I found a baby anole lizard 2 days ago. he likes being held, so I decided to keep him. I don't have a large enough tank for him or a uvb light yet, but I plan on getting them next week when I get paid. Everything else in his cage is good though. the temperature is correct, I mist his cage often, he has plants and shelter. He ate a small cricket today, but I haven't seen him drink at all since I found him. He looks dehydrated and every time I leave him in his cage for long periods of time he turns brown, and he's a really dark brown in the morning after being in his cage all night. I know I need to get his uvb lamp asap, but is that what is wrong with him, or is there something that I can do to encourage him to drink? Please respond asap, I'm worried about him.
I'm guessing you're from somewhere southern, like Florida. As a general rule, you don't keep animals you find in the wild, but if he's younger, you may be able to get him to adapt to being captive well or he couldn't handle such a drastic change for him. What size enclosure are you keeping him in? You have to make sure the humidity stays high all the time and it stays warm(high 80s-90s day;mid70s-80s night). They drink from the droplets you mist them with, a live plant would be best to use, though they can be hard to incorporate in a small enclosure. Even in a 10 gallon, you could put a small houseplant(like a pothos)in, I got mine at a Walmart. Pictures of him/the enclosure are always helpful too.
