Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A couple of years ago, when I was young, i won a green anole at a county fair. we brought it home and set up a cage for him and fed him crickets. If i found any crickets from outside i would put them in the cage to. We also gave him plants. One day in late summer i found a big grasshopper and put him in my anoles cage. instead of eating him they would just stare at him. Eventually my anole let the grasshopper climb on him. the grasshopper lived until december and after it died my anole seemed depressed. We tried getting new anolis but he wouldnt interact with them the way he interacted with the grasshopper. Though it was an interesting story, anyone have any stories like that?

Actually yes, My friends anole had the same reaction. The green anole never ate the grasshopper. It just let him crawl on him and bounce on him. Then his anole died. But that was a different story.

unfortunately, I don't think those are good stories to have. Anoles do not become "friends" with their prey. If a prey item is too large, an anoles may not try and eat it, and if the enclosure is too small and the anole is too stressed, it may be not react when something is crawling on it. This is not a sign of friendship. It is a sign that your anoles is not healthy. This is why your anole did not appear "happy" after the grasshopper died. Your anoles was probably too stressed at that point to get any better. And that is probably why anole in the second story died.

Dave