Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,
I own two anoles and I read that anoles generally do not like drinking from standing water. I read about this rock water dish that has an air stone pump that make bubbles in the water, making the water more attractive to the anoles. Does anybody have this? And does it work?

Right now, I have a Little Dripper system. It works ok, but I put a bowl underneath it to catch the water so it doesn't get on the Repti-Bark. Also, if the repti-bark gets a little water-logged, is this a threat to the anoles, meaning will they get sick from mold or mildew or whatever?

Also, my two anoles are GREEN anoles, but they haven't changed back to green for about 5 days. They are brown and this is before I introduced my butterfly agama into their environment. The cage they are in is a 40 gallon tank, so I think they have enough space to roam.

Any suggestions on both topics?

Besides space what else do you provide your anoles? Anoles are brown for many different reasons and with the more info you provide the better we can assist you. You may need to take the agama out temporarily if you haven't had the anoles in the tank by themselves for long enough.

That bubbling rock you described sounds wonderful but it still may take a few weeks for the anoles to figure out what it's for. Hands down misting is the best way to provide them water. I have a waterfall in my tank but they didn't start drinking out of it until they saw the Day Gecko do it but they still don't use it all the time. I believe the Little Dipper is more for creatures like Day Geckos but that's just because I've never seen my anoles use it. I have one too but it's only really good function is as a way to creatively refill the waterfall.

How do you keep your water dish from overflowing if the Little Dipper is on all the time? At least that's the way it's supposed to be used because anoles will only drink from something like that when they want to which may not be when you are around. Soggy substrate will allow mold to grow which is harmfull to most living creatures. A good way to keep it from being totally soaked is to have a drainage layer of gravel underneath the substrate. Also keeping the tank a little warmer will allow the excess water to evaporate more quickly.