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is it possible to set up a 20 gal high with anole ontop, on dry portion n a few ADF dwarf frogs on the wat er portion? if so lemme no how thx!

Yes, it's possible. Just make sure that there are pieces of driftwood or something stick half in and half out of the water in case the anole falls in so it can get out, otherwise it may drown.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

Ok its possible, but id go bigger on the size, anoles presumably ( anolis carolinesis) can be very aggressive and need adequate territorial space- think about at least a cubic foor per individual female, and up to as much as 3 cubic feet for a male,and even in a viv set up for them specifically with no water area I would be thinking in terms of a 30 uk gal at least.Theres a huge difference between what most people do and the right way to do it.Anoles are some of the most abused and poorly homed reptiles in herpetoculture.Most peoples anoles live an average of 2-3 years but mine typically live for 5-7, and mine are breeding too.

In addition the paludaria would need to have excellent ventilation as anoles exposed to persistant relative humidity of over 85% will suffer from skin fungi, breathing infections and die. If you keep a suitable group of anoles, (ie 1 male to 3 females) you will need a terrestrial portion involving moistened sand or bark chip , maybe even vermiculite as the females may become pregnant at 6 months of age, and will become egg bound and die unless there is a suitable place to lay the eggs.
Anoles are a very arboreal lizard and you should be looking to provide them with as much vertical room as possible, especially as groundspace in a paludaria will be severely compromised.

A paludaria with anoles will need considerable thought put into it , as it should be oriented for height and yet still have lighting for the anoles themselves and any aquatic plants you may wish to use and this may be tricky.You could have at least 3 striplights ( a zoomed 3.0 or 5.0 for the anoles, and a tropical light and a plant growth light for the water portion), one spotlight (or more) a water heater and a pump running so you have to think about temperature and where all the wires are going to go. You could always go all plastic, it would be easier.

You may wish to gut load or dust the food you give to the anoles, and this calcium based multivitamin dust could affect water quality if it gets in there (and you know it will!).

If I was setting up a paludaria for the successful long term maintanence of anoles and fish or frogs it would probably be 4 ft high , 3 foot wide , and 1 -2 feet deep, the water area would be shallow at about 1- 1.5 feet deep. Obviously if you go for frogs over fishs the water can be much shallower.

Heating could be tricky too, and if you do the job properly you may wish to have both the air and the water areas seperately thermostatically controlled. Remember that anoles require spotlights (usually a basking spot available all day at (90-95f) or similar and a thermal gradient must be provided (75- 82f),you cant heat the tank from the water portion alone as the relative humidity could easily rise to 100% if the air in the viv gets colder than the water.

Also you shouldnt compromise the available basking lights by having the thermostat switch them off, it is better to rely on cooling of the air portion by the use of adequate convection ventilation, and keeping the room temperature the paludarium is in within stable perameters.The general temperatures of the tank should be maintained not by spotlights but by a seperate thermostated heating source in addition to a basking spot. Also you should consider the anoles photoperiod (roughly 12-14 hours a day of light and heat).

On the ventilation front you may need to have holes cut in the glass and fitted with mesh, one just above the water, and one in the roof to allow cool air in, to be heated and rise through the top.Obviously the diameter of these holes will be inportant. A regualar aquarium lid wont cut it either, as anoles are born escape artists, and it wont allow for air circulation.

Obviously the bigger a paludarium is ,the easier it is to manage for heat,as it is less likely to stay at lethally high levels and ventilation is easier.So as I recommended, go bigger if you can or consider a less fragile lizard than a green anole. Indo pacific house geckos can be easier to maintain in a smaller space. A semi aquatic lizard might be a better choice- one crocodile skink might be a good choice as he will use the water area too, but youd need to have fish he wouldnt eat.

One nice thing about a paludaria with anoles though is that you can have a small waterfall which will provide droplets of water the anoles will enjoy for drinking. Green anoles are considered droplet drinkers, so at least you wont have to mist them as they will recognise the moving water. Drowning is always a possibility ,anoles are not good swimmers, and when you add the confusion of glass, drowning becomes a real possibility , make sure you have multiple roots and branches both overhanging the water, and right into it to give them an escape route should they fall. Anoles will often fight and often with the end of making each other fall off branches, so make sure you take account of this. Green Anoles live anything from 3 -7 years depending on the area of collection and sex , or the stress of the social dynamic theyre under so you must consider that this paludarium might well have to last quite a long time.Again it might need to be bigger than you imagine.



Last edited by longhairedgit at 30-Sep-2005 05:03