need help

[daniel hecht]

hey i found this lizard in a shipment of plants. i work at a greenhouse. i need help to identify it so i can provide a proper habitat for it. if you could help id really appricate, it is very small only 2 inches from nose to tip of tail

 

[Amanda1]

I would say that is a Cuban brown anole. I've never kept anoles, but I used to catch them all the time in Florida, and I believe they're fairly easy to take care of. You should be able to find some info online, or maybe someone else will chime in soon. Good luck!

 

[daniel hecht]

thank you very much! i will research them and go from there. i really appricaite the reply!

 

[Amanda1]

So after a quick google search, this is what I found. They don't need a ton of space, and since this one is small you could easily house him in a 5 or 10 gallon aquarium. Use potting soil or moss as a substrate, or eco earth (ground coconut fiber) would work well if you can find it (petstores have it). They need humidity, so make sure the substrate stays damp and mist 2-3 times per day. Day temps in the mid 80s, nights in the mid to high 70s (think Florida weather). You'll need to provide UV light, and a small tube UV light should be fine. They eat bugs (crickets, worms, fruit flies, basically anything really); since this one is small the bugs will also have to be small. You should be able to find small crickets or fruit fly cultures at most pet stores. I don't think he's big enough for mealworms yet. A general rule is you don't want to feed him anything that is bigger than the space between his eyes.

Let us know if you have any questions!

 

[daniel hecht]

wow thanks! well the space between the eyes is like 1/32 of an inch so what would you suggest for food that small? im sure she hasnt ate in a while since he came in with a shipment of pointsettas from a green house in NJ i really want to help this little guy out i have access to moss and uv lights from the green house and have a 20gal tank shes already in. again thank you for your help!

 

[Amanda1]

I would feed her pinhead crickets if you can find them, or fruit flies. I've only ever seen pinheads at reptile shows around me, but if you have a reptile supply store you could look there. Most pet stores now are selling fruit fly cultures (make sure you get wingless so they don't end up all over your house). I've also heard some people feed them fruit-flavored baby food. I would not do this on a regular basis because it doesn't have all the nutrients your guy will need in it, and I've heard it can be addicting. But I also know other people on this forum have tried it with their geckos and not had problems, so it comes down to personal preference.

 

[daniel hecht]

ok so now im gonna sound like a dummy lol! i have had and still have nile and savanna monitairs and also one iguanna but never a small lizard like this so i dont know what a fruit fly culture is i feed my lizards large crickets small mice and the iguanna greens obviously so forgive me for sounding uninformed again thank you very much for your help the anole is just so lil id like to watch her grow and thrive

 

[Amanda1]

No worries! I love the big guys too, especially iggys! A fruit fly culture is just a little colony of fruit flies that you grow so that you always have a supply ready to feed your animals (or do experiments on if you're in genetics class like I was at the time). They're usually kept in a little tube or something. Here's a good do-it-yourself guide:

http://www.geckosunlimited.com/community/feeders-food-nutrition/26457-fruit-fly-culturing.html

 

[daniel hecht]

THANK YOU! you have been a giant help to me and the lil gal lol. i hope to provide the anole with a great life

 

[Amanda1]

Your welcome! Best of luck to you and the little one!

 

[Josh2]

Way to go Amanda on getting Daniel set off in the right direction!
Daniel, keep us updated as to how your little anole is doing!