Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I finally took pics of my anole tank. It is a full paludarium with land, cliff ledges, trees, a creek, waterfalls, rapids, and three pools of water. I have a good sized school of fish, some snails, and two anoles in there.

For plants, I have some ficus trees, a fern, moss, banana croton, lichen, pothos, air plants and various water plants.

The anoles spend most of their time in the trees and hiding behind the trees or on the ledges. But, they come down to feed. Well, pounce down is more like it. Poor insects and worms, it's death from above!

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1.0 Common Snapping Turtle (Goliath)
1.0 Brown Anole (Anubis)
1.0 Green Anole (Baal)
1.1 Great Basin Collared Lizards (Amon, Amaunette)
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula (Spiega)
1.0 Chesapeake Bay Retriever (Logan)
0.1 Spoiled Mutt (Storm)

Interesting.

Do you have a UVB light for them? DO they have a sufficiently warm basking spot? How do you deal with feeding them in that environment...lots of drowned crickets? Or perhaps the fish take care of that? How do you maintain a correct air temp gradient and not overheat the water?

Yes, the UV lights are at the top. It keeps the top shelf plenty warm enough for basking. The temperature gradient runs top to bottom instead of side to side.

Feding is a bit of a pain. I prefer using worms (silk, wax, or butter) because they are slower, but crickets work, too. Usually, the anoles catch them before they get a chance to drown, but not always. I clean up with tweezers, as the fish cannot eat them unless they are small.

Actually, the water is underheated. I use a water heater to keep the water temp up to where I want it.

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1.0 Common Snapping Turtle (Goliath)
1.0 Brown Anole (Anubis)
1.0 Green Anole (Baal)
1.1 Great Basin Collared Lizards (Amon, Amaunette)
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula (Spiega)
1.0 Chesapeake Bay Retriever (Logan)
0.1 Spoiled Mutt (Storm)

What is your basking spot heat source? A flourescent UVB obviously will not get a spot up to 90F

You feed lots of silkworms in lieu of crickets or roaches? The other worms are unsuitable for regular feeding.

Looks cool, though it seems problematic to me.

I keep the temps cooler in the winter. It is about 80 during the day and 70 at night. The anoles cut down their food intake and are less active. I'm watching their weight closely and making sure they still eat occasionally. I offer food every couple of days. Sometime it is taken, sometimes it isn't.

I primarily feed silkworms and crickets, supplementing with the occasional waxworm or butterworm. I tried roaches, but found them to be too much of a PITA. I know some people have had success with babyfood, but mine won't eat it.

Yeah, it is a little bit of a challenge, but I enjoy the extra effort it takes to get it to work. The plants are more of a challenge than the lizards!

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1.0 Common Snapping Turtle (Goliath)
1.0 Brown Anole (Anubis)
1.0 Green Anole (Baal)
1.1 Great Basin Collared Lizards (Amon, Amaunette)
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula (Spiega)
1.0 Chesapeake Bay Retriever (Logan)
0.1 Spoiled Mutt (Storm)

So, you 're not using an incandescent bulb or ceramic element to create a basking spot?

Not in the winter, no.

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1.0 Common Snapping Turtle (Goliath)
1.0 Brown Anole (Anubis)
1.0 Green Anole (Baal)
1.1 Great Basin Collared Lizards (Amon, Amaunette)
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula (Spiega)
1.0 Chesapeake Bay Retriever (Logan)
0.1 Spoiled Mutt (Storm)