Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all...I have a 10 gal. tank and am using it for temporary housing for my 2 green anole's (one is extremely small...i'm thinking juvenile?), long tailed grass lizard, house gecko and a baby tree frog...I know this is 2 many for a long duration of time but assuming I get, say, a 20 gal. tank for them in the next 2-4 weeks, should this be a major problem? Thanks!

-S1N

Let me first say I'm no expert but you should never house multiple species together no matter how big the enclosure or know matter how short the duration. I think it would be cruel to house what you listed together. For one thing they have different needs. The anoles will need special UV lighting where as the house gecko and tree frog are mainly noctural.
My friend has tree frogs and they like cooler temps then the anoles and are nocturnal. (I must say my friend has anoles and tree frogs together but her inclosure is HUGH. Like 6 foot tall and 4 foot wide). Also the anoles and long tailed grass lizard like it warm. Up to the 90's. That would be to warm for a tree frog.
Please reserch the needs of your critters before housing them together like that.

10 gallon? No. Getting a bigger tank? Well, that would be OK if you were to get a custom designed, 1500 gallon tank with multiple heat and humidity sources, and an array of fancy sensors all hooked up to your computer. Then you might also want to get a PhD in herpetology.

Perhaps that's a bit extreme, but not by much.

i was basing them staying tegether mainly on information i received from petco and petsmart where i purchased the lizards...i noticed that all species i've listed were all housed together...i'm actually putting thought into getting another 10 gal tank and placing the tree frog and the house gecko in it...i've had the grass liz n the 2 anoles living comfortabely for the past couple weeks...

THANKS FOR THE INPUT GUYS ;D

S1N

Folks at PETCO and the like often (if not usually) have no idea what they are talking about. Also, they house multiple species together not necessarily because they think it's acceptable to do so for any length of time, but rather simple to save space and cut overhead.

Anoles and long-tails might ignore each other for months, prehaps even years before their is a sudden, tragic problem. The issue is that they have different body language that is mutualy unintelligible. The long-tail won't necessarily understand a subtle Anole signal to move its arse off a basking spot, for example. A couple weeks of no problems in no way should suggest that there won't ever be any problems. And, as the other responded mentioned, different species have different needs. Long It's impossible to get conditions exactly right for anoles and long-tails in a 10 gallon. I would not even put two anoles in a 10 gallon (I wouldn't use a tank that small at all because I have a hard time getting the thermal gradient just right). All that said, if you have to have another species in with anoles, long-tails are probably the least dangerous, but that isn't to say that it's at all a good idea in the long term.

I don't know a great deal about house-geckos, but, as for your plan, I would think that a small tree frog would have little if any interaction with a house-gecko. As janome mentioned, though, there are issues with different temp. requrements.

I know new tanks are expensive. Keep your eye out for garage sale s, check craigs list, etc...you should try to pick up at least a 20 gallon for your anoles and maybee a couple tens for the other critters. If you have the money and the space, go bigger.

Speaking of the anoles, do you know their sex? Is that small one eating well? Does it seem intimidated by the larger anole?

Bookmark this website and give it a thorough reading...

Good luck.
Under the Leaves

hey thanks for the extended response...i'm checking the penny-saver and the like today for a larger tank...;]

about the anoles...the smaller seems to eat enough propportionately to his size...he stays green most of the time...brown occasionally...and he's very lethargic...he moves about the leaves in there basking area frequently though...there is a possibility of him being intimedated by the bigger one though...the larger one is quite active and a lot more agile than the smaller one so ya never know...

i don't really know 2 much about this i'm just giving you my input from my perspective...advice is greatly appreciated ;D

S1N

forgot to answer one of the questions...ooopz...

i think they're both males...they both have red dewlaps and neither have a white mid-dorsal line...the only thing i'm not seeing is the post-vent scales or whatever there called...but from as far as i can tell they're both males...

-S1N

Two males will be a big, big problem. The most likely scenario is that the smaller one will slowly be stressed to death (or actually killed outright) by the dominant male. The death of the smaller male will almost certainly be the end result, especially in such a small tank. I have a 55 gallon which is still too small for two males, in my opinion...

Do read that website thoroughly...

Unfortunately i have to agree with all of the above. It is never a good idea to mix species together. Especially in a tank as small as 10gallons.

If both the anoles really are males i would take one of them back to the store immediately and just keep the one. In fact, i would do that anyway. In my experience, anoles do not do well in two's unless they are both females. Two males will kill each other for sure. And if you have one male with one female the male will often relentlessly chase the female attempting to breed with her until she dies And a 10 gallon tank is too small to add any more anoles so i would return one.

As for the tree frogs and the house gecko's, it would *probably* (and i say that with great hesitation) be ok to leave them together, at least for the time being. But I would do it in a larger tank than a 10, a 20long would be better. The biggest problem with tree frogs is if they are kept too warm it can dry them out and kill them. But house gecko's prefer to be pretty warm...so you can see where the problem occurs.

Overall I would try to get new enclosures for all the animals as soon as possible. It is a great shame you were so misled by Pet Store personalle, unfortunately you had to learn the hard way that it is important to do lots of research (from many different sources) before purchasing any animals. Good luck with everyone! Keep reading and keep posting!

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1.0 green iguana-Deitrich
1.1 Common Boa-Un-Named, Ursula
1.0 Ball Python-Anabell (go figure!)
1.0 Red Tegu-Uteg
1.0 Albino Cal King-Pig
0.1 Mexican Black King-Morticia
1.1 Bearded Dragons-Unnamed, Hanabil
1.0 Albino San Diego Gopher-Unnamed
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1.1 JCP-Milton, Medusa
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1.0 Hypo Okeetee Corn-Unnamed
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0.0.1 Rose Hair Taruntla-Unnamed
2.0 Leopard Geckos-Reptar, Pogo
4.1 cats-Tucker,Poe,Abhib,Emerald, Felicity
0.1 Bullmastiff-Asha

Yeah, I have one male and one female on a 55 gallon. As I type this he is chasing her around the tank. I recently tweaked (increased slightly) the photoperiod and I'm guessing it is causing this increase in breeding behavior. Fortunately, this is nowhere near the problem it would be (in terms of stressing the female) in a 10 gallon. Still, I'm planing on getting another female to take the heat off the one a bit...I expect this to subside in the near future.

I definitely agree that, if you're going to two anoles, they both be female in anything under 40ish gallons...

yea i agreee it is a shame about me being misled...i spent a [bleep]load (excuse the language) of money on the 10 gal. and trying to make it decent for all species only to learn that now i have to spend more money to do it right...doesn't bother me i love all my lizards lol...i'll probably most likely buy a 20 gal for the anoles (i'm attaching pictures of them so you can see them for yourselves) and the grass lizard and leaving the 10 gal. 2 the gecko tree frog...than expanding with another terrarium...eventually...i'll have a seperate one for each speciez...thanks for your input ;D

-S1N

2 anoles

big anole (HomeBoi)

lil anole (YoBoi)

my gf's mom named the anoles lol

1 grass lizard (FootLong - named after length of tail lol)

1 tree frog (nameless)

1 house gecko (nameless)

how do they look to you guys? anybody got any ideas for names for the tree frog n the gecko? lol THANKS!

-S1N

Gosh, I hate to come off like some crotchety old cuss, but I feel I should add that you ought not handle your anoles more than is absolutely necessary. You can't really "tame" them...it just stresses them to handle them...and I must say that those in the picture look a bit stressed.

You seem to have a good attitude about all this, so I'm confident you'll get it all together eventually.

Yea i see what your saying...i'm not quite sure how you can tell when an anole's stressed or what not...but I have been doing research on them and have found many resources have said that occasional handling isn't a problem...I usually just pull them out enough to show someone or just let them crawl around my hand and rest...they seem more happy actually...in the cage the bigger is usually brown while on my hand he quickly turns green...i'm working on getting all of this together...thanks for all your input guys ;D

-S1N

all resources ive seen online say that you should only handle when absolutely neccessary. and the reason that they seem content and turn green on your hand is because of your body heat. by absolutely neccessary they mean when you must transport them because of a vet visit, or a 3-4 month massive cleaning of their enclosure. personally i think my anoles are more interesting in their simulated natural environment, especially when theyre hunting. just what ive found out about handling anyway

i havent had anoles for some years, but the heads on those anoles look a tad large leafy, almost like a knight anoles. anyone htink its possible that they are small or young knights? if they are, 20 gallons will be too small...

Perhaps you had females, which have smaller heads.

nah i think he could do it in a 500 gallon...