Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello all, i was wondering about ordering a terrarium kit from black jungle, has anyone ordered from them? my anoles need some plants and i have no idea what to buy for them, so i thought if i got the kit it would take a lot of the guess work out of it. anybody here ever ordered??? would i be better off just going to a local nursery and getting organic soil and tring my luck with some non-toxic house plants? also, how much should i feed my 2 green anoles? i've been throwing in about 6 gut loaded crickets a night, is that enough for 2 lizards, or is it too much? i thougt i read somewhere that they only eat a couple crickets a week somewhere, but mine eat a couple medium to large sized a night. is that normal? they seem to be doing fine. they get brown sometimes, but i think that is because they don't have to many hiding places, they are always green when they don't know i'm looking at them, but when they see activity (me, my kids or my cat) near the cage they change to brown. anybody have any advice for me? thanks, michele

I have never ordered from Black Jungle so I can not help you there, but with the Crickets I think I can help. I put crickets in until mine stops eating every day. She eats around 3-4 every day. So 6 crickets are fine for two as long as the male is not eating all the crickets and leaving her with nothing. (This happens) Anything where they say they should only eat a few every week are lying and most likely just trying to get you to buy one of their Anoles.... "They are cheap and easy to care for, just put them in a plastic critter keeper, mist the walls once a day and feed them once a week. See they are that easy!" (I had a similar experience happen to me) If you have not done so already, go to the site below. Though I did not help with Black Jungle I hope I have answered your cricket question, and I hope the link below helps answer any other questions you might have.
Shaon94
http://www.kingsnake.com/anolecare/

To answer question one, I have never orderded the terrarium kit from Black Jungle, but I have orderded other things from them (including plants). They are a great company and have great products.... But that being said, I would recommed to you that you just go out to the local nursery, home depot, etc, and pick some nice tropical plants. You do not need to worry about toxicity because anoles do not eat plants... Just give them a good hosing off when you get them home to make sure that there are not any chemicals on them. I'm sure the people who work there could even help you to pick out plants that would be good for a terrarium. Anoles likes lots of hiding places (and plants are great for these) and will be much less stressed and happier with them there.

As for feeding... feed them as much as they will eat in a resoanable time period. The reason for that is, you don't want lots of extra crix roaming around the tank causing trouble. But, the more your anoles eat the better.. just means they are good and healthy.

Dave

thanks guys, glad to know someone is watching out for us newbies!