I am new here and dont know all the details the directions ask to post but I will try my best. We have had a green anole (caught wild running across an apartment floor) for nearly 4 years 9 months. It is probably 7 inches long (?) Habitat: 10 gallon tank / mesh top/ 1.5 inches bark chips / several climbing sticks from the outdoors and a live plant that grows all amongst. Heat lamp on auto timer and an ESU Super UV reptile daylight that is on 24 hours a day. Temp stays between 75 and 80 / not sure about humidity diet: medium crickets - we tried some sort of worm early on and they didnt get eaten - crickets - occasionally gut loaded - are always a hit. Frank The Lizard somehow escaped his cage within the last 7 days. Sounds weird that I cant say exactly when but when he hides in teh plants etc we dont always see him and we have always adhered to the 'dont bug him' code. We searched to no avail and thought he was gone. My terrier found him tonight climbing the door frame - terrier is well trained, didnt attack him. We put him back in his cage, with multiple medium crickets and very misted plants. He almost gone - I am assuming dehydration but dont know. He looks as if he has shed during his escape but the skin is still hanging on his foot. He was gaping he mouth open when we put him back and wasnt going for food or water but did climb up the stick closest to the heat lamp. He is obviously brown, has severe indentions betwee hip/tail ; is keeping eyes closed / shallow breathing that is sporadically rapid. I did drop 2 drops of water into his gaping mouth which he kind of gargled. There was a dark line running up the inside of his upper jaw. Is there anything I can do / try or something I should very definately NOT do? didnt know I could boo hoo over a lizard! ha! thanks -
Im sorry to hear about your poor Anole! Its been a few days, so he may have already recovered or passed on. but just in case, i will add my two cents. At tis point there isnt much you can do - keep the tank nice and warm (temps should be a bit higher) and mist heavily and see how he does. He could've gotten into something toxic while he was out in the house, or could just be suffering from a week with no humidity and no food source. I hope he pulls through!
Thanks SOO much for taking the time to respond! Current news is upbeat. Frank The Lizard is still plopping around in his cage. I stayed up with him most of what I thought was going to be his last night. I did pretty much what you suggested: i turned his heat lamp on -took it off auto so it wouldnt go off; misted the entire cage till i almost steamed it up every 30 minutes or so; sprayed the crickets if they got too close cause I got worried they might nibble my anole. It now appears that he had only STARTED shedding while escaped and all that trauma is wearing on him - his tail is still trying to rid itself of the dead skin. So, he is still brown way too much of the day for my happiness but he has been green on and off. Not sure what the total long range outlook is but we are good today!
