Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i bought two green anoles 3 days ago in the aftermath of my hamsters death and have made multiple trips to pet store and modifications to their enclosure. the setup is quite long and detailed so i wont list it here unless someone asks or would like to see if they can recommend anything else for me. my question is my anoles have red snouts. i havent found this explained anywhere ive looked so far, i dont know if its natural or if its a sign of sickness. any help would be appreciated.

Im just taking an educated guess here, but I would say that red nose area has come from rubbing their noses on the glass enclosure.

Hopefully they will be less inclined to do this in your set-up.

If you haven't already, check out this site for a very comprehensive break-down of anole needs in captivity.
Under the Leaves

i have checked it out and my setup matches it almost exactly.

Good. In that case you're doing better than 90% of anole keepers out there.

What size tank do you have?

Do you know the sex of the two anoles?

Size: 20 gallon long

Lighting: Repti-Glo 5.0 backed by a Sun-Glo 50 watt tight beam for basking area

Humidity: In tank waterfall with pump setup. ultrasonic fogger installed.

Foliage(fake): One standing plant, 3 vine type plants that suction to side of tank. (installed these just today and the anoles havent left them since

Climbing: One rather large(takes up on third of the tank) branch kinda thing. Reminds me of a tree root as it digs into the ground.

Substrate: Fir bark (will switch to soil most likely when i get the chance, but i figure ill wait a bit for them to get used to enclosure before i totally tear it down and put a new ground in it.

My temprature at basking spot(right side of tank) is about 93-95. the surrounding area is 90-92. the middle of the tank is about an 80-90 degree temprature. the far left of the tank, the waterfall area, is about 75-85, room temprature. The waterfall looks nice, has a nice running water sound which prolly helps generate a more natural feel, and i hear they LOVE running water from everyone ive read. My humidity was about 40-50% before i misted. about 70-80% after but shortly fell back to 40-50. the waterfall keeps the humidity in wet area about 60-70% now, and if i turn on fogger it jumps to 80%. I use fogger in the morning to simulate a fresh morning dew, and when my humidity needs a bump up. my main UV light is the repti-glo tube. my heat source is the spotlamp which i have targeted at a portion of the log thing about 4-6 inches away from bulb. it heats surrounding area, and it dissipates as it gets closer to water side, so im rather proud of my ability to maintain the three zones i may or may not get another vine type plant. i plan to add two more sets of gauges in each of the three zones so instead of moving them around i can constantly monitor each.

one im almost certain is male. it has all of the signs cept the post-anal scales. havent been able to look that closely. the other one is smaller, but never gets on the glass so i can check it out. im 90% sure its female cause my buddy said if they were two males, one would be dead by now. also the larger one does the dewlap mating call thing, the smaller one bobs its head, no dewlap thing tho, and runs away when the larger one starts walking towards it. im thinkin it could be that the smaller one is female but doesnt wanna mate, or it could be male and just not trying to contest the other one. my basis for saying the smaller is female is due to the fact that they sit together. came home from work they were both laying on top of each other on the side of the glass, lookin as content as can be. doesnt seem to me like the kinda behavior two males fighting for dominance would show.

I would make a few suggestions if you don't mind:

You might want to switch to Zoo Med's "Reptisun" 5.0 UVB. Several studies have shown that this is the best bulb on the market.

Is that basking light one of those enhanced UVA lights? If so, it's ok, but you can get a cheaper bulb next time as your flourescent will provide sufficient UVA. Well, at least a "Reptisun" will.

For basking, I have, and highly reccomend, one of those ceramic elements that screws into a regular incandescent socket. It produces no light so I can have it on at night (I have a larger, 55 gallon in a cool room). They are somewhat expensive, but they last FAR FAR longer than an incadescent bulb. My has been running continuously for 3 years.

It does sound as if you have a male and a female. In addition to what you've mentioned, take a look at the relative size of their heads. Males have more robust, longer heads, than do females, relative to the size of their bodies.

Lastly, you may want to consider a larger tank at some point. 20 is, in my mind, bare-bones minimum for two anoles. Even though a male and a female will not stress each other as much as two males (obviously), a male will still bully a female. If she starts hiding-out all the time and losing weight, you may have to seperate them or quickly obtain a larger tank. I have a male and a female in my 55. This is bigger than necessary, but my female is still stressed by the male a little more than I would like.

Also, it can be a little easier to get a proper thermal gradient in a larger tank. And, you have the tools to keep the humidity at proper levels in a larger tank.

Sounds like you are on top of things...

Post a pic sometime.

the larger of the two, the male, has been brown every minute its been here cept while sleeping. today i get home from work, and hes green! i hear that anoles who stay green are supposedley happy anoles. Both of mine were green today when i came home so im happy. he turned brown when he got on basking log in hot portion of tank. I honestly think my female turns colors to match whats beneath her. shes brown on the log, green on the plants, and when she was on my fountain, which is a clay kinda brown, she turned a pretty good match. Ive read tons of theories on why the change from green to brown, and ive heard that some have done it seemingly on purpose. my personal opinion is maybe some can do this cause theyre are adapting to the environment as per evolutionary theory. And as much as id like a larger tank, alas i have no room or budget i think my 20 will do cause its got tones of plants n logs branch things so they can easily stay away from each other if they do get in a tussle. also they have a few times been laying together so i dont think getting along is a problem. will look into Reti-Sun bulb, my pet store didnt have that brand, only Repti-Glo. Will also look into ceramic heat bulb. Thanks for the suggestions i want to keep my little guys happy.

Well, they should be green more often then they are brown. Color change occurs for complex reasons in anoles: body temp, level of excitation, health, etc...if they are frequently a darker color while perched on a darker surface, It would make sense to me that they are simply a little cool, and are trying to warm up. Darker surfaces will absorb more heat, as will darker anoles. Likewise, they may frequently be lighter (green) while perched on surfaces that are not retaining as much heat. This may explain why they often "seem" to be purposefully matching the background. When they warm up (and if they are healthy and relaxed) they will turn green.

Sounds like your anoles finally settled down from the stress of being introduced to a new environment.

Your understanding of biological evolution is a little on the Lamarckian side. See the following for an explanation of evolutionary biology:
Introduction to Evolutionary Biology

perhaps i should, its been uhhh 5 years since ive had any evolutionary theory, and that was high school stuff in a catholic high school no less so its prolly lousy anyway. im just guessing at why some say they do change seemingly on purpose, someone mentioned one doing it while hunting in this forum somewhere. but my belief on why they change is with yours, to thermoregulate themselves and their body temp. imma hafta watch my female tho, she doesnt seem to hunt crickets. shes not thin or behaving like shes sick. a little time will tell. they also seem to stay away from the waterfall, ive never seen them drink from it, then again they dont go hog wild when i mist the cage so maybe they do drink from it and i just havent seen them yet.

Perhaps you could introduce some silkworms to your female. 1/2" and smaller silkworms are available on the internet. They really stimulate anoles to eat...might also try some waxworms which are a little fatty (but very nutritious) for frequent feeding, but they make a nice treat on occasion. Anoles generally love them..