Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We just purchased two of these guys from a reptile show, but can't seem to find exactly which species they are. I know there are a few different kinds of Knight Anoles and was hoping that these guys will get to be a pretty good size. Both are about the same size, but one has a bigger dewlap and a crest on his neck/back that he can "push up" when ever he wants to. Is there any way to check for male/female differences? Do females have dewlaps too? Any help or comments would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!

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1.2 leopards( 1 tremper albino,1 high yellow, 1 tang)1.0 African fattail,0.1 pink toe tarantula,1.0 mexican red knee tarantula,1.0 albino sonoran gopher,1 eastern painted turtle,0.1 sun conure,55 gallon freshwater, and two chihuahuas.

I don't think there's different kinds of Knights (A. equestris), but I do know that they have a few different common names (Western, Cuban, etc).

What size of enclosure are you keeping them in? These are a very aggresive species, and 2 males should not be housed together, and a male and female, or 2 females will require a fairly large enclosure-I'd say minimum 55 gallons.

Both males and females have dewlaps, but the male's tends to be larger, and both sexes will bob. Some almost definite ways to sex them:
1) look under the vent, the opening of the cloaca (anus), for 2 visible scales (postanal scales)
2) look for a hemipenile bulge
3) pronounced labial scales
Your only 100% sure way would be to take them to the vet.

looks like a cuban

>>We just purchased two of these guys from a reptile show, but can't seem to find exactly which species they are. I know there are a few different kinds of Knight Anoles and was hoping that these guys will get to be a pretty good size. Both are about the same size, but one has a bigger dewlap and a crest on his neck/back that he can "push up" when ever he wants to. Is there any way to check for male/female differences? Do females have dewlaps too? Any help or comments would be greatly appreciated!

That's looks to me based on the numerous photos of different
Anoles species I've begun to accumulate to be a Cuban Knight
Anole (Anolis equestris). Except for the fact that the photo
of yours shows him to be in an active daylight bright green
coloration he looks exactly the same as a photo I have of a
Cuban Knight Anole. To be sure here are some more specifics
of the Cuban Knight Anole that you can use to see if they match
your Anoles:
It can reach 20" in length and a big part of that is in its
massive head size. They have a yellow stripe beneath the eye and
another over the shoulder. The scales are larger than those of
other lizards (which from the photo of yours appears to be the
case with almost tile-like sized scales). They can bite
"fiercely and painfully".
If you hold a mirror up to a male he will flare his
dewlap/throat fan at his "rival". They should not be housed
in anything less than a 55 gallon tank and should be only one
to a tank as they are very agressive with one another. Do not
house them with Green Anoles as they will eat Green Anoles. They
can eat *lots* of crickets per day, full-grown grasshoppers and
occasionally small mice. Sometimes they will eat fruit cocktail
and some specimens are "inordinately fond of grapes".
Female Anoles commonly have a quite noticeable white stripe
running right along the top of their back that is quite
noticeable in many of the photos I have of different species of
female Anoles. That combined with that "hold a mirror up to
them trick" should give you some resonable idea of the gender
of your newest aquisitions. The literature I have on Anoles
says that if you have the room to house them and can keep them
well fed, Cuban Knight Anoles are a very a striking
and rewarding lizard to keep and care for in captivity. How
much did they charge you for them, if I may ask? Peace.

Lizard~King

Female A. equestris never have a white dorsal stripe. They have the same serrated crest as the males. Generally, the female's head is a bit pointier and not as broad across the back of the skull. Post anal pores and hemipenal bulges are the easiest way to sex males.

Lisa

Lisa:
>>Female A. equestris never have a white dorsal stripe. They have the same serrated crest as the males. Generally, the female's head is a bit pointier and not as broad across the back of the skull. Post anal pores and hemipenal bulges are the easiest way to sex males.

Ke aloha no, Lisa:

I disagree. Can you provide documented literature, a book, an online source, a website, etc... that backs up your statement that "Female Anolis equestris *never* have a white middorsal stripe"? While the amount of information currently available on sexing Anoles is almost non-existent, the little bit of literature that does exist on how to determine an Anole's sex all indicates that there are dimorphic differences in Anoles.
As far as the commonly given advice that the "best way to sex a
male Anole is by checking for Post anal pores and hemipenal bulges" I have found so far that doesn't work for almost every hobbyist Anole keeper I've come across. IOWs it's pretty much
useless advice and hobbyist Anole keepers, myself included, are
unable to tell with any degree of certainty what the sex of an Anole is by using that suggested method.
The only way I know with any certainty that my male Green Anole is in fact a male is because he has a pronounced dewlap/throat fan which he displays frequently and he does not have a middorsal light/white stripe common in many female Anole
species. However, if you can and will provide references that I
can look up myelf that back up your statement I am all ears as I
am most eager to learn exactly how one can go about sexing Anoles with a bit more certainty. Thanks. Peace.

Lizard~King

I'm a crawling King Snake and I rule my den!

You are absolutely wrong! Dewlaps and white dorsal stripes are the LEAST reliable way to sex most Anoles. Besides, most Caribbean species don't follow any particular standards. However, those that have hemipenile bulges are definitely males. The bulges are caused by the male sex organs and an Anole without male sex organs are females. The enlarged postanal scales are another definite males characteristic in those species that have them. There are a number of Caribean species that are dimorphic and that is the best way to tell them apart. However, those Caribbean Anoles that follow the A. carolinensis pattern of sexual charactistics also share the male characteristics found in that species.

We are well prepared for the possible sizes of our new editions but it was important that we knew exactly what we were dealing with being that these anoles are so different from our natives here in Georgia. The more and more we look at it we tend to agree that it really does resemble anolis equestris. The SV length on these guys right now are about the same at three and a half and total length of no more than 6 3/4(estimation). So i am assuming that these are juviniles.
Lizard~King, it stated in your post that they can get 20". That is the total length right? If that is SV length, then I am going to need something bigger than a 55 gallon! Hehehe... By the way King, we paid 7 dollars a piece for them. We got them at a recent puny reptile show (no joke, there were less than 9 vendors). They are doing fine, both eating alot of crickets and the occassional wax worm but still have yet to hit a meal worm. We will keep them on mostly crickets though.
Below is another picture I found on someones site of a.equestris and it does resemble ours very much.
Once again yall, thank you very much for the replies! I am sure we will have more questions to follow in the near future.
Thanks again!
Severa
anolis equestris

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1.2 leopards( 1 tremper albino,1 high yellow, 1 tang)1.0 African fattail,0.1 pink toe tarantula,1.0 mexican red knee tarantula,1.0 albino sonoran gopher,1 eastern painted turtle,0.1 sun conure,55 gallon freshwater, and two chihuahuas.

I have a huge Knight anole that lives in my yard (well lives in area I see lots in my yard). Its great looking and chases the green small anoles.
I find them fascinating first time I saw it ran. It scared me never saw an anole so huge. Than found out from my neighbor who knows what it was.
Its nice to see it here and there 2 years and still see it tho rarely.