Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys...well the situation is...my one anole stays brown a good 80% of the time...if not more...even when I keep the light on for the 14 hours i'm supposed to...the only time he has a massive change of skin color is when I take him out and hold him...I know it's because of my body heat or what not (green when warm...brown when cold or moody)...now my question is...if my body heat makes him warm...why doesn't the lighting I keep on him make him warm? I have a 75 watt incandescent bulb sitting atop the wire cage for 14-16 hours a day...usually off for the 8-9 i sleep...than back on the AM when I wake up...any advice would be appreciated...thanks! ;D

-S1N

What is the temperature in their enclosure? Do you have a thermometer in there? If not, you should get one and measure the heat. Their hot spot should be in the high 80's.

Anoles can also stay brown if they are stressed. Is this the smaller of the two? If so, does he spend any time under the heat lamp, or does the other anole spend all his time there? Is the bigger anole chasing the smaller one around at all? If any of these things are happening than your little guy is probably really stessed from being in such a small tank with another anole, especially since you dont know the sex of them.

Check the temperature and if it is not high enough, raise it...if you watch and notice that the larger anole is chasing the smaller one a lot or that he is spending all his time under the heat lamp then the smaller one might be stressed and you should try bringing the larger one back to the store and give the small one some time to feel better.

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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
0.1 Hermans tort-Esio
1.1 JCP-Milton, Medusa
1.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn-Unnamed
0.1 Snow Corn-Unnamed
1.0 Hypo Okeetee Corn-Unnamed
0.1 Motley Okeetee-Unnamed
1.0 Western Hoggie-Wyrm
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

to the best of my knowledge they are both males...they both have red dewlaps and neither have a white mid-dorsal line...the only thing i'm not seeing to prove they are males is the post-vent scales...

the larger of the 2 is the one that is staying brown...he spends quite some time under the heat lamp...he runs aruond the cage and 'plays' or what not...but he doesn't chase the smaller one around @ all...

the smaller of the 2 is just the opposite of the large one...i've only seen his skin change to brown maybe twice...he stays bright green 80% of the time where-as the larger stays brown most of the time...

you may be right...stress could be the factor here...now as far as the thermometer goes...how exactly do i measure the temp...just hold it under the light for a few moments?

Thanks!

-S1N

Buy a thermometer from your local petstore that sticks inside the cage. I think the ones witht he needles are more acurate than the "strip" ones, and they are only slighty more expensive.It is best to have two thermometers, one under the heat source and one on the other side.

Some anoles just stay brown more often than others, for no apparent reason. But if they are both males, for the sake of the lizards PLEASE return one. Male anoles should never be housed together unless the tank is huge, and i mean HUGE like more than 55gallons.

I believe you stated you got your anoles from either Petsmart or Petco, both of these places have a two week guarentee and should take one of the lizards back. If its past the two weeks than they should except them back anyway, and just not give you the money back. You should see a dramatic improvement if you remove one of the anoles. Call the pet store and make sure they will take it back, and bring one anole back...at the same time, buy a couple of thermometers for your enclosures.

Keep posting! We will get this all sorted out
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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
0.1 Hermans tort-Esio
1.1 JCP-Milton, Medusa
1.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn-Unnamed
0.1 Snow Corn-Unnamed
1.0 Hypo Okeetee Corn-Unnamed
0.1 Motley Okeetee-Unnamed
1.0 Western Hoggie-Wyrm
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

yea it's past the 2 weeks...it may sound wierd but i've grown kind of attached to my lizards lol...i'll just buy a new tank for them and house them seperately and see how that works out...thanks for your input...;]

i'll be sure and pick up a few thermometers next time i'm @ the petstore...thanks again ;D

-S1N

Are you supplying sufficient UVA/UVB lighting in addition to the heat?
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Got hips like Cinderella / Must be having a good shame / Talking sweet about nothing / Cookie I think you're Tame

I have a 75 watt incandecent bulb...i keep it on there basking area for at least 16 hours a day...off @ night...the temperature in the basking area is roughly 84-86 degrees...

thanks!!

-S1N

You need a UVA/UVB lamp over a screen top. Flourescents are the most widely used, but they have to be for this purpose and have to be changed around every six months.

Sunlight is far better, but not always an option. And the UV light won't penetrate well through glass or plastic, so you have to place the lamp over the mesh lid. For sunlight, it would have to be a tank that is at least 2 sides (top not included) of screen so as to not overheat.

Without the UV lighting, most, if not all, diurnal reptiles are not able to produce the vitamin D3 needed for calcium absorbtion. I think UVB in particular, or UVB more so than UVA, but I can't remember right now. A simple Google search should yield results, and there is information about this on the anole site linked to by Kingsnake (in the caresheets section).

Appropriate lighting is essential--improper lighting is a very common cause of metabolic bone disease.
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Got hips like Cinderella / Must be having a good shame / Talking sweet about nothing / Cookie I think you're Tame

my larger green anole stays brown all the time while hes awake. he sits on a log under the basking lamp all the time that ive seen. when its time for bed he moves to the leaf area of my tank and goes to sleep. only when hes sleeping or in the plants is he ever green. He's perfectly happy id imagine cause my setup is pretty good. Does he sit under the lamp all the time like mine? if so hes prolly brown all the time to soak in all the heat he can get.

yea he stays under the basking lamp on the top of the tree type thing i have for them to bask on...he occasionally hangs from the cage top and runs around the bottom of the tank like he's playing...and of course he comes down to eat

-S1N