Carolina anolide (Anolis carolinensis) is a cute little lizard, perfect for people who are new to the world of pet reptiles. With its bright green color, its fantastic and highly visible parrot, this creature makes an ideal pet. It costs relatively little, but you need to make sure you provide it with the appropriate habitat; it needs space, heat, humidity, and lots of rocks, driftwood and leafy plants to climb.
Steps
Part 1 of 2: Prepare the Habitat
Step 1. Get a terrarium
The first thing to do in creating the ideal habitat to care for your lizard is to provide it with an appropriately sized terrarium. It is a container similar to an aquarium with a lid that allows air to circulate; it represents the ideal tank for these small reptiles, because it is able to maintain the heat and humidity necessary to guarantee their health. The exact capacity depends on the number of specimens you want to keep.
- You can keep a single anole or in groups consisting of a single male and a few females.
- A 40 liter terrarium is large enough for two specimens; if you have two or more males, they might fight each other.
- If you have a male and two or three females, you should get an 80 liter tank, the dimensions of which should be around 120x30x50cm.
Step 2. Add plants and branches
Once you have the container, you need to purchase all the accessories the lizard needs to keep it active and ensure it has a healthy environment. Start by spreading a 5 cm layer of sterilized soil on the bottom of the terrarium and cover it with bark mulch; after that, you can place several plants in pots, which gives the animal the opportunity to climb, as well as moisture.
- Be sure to only put plants that are safe for this reptile; pothos, phalanx, philodendron, dracaena, and ficus are all great choices.
- You should also add several extra branches to lean against the walls of the container, ideal for allowing the lizard to climb; you can buy some ready-made at pet stores.
- Be careful if you decide to take branches in the wild, as they may contain parasites.
Step 3. Provide the little creature with a place to bask
It is important to arrange an area of the terrarium that has a higher temperature and where the reptile can rest during the day; this represents the basking area, where anole relaxes during the day, and should have a temperature of about 30-32 ° C. For this area you need to get another source of heat which, however, should not radiate more than 25% of the total space of the terrarium.
- To do this, you can use 50-75 watt incandescent bulbs protected by a ceramic base to keep the lizard safe and prevent it from coming into contact with it.
- There are also specific lights that you can buy at pet stores.
- Never use hot rocks as a source of heat for these animals.
Step 4. Create hiding places
Anolide needs a lot of space to hide, under trunks and behind plants or branches. You can set up a special shelter for them to take cover by simply placing pieces of wood or bark in the container; it is a good idea to define similar spaces even in the hottest area. You can buy a ready-made shelter at specialized stores and put it in the terrarium.
Part 2 of 2: Providing the Heat, Light and Moisture You Need
Step 1. Set the correct temperature
Carolina anole is native to the warm regions of the southeastern United States and neighboring regions, such as Cuba and the entire Caribbean. If you have chosen this small reptile as a pet, you must make sure to recreate the conditions of its original habitat, setting the temperature it would enjoy in nature: between 24 and 30 ° C during the day and 18-24 ° C at night..
- You can use heating lamps and a thermometer to check and monitor the temperature inside the terrarium.
- During the night you can use a specific incandescent bulb that emits heat but not too much light; be aware that it might be a bit expensive.
- The electric warmer is an alternative and you can put it under the terrarium.
Step 2. Set up a UVB lamp
Anolide needs to be exposed to UVB rays in order to synthesize vitamin D3 and metabolize calcium. It must be able to freely access this light for 8-12 hours a day; if it is not enough, it can suffer from mineral deficiencies and physical problems. It is the lizard itself that has to decide when to bask in the light and when to stay in the shade, but you have to constantly guarantee it.
- The sun is the best source of ultraviolet rays; but if it is not available, you need to set up a combination of visible light with fluorescent or incandescent bulbs and UVB rays that you can get from a specific Wood lamp for reptiles.
- UV rays do not pass through the glass; if you have therefore installed a UVB light source on top of the container, you must get a mesh lid to allow the light to reach the terrarium.
Step 3. Adjust the humidity of the habitat with water
This lizard loves humidity, but not what you would expect in a rainforest; make sure you keep the level around 60-70%; you can easily achieve this by making sure that the water diffuses into the air of the terrarium. You can buy a drip diffuser or a vaporizer system that automatically releases the water; remember to constantly monitor the humidity level to make sure the system is working properly.
- As an alternative to this plant, you can spray purified water on the leaves of the plants in the container a few times a day.
- Lizards drink water from the leaves, so this method is a good way to provide your little reptile with drinking water.
- Keep in mind that not all specimens learn to drink from a bowl; if this is the case for you, you must make sure that your little friend has an alternative method of getting the water he needs, for example from the dew of the leaves.
Advice
- Make sure the lizard has plants to climb on.
- The daytime temperature should be around 21-26 ° C and the night temperature around 18 ° C, while the humidity should be around 60-70%.
- Spray the container with water every day to maintain a correct level of humidity and provide the reptile with the right amount of water.
- Offer him about 20 crickets every day and a few flour moths as a delicious and occasional treat.
- However, in addition to these two main foods, anole likes other types of foods, such as folcids, cockroaches and ants.
