)

***Hope this helps and congrats on your new critter. Btw, have you owned other herps before?

lele
Anole Care

hi, thanks for your reply.

> ***Do you have plants in there? *snip* Are you misting or using a dripper?

I have a small Bromeliad in there for her to crawl on. I'm also misting with a small spray bottle at least once a day.

> ***have you put all 30 crix in at once??

heh... no. that's over the course of time. but now that I know better, I will only put in a couple at a time.

> ***get the dead ones out pronto!!

will do.

> ***She is trying to adjust to her new home so you need to disturb her as little as possible but get her setup correct.

it looks like I won't be able to give her the ideal habitat at present...the setup is small enough that she won't have one cool end, BUT I do have a little coconut dome she can duck into.

as to lighting...would a Grow-Light do the trick? or do they work on different wavelengths?

also, I read on the site that putting the cage near a window won't do it because the screen and glass will filter out the necessary components. what about screen OR glass? I have it in different windows of my house. also...this will sound weird...what about nylons? will they also filter it out?

> ***As for a name¡KI think you have decided on Aztec ƒº (and for what it¡¦s worth, I like it best, too)

> ***Hope this helps and congrats on your new critter. Btw, have you owned other herps before?

thanks, and no, I'm completely new to herps, so everything I'm learning here is new to me. I didn't come by this intentionally either. Aztec got handed to me one night at work (literally just handed to me) by a couple of guys who came in, saying they'd found her hiding out in one of the plants in the Floral department of my store. not wanting to see her get kicked out into the freezing Indiana wild on her own, I took her home. so far she lives. *fingers crossed*

~~Kim
Her Sacred Temple

I've never kept a brown anole at such a low humidity (long term) so I don't know if it's harmful, but considering it's a brown I'd say it's safer to go with nature and keep humidity at 80%? Maybe 70% for winter and 90% for summer.
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Got hips like Cinderella / Must be having a good shame / Talking sweet about nothing / Cookie I think you're Tame

A good way to get baby geckos to start feeding is to put a cotton swab in some baby food and put the cotton swab right next to there mouth and he should start lapping it up.this is also the way I got my tropical night lizard babies to start eating.hope this helps you out.
nick

I buy enough crickets to feed my anole for about a week and keep them in a separate container which is cleaned at least twice a week. They have egg crate to crawl on and hide in and always have fresh food available and a water source that won't let them drown (as they are prone to do). I feed a couple of crickets twice a day.

Crickets are touchy and will die with the slightest provocation. Too much pesticide residue on their food will kill them, so I feed organic. Any soap residue can kill them, so I either rinse VERY thoroughly, or wash the container with water only. Any bug spray, cleaners, air fresheners, etc used near their enclosure can also kill them.

As long as they have ample food and moisture and no fumes, they do great.
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Torey
1.0 Uromastyx Geyri (Arthur)
0.1 Anolis Carolinensis (Leeloo)
1.0 Betta Splendens (Mr. Miagi)
1.1 Felis Domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)

Yeah, and what's great about that is actually being able to gut-load them with more than just potato.

It's hard to keep crickets long where I live because of ants, but as long as they stay cool and inside they'll live a while and I can make sure they're fed right so they provide the best nutrition for my pets.

I have noticed that with some fruits I haven't had crickets live long, so your post is making me wonder if that had to do with pesticides... I have been having great luck since I started making prepared quantities of food for them and the only veggies I used were baby carrots that were organic AND prewashed. Other greens as well as vitamins, grain, and honey and some other things as well... works for me
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Got hips like Cinderella / Must be having a good shame / Talking sweet about nothing / Cookie I think you're Tame