Hello

Recently I adopted (rescued would be the more proper term i suppose) a green anole from the PA Renaissance Faire. The care sheet given to me for Sir Ivan (that is his name) was very, very sparse, and, in some respects, completely wrong. The little guy was somewhat of an impulse buy, but I had been wanting a lizard of some sort for a while, so it wasn't entirely random. However, I had no idea that setting up a proper environment for an anole would cost so much (which was my own fault for not doing proper research beforehand.) Nonetheless, I am determined to make a good home for him.

After doing some research, I went to the petstore the other night and purchased a 10 gallon glass tank, put down a soil substrate recommended by the employees, and set up a nice climbing branch and a little log to perch on/hide under. I will also be adding some plants as soon as possible. I've fed him some crickets and I mist one end of the cage regularly with purified water. My concern is this: when I brought him home, he was in a tiny little travel container. He stayed green pretty consistently in there during his short stay. Now that he's in a bigger space, though, he's gone completely brown. He's been brown all day, and I read that this is a sign of stress.

Could he just be adjusting to the new environment, or am I doing something wrong? The tank is located in the same area where his travel-keeper was. He doesn't seem lethargic (he climbs around often,) and he has a healthy appetite and is quite quick to pounce on crickets. He just refuses to turn green!

Perhaps I'm being hasty, as he's only been in here for a day. The reason I am so concerned is that I am not sure if he is drinking, as I am only misting one end of the cage (the designated "cool spot," but I haven't seen him go over in that direction yet to get any water droplets. Also, since money is very tight this week, I wasn't able to purchase a thermometer or humidity meter, so I have NO idea what the temperature/humidity levels are in his cage... I know this is bad but I really don't have a choice until Monday. I have a 60w incandescent bulb set up for him to bask, and I try to keep up with the misting as much as possible, so I hope I'm doing okay...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. My apologies for the wordy post. Thank you in advance!

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