I got a green anole just a few days ago and its behaviour alarms me. The creature sleeps all the time, does not eat, and rarely moves. I'm afraid it is ill. When I tried to grab the anole, its reflexes were fine, and I saw the lizard licking some water earlier. That's a good sign, right? Today, I saw it was shedding some skin in its head area. Does shedding cause anoles to consume energy and slows their activity down?
Hmm wiered, my anoles only sleep at night. It is usually normal to have problems with your anole once you first get him. About the shedding, It is possible that he is lethargic because he is shedding. I have had experience with green anoles that when they shed they stay near to the ground and dont eat (they were also brown during that time). Then 2 days later he was himself again. How big is the tank he is in? Is he green or brown? Does he have wiered black markings on his body? Hope he gets better soon.
I really don't want to scare you, but an anole I saved from the evil clutches of petco was doing that for the last couple of days before she died. Try taking peach babyfood and adding a bit of calcium. Then put it on the tip of your finger and try to get him to lick it off your finger. If he wont, rub a tiny bit onto his nose. I really hope it is because of the shedding. Good luck.
I really appreciate both of your replies. To answer Paulito's question, my anole resides in a 10-gallon tank, he is green, and there are no weird black markings on his body. Hm.. I did get him from PETCO. I will try the peach baby food. Thanks again.
When he is "sleeping" he has his eyes closed rite? I just want to make sure he sleeping and not just being lazy. I think you don't have to worry at all. Often times anoles are kept in poor conditions at pet shops (not being fed, bad temp. and housing conditions). Make sure you spray his cage twice daily and feed him plenty of crickets and or meal worms daily.
I wonder why I said "consume energy," instead of "preserve" in my very first post. But that is not very important. Paulito, he does rest with his eyes closed. I make sure to spray his cage twice daily. Also, I tried feeding him baby peach food and mealworms, but he refuses to eat anything. I have gotten an impression that he is trying to move closer to UV/B fluorescent lighting. Maybe he just needs a few days of good vitaming D production... Thank you for your concern and help, Paulito.
I have tried that peach food and calcium thing but my anoles won't touch it. Is it a preference thing where they just have to get used to it?
This time of year, you can put the tank outside for a few hours a week of "real" sunlight. Just make sure it is misted, and has some partial shade so they can get out of the sun too. After seeing the suggestions on this board with the medicine dropper, we have been doing that for our little injured anole. But I found that she prefers water soaked cotton balls. We put her in our hand, and her little tongue comes out as she laps it up. We haven't tried peach baby food, but she likes mashed banana. And we hand feed her crickets, holding them by a leg, and dangling it in front of her. Of course, this is just until her injuries are healed, but she is spoiled!
I can't deny such cuteness^ But I do have good news (no I didn't save a lot of money on my insurance by switching to Geico). My green anole started eating mealworms. He still doesn't consume much of anything, except water, but I'm happy. He is still not very active, though he sleeps much less now.
