Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Now it is that I have a big terrarium originally indended for Austrailian Waterdragons, but that doesn't seem to happen, so I'm looking in to Anoles. The terrarium is about 4.5 f high 2.6 feet deep and 4.5 long/wide and around 400 gallons if I remember correctly. Now to the questions:
1. Is that too big for, maybe, three anoles? I guess it couldn't bee too big, but I still got to ask
2. I've heard about UV and UVB and that such spotlights can be bad for anoles (http://www.kingsnake.com/anolecare/index.htm) and I currently own a new, never been used, 100W ZooMed Powersun, can I not use this?
3. How much does an adult anole eat (approximetly) a week in, let's say crickets?
4. Will there be a problem for me to keep 1 male and 2 female anoles, that the females wil be stressed out from mating? Do they "constantly" mate/breed or do they take breaks? I also read that during a few weeks during the year you can give the females a break and cool down the temperatures to around 70 degrees farenheit and thereby prevent breeding, is this accurate?
5. I just read something about that the branches in the terrarium shouldn't be thicker than the anoles body, it doesn't seem to make any sense, but is it true?
6. Are there any good anole books out there? From what I have heard Ray Hunzikers book wasn't very good and Philippe De Vosjolis book was ok, but I haven't heard anything about the Bartlett book(Who I own a few books by, and they are all good) that is also fairly new.

Thanks in advance
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CokeOfMan

An enclosure that size would be "Anole Heaven" for three Anoles. It would provide enough space for more than three but a trio would be very much at home in something that big.
You could probably use a PowerSun in an enclosure that size but a couple of ZooMed ReptiSun 5.0 UVA/UVB bulbs would be better. You can use regular incandescent light bulbs for heat.
Anoles are opportunistic feeders and will eat as much as they can when food is available. They will generally eat about two prey items per feeding. They can be fed either daily or every other day. As a rough measure, count on about a dozen crickets per week per Anole when they are actively feeding. They will reduce consumption during the winter. They can also be fed waxworms every so often (high in fat content), roaches (as a substitute for crickets), or various wild caught insects in seasn. Go to "The Anole Forest" and read the article on wild caught insects.
You can reduce the temperature and light duration to simulate winter and then induce breeding when you increase both. Female Anoles breed in the spring, male Anoles think every season is spring!
If you maintain them in an enclosure as large as yours and keep it heavily planted with either real or artificial plants to provide a bunch of hiding places, the females will be able to avoid the male when they want to. Just be prepared for the inevitable offspring!
Branches in the enclosure shoud be AT LEAST as big as the Anole's body diameter. Bigger ones are fine.
I haven't read the Bartlett book but the Vos Joli book is the best of the lot. I hope this wnswers your questions.

It did answer my questions, thanks. Just one more question:
Can you feed earthworms (Chopped into smaller pieces maybe?) to Anoles? From my experience they can be great feeders, especially if they are gutloaded with calcium.
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CokeOfMan

Earthworms are not recommended. Anoles are almost exclusively insectivorious

This is my favorite site to recommend. He is a little fanatical but fanatical is good! I learned so much from this site that I never had to go anywhere else.
Anole Care

Try "The Anole Forest". It is just about as good and a whole lot less "political".