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An Anole ! |
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Okay, What's an Anole? |
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| Anole lizards are a type of lizard that I keep as pets. My lizards' names are Karen Pemberton, and Norbert. I bought them at A to Z Pets. They come from the Caribbean, and are cold blooded. They do not get their heat from the food they eat, but from the sun. | ||
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Their Habitat
To keep Anole lizards as a pets, you have to give them an environment like they have in the wild. Mine live in a 5 gallon fish tank, with a wire lid.
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They have to be kept warm so you need a special light that gives out heat. A red light is the best light because it is really warm looking to the lizards. When you turn off the light it looks purpley. My anoles spend most of their time basking on the stick that I gave them near the light. I made a special tube out of a toilet paper roll and painted it. So it would look like a log. I think it is a nice tummy scratcher, but I haven't seen them use it for that yet. They just sit on it, or crawl inside sometimes |
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Eating and drinking
Anoles eat crickets. They like to eat them ALIVE! This one of the problems with having them as pets because you have to go and buy crickets every week at a pet store. Anoles also need water to drink. They have a little pink tongue the looks like bubble gum that has a little ball at the end, they like to hang over their water and hang their tongue into it. You have to have a stick or something over the water for them to hang from. A problem is that the crickets like to get into the water and if they can't climb out again they drowned. You have to make sure they don't have any dead crickets in their water every day. |
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Care
Anoles should not be picked up by their tails, because the tail will fall off! The tail is attached to their back in a way that will come loose. There is a crack in their back that cracks when you pick it up. Only the people at the pet store should pick them up by their tails, because they know where the crack is. In the wild if something like a bird will think the tail is a worm and try to eat it. The anoles tail comes off and twitches all by its self, because it is the last message the brain gives to the tail. The bird takes the tail and the anole gets away. The anole then grows a new tail, or sometimes by accident it grows 2 or 3 new tails. What I like about them I like anole lizards because they are quiet and you don't have to fill their tank up with water like fish. Mine live in my room and they are good company. I like to tell them how my day is going, or a secret. Or something I don't want to tell anybody because they don't talk. Please don't ask them if you speak anole lizard :-) I tell them goodnight every night and it would seem lonely in my room without them. I also read to them. Sometimes when I am reading I forget to read out loud but I pretend they can read my mind. They watch me when I move around and look really interested in what I am doing. I also like to watch them and learn about them. When I have nothing to do like read a book, I stare at them, and get to know them. I have one female and one male. The male is active, and the female is more of a lazyish lizard. The males are usually bigger then the females, and the females have a whitish zigzag stripe down their backs, it is hard to tell though. When I open the top of the cage to feed them or clean their cage the male looks at us like he wants to jump out. YOU have to put a lid on their cage because if they jumped out you never know where you would find them. What in the world is he DOING??? |
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The male tries to attract a mate by showing his “dulap”, like he is doing in this picture. If she likes it, they will mate and then she will lay eggs. I sure hope they have babies. | |
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One of the most interesting things to watch is when they shed their skins. The skin usually comes off in 3 parts. First is the top of the head. You can see the skin is still stuck to the tip of his nose. You can see the scales and where the eye was. Next they usually shed their body skin. It looks just like they are taking off their coat, only the zipper is down the back.
It takes most of the day to get it all off and the lizard looks kind of itchy. Sometimes they rub against something in their cage to try to get the skin loose. If it gets bugging them too much sometimes they will turn around and take the skin in his mouth and pull it off. Sometimes they even eat it! The tail skin is shed last and this can be after several days. They seem to shed about every 2 months, but there doesn't seem to be any special time. I guess it just happens whenever they out grow the old skin. They are so pretty right after they shed. Their skin is so clean and fresh looking. I saved the skin that they shed in these pictures. |
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Didn't she say something about 3 eyes?
I love to learn things about my anoles in books and on the internet. The most interesting thing I found on the internet was that anoles have 3 eyes. They have a spot on the top of their head that is a rudamentry eye. They can't see images with it like a normal eye but they can see dark and light. Scientists believe that they use it to help them know if they are getting enough sunlight.
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