Wayne

Author Archives: Wayne

Hi, this is me with my daughter and my Lizard friend. I hope you enjoy my research. Please feel free to check out my "About Me" page to find out more about me.

mexican beaded lizard size

What size is a Mexican beaded Lizard? (+ Video & Pics)

The Mexican Beaded Lizard is often referenced for its venomous bite, however, I wondered how big are these lizards and do people actually keep them in captivity? Let me explain.

What size is a Mexican Beaded Lizard? Up to 3 feet in length. Its body weight is typically up to 2 lbs.  Males and females have a stocky type build however the male is typically broader than the female. In addition to this, the male is usually larger than the female as well. The hatchlings typically are about 20 cm in length.

Now you know how large they can be, let me explain how big the largest recorded one is, what they actually are (natural habitat, scientific name, etc) and how their diet and housing can impact their size.

What is a Mexican beaded lizard?

The Mexican beaded lizard (Heloderma horridum) is typically found in the west or central parts of Mexico. Its natural habitat is in the desert or tropical Forest areas. You can typically find it rested on rock ledges.

What is the largest recorded beaded lizard?

The largest recorded beaded lizard is up to 40 inches in length and almost 10 pounds in weight. So, it is a substantially sized lizard, especially in comparison to the Gilla monster.

How does their diet affect their size?

As you can imagine the diet of any lizard is very important to their growth. If they are not fed correctly, this can directly impact how big they grow. As well as their health for that reason. I’m going to explain what is the best diet for them, to make sure that you maximize their size.

Their diet in the wild

In the wild, they typically eat eggs of other small Reptiles and sometimes, they eat smaller animals.

Their diet in captivity

In captivity, they have a slightly different diet. They will typically eat small mice, rats, etc. I mentioned earlier, in the wild, they will typically eat eggs. However, in captivity, this is not a wise decision. And this is for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, the eggs that they are fed in captivity have a large risk of passing on salmonella poisoning to the Lizard. Secondly, eggs typically are fatty food. In the wild, this is excellent, because they need to build up their fat reserves.

This is done by storing the fat in their tails so that they can allow for days when they cannot find food. This is a common occurrence in the wild.

However, in captivity, they are fed on a regular basis. Meaning eating fatty foods like eggs will build up fat reserves that are realistically never going to be used in captivity. The problem with this is, it can lead to obesity in the lizard and further health issues.

However, there are many other foods that it can eat in captivity such as a wide variety of insects.

The importance of correct housing to maximize their sides

In captivity, if you do not provide the correct housing this could stifle the growth of your Mexican beaded lizard. If it is not comfortable or cooped up in a small enclosure, it will not be able to grow to its maximum length.

For that reason, I’m going to give you some directions on the preferred housing in captivity. Also some of the ideal substrate and accessories that you should have in their housing to keep them happy and maximize their growth potential.

Enclosure Size

Firstly you need to make sure that the size of the enclosure is at least 3 1/2 feet square. But in reality, you want to make it even bigger than that. This is because some of them can be up to 3 feet in length. And they need more space to move around and feel comfortable.

It is also a good idea to have some vines or some kind of climbing accessories because they do like to climb to keep them self happy.

Substrate

This lizard will be happy with newspaper as a substrate. However, f you really want to make them happy it’s better to have wood shavings, in particular, Aspen shavings. Reason being they’re easy to clean up and move back in after you’ve done your maintenance.

Enclosure Security

Security wise you need to make sure that you have a very secure lid. You need to remember that this lizard is venomous. Therefore if it escapes it can be quite dangerous. So a secure lid is very important.

Humidity and water requirements

This lizard is naturally from the desert so it really requires high humidity and also good water reserves. The water is ideally served in a large bowl. Even better, something that it can actually soak itself in and drink at the same time, it will really appreciate that.

Heating and lighting requirements

This lizard likes to have the temperature preferably in the lower end of the 70s on the cool side of its enclosure and over 80 degrees in the warm end of his enclosure. Splitting it up into a higher heated basking area and a cooler area is ideal.

This can be achieved by having a clamped lamp over the basking area with an appropriate bulb wattage to provide the 80 degrees that they require.

Are Mexican Beaded lizards too big to be handled?

Ideally, you do not want to consider handling these lizards. Even though you may have them in captivity they are not really safe to be handled.

The exception to this rule is if you are a trained professional. Even as a trained professional you will require some strong black leather gloves just in case you get bitten. Remember, they are venomous.

Their temperament is usually quite docile, but if they are provoked or upset they can bite. And if they bite they will inject dangerous venom.

By the way, if you find that you have ever been bitten by one, you need to consult medical attention immediately!

Related Questions:

How can you tell the difference between a Male & Female Beaded Lizard? Firstly the male is slightly larger than the female. In addition to this, while they are both quite stocky in build, the male is typically broader than the female.

How does the Mexican Beaded Lizard Inject Its venom? This lizard is one of the few lizards that are venomous. They have specially grooved teeth to help them seep their venom into the victim. They have venom glands that are perfectively aligned so that they can pass venom through the glands down the grooves in its teeth. The venom is pumped into its victim as it chews for the best effect.

Are Beaded Lizards Endangered? They are listed on the IUCN register as “Least Concern”. Meaning they are not endangered. They are also typically kept in protected areas to keep them from being hunted. However, there is a sub-species that is endangered, called the Montagua Valley Beaded Lizard. It is rumored to be as low as only 200 of them in the wild.

How long do they live for? They have quite a long lifespan. In particular 30+ years. So if you ever considered keeping one of these lizards you have to understand the commitment that is required here. This is far greater than having a pet dog for example.

Why is the Mexican Beaded Lizard Protected? This lizard is rarely seen in the wild and for that reason, it is seen as a “Trophy” for hunters. They can demand a high rate for selling them. For these reasons, they have been put under protection to save their numbers from dwindling in the wild.

How many eggs does a Female Beaded Lizard lay? This can range anything from 2 right up to 30 eggs. Quite a big range. The lizard becomes sexually active from the age of six. The male Beaded Lizards will often fight quite viciously for their chance to mate with the female. The winner gets their price and mates happily with the female.

Crested Gecko Noises

Do Lizards Eat Cockroaches? (& Pictures)

Cockroaches are usually a big pain, some people will try using a number of remedies to get rid of them, but can lizards help? This question intrigued me. On paper it makes sense, but let’s see if they do eat roaches and if they can be a viable help for this.

Do Lizards Eat Cockroaches? Yes, they do eat cockroaches. However, not all lizards do. Only insectivores or carnivores will typically eat them. In addition to this, even if they are capable of eating cockroaches, it depends on the actual size of the cockroach. If the cockroach is too large they will not eat it.

Now that you know that some lizards will eat cockroaches, let’s investigate exactly which species will eat them if they are a viable solution to insect infestations, how the size of cockroaches will affect them being consumed and more.

What lizards actually eat Cockroaches?

There are a number of lizards that eat cockroaches. I will now give you a list of some of them.

Panther chameleons (and other Chameleons)

Panther chameleons eat cockroaches, along with other insects. However, there are a number of other chameleons that also he cockroaches.

It is advised that you seek out captive-bred cockroaches rather than feeding them random wild ones. This is because the wild ones are often filled with diseases. This can pass on to your lizard.

Bearded dragons

These lizards definitely eat Cockroaches. They are quite an expensive lizards to maintain, as a pet. So, feeding them cockroaches is a good economical way of keeping them fed.

Madagascar hissing and Dubia cockroaches are a couple of species that are regularly used for these lizards.

Leopard geckos

Leopard geckos are nocturnal animals and therefore cockroaches are ideal for them to go after. In particular, they love Dubia Cockroaches.

Cockroaches are also an ideal alternative to crickets. Crickets have a tendency to bite leopard geckos if they are not consumed within a certain time frame. Whereas cockroaches do not do this.

You can expect a juvenile leopard gecko to consume up to 10 cockroaches in a day. An adult, on the other hand, will be more like 20 in the day. Typically they will also be fed up to 4 times a week.

Monitor lizards?

Monitor lizards are typically quite large. For example, up to 3 ft in length. Therefore, many insects, such as crickets, will not interest them.

Cockroaches, on the other hand, stand a chance. But it depends on how big they are. Some cockroaches can be as big as 4 inches in length and those are the ones that will pique their interest.

The Emerald Tree Monitor lizard is a good example of a Monitor species that will devour these cockroaches and other large insects.

Can a lizard be used in a house for pest control?

Using lizards as a way to control a pest infestation is not always the best way to do things. Reason being the number of insects that one gecko can consume will not make much difference to a true pest problem. Are you with me?

In addition to this, you have to be careful about what food you feed to your lizard. There is a good chance that these pests carry salmonella or other bacterial infections that can seriously harm your lizard.

What about using wall geckos?

These lizards need a large amount of humidity to survive. Unfortunately, most houses in the US will not naturally provide this level of humidity.

The insects in the house may provide a certain level of moisture for them, but not nearly enough to sustain them. You may find within just one week they are dehydrated or just escape to find better surroundings.

Predators will attack the lizard before it deals with your insect problem

Another issue with using lizards as pest control is the predators of the lizards. Remember, lizards also get eaten by other predators. Animals such as a pet cat can put an end to your pest controller in a heartbeat.

There have been reports of people trying to use a Tokay Lizard as a way to get rid of their pest problems. Just to clarify the Tokay can be up to 1 foot in length. The assumption was made that a cat would be intimidated by this lizard. In reality, the cat attacked this lizard without hesitation.

Remember that a cat capable of grabbing a large rat in his mouth will have no hesitation to grab lizard. So, in summary, using a lizard as pest control is not always the best way forward.

What is the ideal diet for a lizard?

There are many different types of lizards available, this can range from a very small gecko right up to an enormous Komodo Dragon.

Therefore, to focus this I will concentrate on conventional pet lizards which is what most people are interested in.

Even with traditional pet lizards, there is still a variety of different diets. But, in general, most of these pet lizards are insectivores or maybe carnivores. For that reason, they will typically eat insects.

However many of them in captivity will each other things such as plants fruits and vegetables. To give you an example of these I will give you a brief summary of some of the common pet lizards and an example of what sort of food you can expect them to eat.

  • Bearded dragon: You can expect a bearded dragon to eat insects even greens and even frozen mice
  • Geckos: Typically these animals will eat sweet fruits and insects.
  • Iguanas: These lizards are slightly different. Typically you would feed them greens vegetables and even some fruits.

Related questions:

Do house lizards eat Cockroaches? Yes, they will eat roaches. However, it depends on the size of the actual house lizard. The problem is, cockroaches can actually be quite large and they may even be too big for a house lizard to consume.

As discussed earlier the Tokay lizard has been used in some cases to try and deal with these Cockroaches, it would typically wait for a cockroach to go past and lap It up. But you can’t always rely on the house lizards to deal with the infestation.

Do lizards change colour? Yes, Chameleons can change colour, for example, the Yemen Chameleon is well-known for this. However, the Chameleon does not change colour based on its environment or surroundings, as many people mistakenly believe. It actually changes based on its mood.

Why do lizards need UVB bulbs? Lizards need UVB bulbs because the UV rays are very important for lizards. It helps the lizard to metabolize the calcium that it consumes in its diet. It’s a critical part of its requirements to survive. If it does not have enough UV rays it can have health issues such as metabolic bone disease (MBD).

Will Lizards eat Plants? Yes, some lizards will eat plants. For example, Omnivores. They can consume animal and plants, such as the blue-tongued skink.

Will Lizards Attack a human? Yes, but this is more likely for a vicious species like the Komodo dragon (click to see which animals attack Komodos). Other lizards, such as a Chameleon will bite you if you provoke them.

It is quite rare for a full-on lizard attack. In most cases, generally speaking, lizards will only bite if you make them feel uncomfortable. An example of this is if, in captivity, you decide to reach into their enclosure to handle them and you haven’t spent time to get them to trust you.

Do lizards come out at night? Yes, some lizards are nocturnal, meaning that they are active at night time. Such as most geckos. However, most lizards are diurnal, meaning they are active in the day and rest at the night time.

Why do insects get sprinkled with supplements and fed to lizards? As discussed earlier in this article, lizards need calcium. However, in captivity, this is quite hard to provide naturally. Therefore they need supplementation.

A handy way to do this is to sprinkle the insects before feeding them to your lizard. It is a trick used by many lizard keepers to keep their lizard’s calcium levels correct. Along with other required vitamins.

yemen chameleon handling

Yemen Chameleon Handling (Tips, Aggression & Care)

If you are interested in Yemen lizards, you may be wondering if they can be handled or loveable pets. It’s a good thing to check before you commit. I had similar thoughts and looked into this. Let me share my findings with you.

Do the Yemen chameleons like to be handled? No, they really do not like being handled. If you attempt to handle one of these lizards they may bite or inflate their body to appear larger to repel you.  You may find that the hatchling will be a bit more accommodating.

Now you know, in general, they don’t like being handled. But is there any chance that they can be tamed and handled? Let me explain how this can be done. But let me also explain what you need to be careful about if you want to do this.

What is a Yemen Chameleon?

The Yemen chameleon (Chamaeleo Calyptratus) is more commonly known as the Veiled Chameleon, however, it is also known as the conehead Chameleon. Its native habitat is in Saudi Arabia or Yemen.

The male Yemen can grow up to 24 inches, from the tip of his nose to the end of its tail. For females, they are quite a bit smaller, and they usually grow up to 14 inches in length.

Are Yemen Chameleons aggressive?

Generally speaking, they are not very aggressive lizards. In fact, they are quite calm and laid back. So laid back in fact, that you will often find that they move quite slowly. They may even slow down their walking if they feel that you are watching them for some bizarre reason.

The baby Yemen lizard is also quite laid back and relaxed and it’s probably more susceptible to being handled.

How do you handle a Yemen lizard?

Before I get into an explanation of how you can handle these beautiful lizards, as discussed earlier, in general, they do not really like to be handled. In fact, you should really treat them like fish. Meaning you should enjoy them visually but not physically engage with them.

As discussed earlier, you can train them to be more susceptible to being handled, however, this is more likely to be successful if they’re younger. This way they’ve never been pre-conditioned to not want to be around humans.

The main reason that the adult Yemen, in particular, is quite resistant to being handled is for the obvious reasons. Basically, it believes any physical contact of the human is typically followed up by a swift attack, and maybe even death.

So do not take it personally, it is just a defense mechanism from the Yemen Lizard to protect itself.

The step-by-step process

Now I will explain how you can handle them if you wish to proceed.

First step – Acclimatisation

Unfortunately, most people have a natural urge to handle their chameleon as soon as they bring it home. However, you need to do the complete opposite.

You need to give the Yemen sometime to break-in. Give it time to respond to his new environment and feel comfortable. You can expect this to last for at least 1 to 2 weeks before you even consider moving on to the next step.

Second Step – Hand Feeding

Once you have passed the initial break-in period of one to two weeks, as discussed before, you can move on to the next step which is hand feeding.

Hand feeding is a gradual process. You can’t just wack some food in front of your Yemen and expect it to feed from you. You need to give it some time. The first thing that you want to do is just offer it some food. But, do not try and push your hand towards it.

To achieve this, you can use your naked hand or you can use some apparatus. Such as a pair of tweezers or some metal serving tongs. These are great for people that are a bit squeamish and do not really like handling insects.

Once the food is placed in the vicinity of the lizard, give it some time to see if it will actually take the food. Just keep your hand near it, so that it can start to associate your hand with providing food. In time it will start to associate your hand with a positive part of its day.

This part of the journey to hand feeding could take a couple of weeks before you see any real breakthroughs. Initially, it may just ignore you because it is frightened. In time it will start to feel a bit more confident.

For the best results, I’d advise that you attempt to feed it this way on the first feeding of the day. Reason being, they are generally starving at this point in the day and more likely to take the food.

Third Step – Giving them time to come out

The objective here is to let the Yemen lizard come out of its cage on its own accord and naturally approach you after you’ve had success with hand feeding it.

To make sure that this goes as smooth as possible you need to be very patient. Therefore,
you need to make sure that they come out of their hiding place on their own accord and not forced out.

One of the things that you can do is to literally leave the cage open. Then place an object just outside of the cage. This can be a tree, plant or something that may arouse some interest.

Give it some time, maybe do something to entertain yourself while you wait, such as checking your email or something like that. This may take days or even weeks, so don’t be disheartened if it doesn’t respond right away.

If you do this right, in time it will naturally react to you. After a while, you should be able to open the cage, offer your hand and allow it to walk onto your hand naturally.

Step 4 – Rewarding with positive actions

One of the things that you can do to make this happen a lot smoother is rewarding your lizard for coming out and interacting with you. Basically, associate this simple act of interacting with you with happy treats.

You can do this simply by having some food nearby or even giving them an opportunity to bask in some lovely sunlight whenever they come out.

In time, with persistence, they will start to enjoy coming out.

A final note on handling

The reality is not every chameleon will react positively to these steps. As discussed earlier, they are not naturally susceptible to being handled. And some will never really want to do this. So, you need to take this on a case-by-case basis.

Give it a shot and if it works, wonderful! If not then there’s nothing you can really do about it. The reality is not every Yemen chameleon will react positively to these steps.

If you are going to do this seriously, you need to give it some time. You can’t just try for 1 or 2 days, say it doesn’t work and then give up. You need to give yourself a number of weeks at least to evaluate if it successful.

Related questions:

Are Chameleons kind to humans? Chameleons do not naturally trust humans. So they are not the ideal beginner pet. They are not necessarily aggressive or unkind to humans, but they do not really like to be handled and do not trust humans.

Will chameleons recognize their owners? Yes, they can recognize their owners. However, their emotions are quite hard to read and gauge. Unlike dogs or cats, there is no obvious sign of happiness or affection.

Therefore, the closest thing that you can do to understand if they recognize or trust you, is to check how they react to you. Will they come towards you? and allow you to handle them? Or are they are willing to take food from you? If yes, then you have the proof they recognize and trust you.

Why are piebald chameleons also known as Coneheads in some cases? The piebald chameleon is effectively the same as a veiled (or Yemen) chameleon. In fact, the only real difference its distinctive color scheme. As discussed earlier another alias for the Yemen lizard is “Cone Head”. Hence the reason why the Piebald is also known as the Cone Head Lizard.

Is a chameleon’s bite poisonous? No, the Chameleons’ bite it is not poisonous. To be perfectly honest, the bite is not really that bad at all. You can easily survive a bite from a chameleon.

uvb bulb for chinese water dragon

Best UVB Bulb for Chinese Water Dragons? (What they really need)

If you have considered getting a Chinese Water Dragon as a pet, then you should know by now that UVB lighting is an absolute must. The question is, which one? Let me explain.

What is the best UVB Bulb for Chinese Water Dragon? The Zoo Med ReptiSun T5 Bulb (Click to see the price on Amazon) is the best UVB bulb in my opinion. There are other competing bulbs on the market like the mercury vapor bulbs but there are concerns about their UV intensity.

Now you know which UVB light I recommend, what other options are there? Why do the Water Dragons even need these lights? What happens if they don’t get these UV rays? Let me give you an answer to these questions now and more.

What type of UVB lighting does a water dragon need?

The Chinese water dragon is from a very hot climate therefore, naturally, it is used to receiving large amounts of UVB rays.

To make sure that you emulate its natural environment you need to make sure that you provide a large number of UVB rays.

Fluorescent lighting is a good source of UVB for your water dragon. The best way is to use a reflector so that none of the important UVB rays are wasted.

When purchasing these fluorescent bulbs, it is a good idea to make sure that they are specifically for desert species like the Chinese Water Dragon.

There are two different types of fluorescent bulbs that you can get:

  • T8
  • T5

The T5 is the newer improved model and as you can expect, it has better specs. In particular, it has double the range of the T8 model and can also last twice as long.

Meaning you will need to replace the T8 bulbs at least every six months whereas the T5 will only need to be changed every 12 months. So, although the T5 is more expensive, they last twice as long, so they are worth the investment.

What is the best temperature for your water dragon?

As discussed earlier, water dragons are from very hot climates, therefore realistically you need to maintain this expectation in captivity.

Day Time

During the day you will need to be providing at least 10 to 12 hours of intense heat, in particular up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The best way to achieve this is by using some strong 60w basking light bulbs (Click here to see the price on Amazon) towards one end of the tank.

If you are using a particularly narrow enclosure, then you may only require one of these.

Night Time

During the Night-Time you will need to drop the temperature down. In particular, down to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. However, you also need to reduce the lighting at this as well. This is so that it’s a nice dark atmosphere so that they can get the rest they need.

To achieve this you can use a ceramic bulb (night bulb). The great thing about this, it will still keep the heat but will reduce the light. To complement this, it is a good idea to have a thermostat. The thermostat is good because it can turn on the ceramic bulb automatically when the temperature drops.

What Exactly is UVB & Why Does your Water Dragon Need This?

UVB is an invisible wavelength that is emitted from the sun. In captivity, these UVB rays are emulated using artificial lighting.

The UV rays are important because it allows your lizard to metabolize the calcium that you feed it. Unfortunately, without these necessary UV rays, there is a good chance that your lizard will become very sick. An example of this is Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD).

Other issues that will occur will be the lack of ability to synthesize vitamin D3, which is required by a water dragon. This is something that is required by all almost lizards.

What types of UVB lighting is there for Your Dragon?

In captivity, the only way to provide UV light without using an artificial UVB bulb is to provide direct sunlight from your window. However, the issue with this is, if you have anything blocking this light, such as your terrarium glass, it will not provide the required UV light needed by your Dragon.

Therefore, in reality, it comes down to a choice of two main types of UVB bulbs:

  • Fluorescent
  • Mercury Vapour

Fluorescent Type Lights

These fluorescent bulbs usually are mounted within a fixture such as a reflector or Hood (click to see the price on Amazon) to reflect the light into the enclosure.

The UV light that these bulbs emit has a tendency to run out before the actual bulb blows. Therefore it is recommended that you change these bulbs on a regular basis. As discussed earlier, if you’re using a T8 bulb this will need to be every six months. Or if you’re using a T5 bulb then this will be every 12 months.

To make sure that your lizard gets the full benefit of these bulbs it’s important that you keep the correct distance between the lizard and the actual bulb. It is recommended that you maintain a distance of 6 to 8 inches for best results.

In addition to the distance, you have to be careful about the materials that you place around it the bulbs. Because if you get it wrong, it will not be able to penetrate it. An example is plastic or glass.

So it is important that you mount it in the enclosure so that the UV  light can be passed on to your water dragon effectively.

Mercury vapor bulbs

These bulbs are ideal for large enclosures and they have the ability of emitting UVA and UVB rays. They can also provide heat as well as this lighting so they are like a two in one solution.

The advantages of the mercury vapor bulbs is it can last a lot longer than the fluorescent bulbs, however, there are some debates that the level of UV rays is too intense for reptiles and shouldn’t be used.

Others have argued and there are many lizard keepers who use Mercury vapor lighting without any issues and swear by it. So it depends on your views on this matter.

If you do decide to go with the Mercury vapor bulbs it is a good idea to keep a good distance of at least 12 to 24 inches away from your lizard. Also, provide some good cool spots for them to move away from the intensity.

The compact fluorescent bulb

This bulb does everything similar to the fluorescent bulbs discussed earlier. However, it has some advantages and disadvantages, as you could imagine.

Its advantages are it uses less energy than fluorescent lighting. However, they do not provide the same radius of heating because it is a very concentrated UV light.

There are some concerns that the strength of the UV lighting is too intense for some lizards. Other concerns are it is likely that the bulbs will not last as long.

They are also only really viable for small enclosures because they concentrate the heating into a very small area.

Related Questions:

Can Chinese water dragons be housed together? Yes, they can. However, you need to make sure that you get the group mix correct. They can share in small groups but is very important not to have more than one male in the enclosure. If you have more than one male, they will fight over territory.

What fruits can Chinese water dragons eat? They can eat a wide variety of fruits. Such as Melon (such as cantaloupe), blueberries, raspberries and more.

How can you tell if a Chinese water dragon is male or female? There is a difference in their head size. Females have smaller heads than the male. Also, you can look at their jowls. Males tend to have bigger puffier sized jowls than females.

Do Chinese water dragons shed? Yes, they do shed. As they begin shedding you will notice a difference in their skin color. You should see it get a bit darker until they shed. They also tend to use water as a way to help the shedding process.

why house lizards make noise

Why Do House Lizards Make Noise?

House Gekos are known to make a lot of weird noises. These noises intrigued me, and I wondered why they actually make these noises and what type of noises they actually make. Let me explain more.

Why do house geckos make noise? To mark their territory or attract the attention of females. House Geckos are mainly found as pests in peoples houses and rely on insect infestations to survive. If they feel that a rival lizard is infiltrating their treasure, they will make noise and fend them off.

Now you know why they do this, let me explain how they feel they benefit from these noises. How these noises can indirectly help you, when you understand their objective and how you can tame them to keep them quiet.

What do they benefit from these noises?

House Lizards, also called House Geckos (Scientific name Hemidactylus frenatus), make various different noises. I will discuss further in the article, There are two main reasons for these weird noises:

  • Stamping their territory
  • Attracting females

Unfortunately House geckos are commonly known as pests in houses around the world. They survive off insects they find in your house.

The noise that they make in this instance is to fend off and warn other house geckos to move away from their food. It is believed that these sounds are best delivered vocally rather than using visual forms of communication.

This is mainly because house buildings create an echoing effect, making the sound more powerful and easier to travel over longer distances.

What sounds do house geckos make?

House geckos make a few different sounds in particular:

  • Barking
  • Squeaking
  • Chirping
  • Clicking

The barking sound is believed to be a defence mechanism to ward off other Predators or other rival house geckos, that are trying to infiltrate their territory.

Squeaking is another sound that they make, which is believed to be heard mainly during fights. The clicking sound however is used to entice female geckos for mating.

How Can These Noises Actually benefit you?

As discussed earlier these sounds can be linked to territorial issues with other house geckos, in particular the barking sounds.

But let’s step back and understand why they are aggressive in the first place. They are trying to fend off other lizards stealing their food. And as discussed, their food are insects that are found in your house, effectively a pest and a problem in your house, right?

Therefore you can argue that these lizards are actually doing you a good service? Reason being they are eating the insects that are causing a problem in your house.

The real problem is the insects not necessary the house gecko, right?

To put this in perspective let’s say each gecko consumes about 12 insects a day. With that assumption, that would mean over an annual basis, that would be over 4000 insects that your house gecko is consuming.

No lets think deeper, These house geckos are very rarely on their own. You can easily assume for every house lizard that you actually see, you can guarantee there is probably another dozen hidden somewhere else.

Therefore we are talking about tens of thousands of insects are being consumed by these house geckos and helping you with a big pest problem. So, indirectly these weird noises they make are part of cleaning up your insect problem.

How can you tame a house lizard to keep them quiet?

Firstly, is it even possible to tame a lizard? The answer to that question is yes. You can definitely tame them. But one thing to consider, taming a lizard will not give you the same results as a pet dog, for example.

You can never expect to get the same affection from a lizard as you do from a dog. For example, you will never be able to hug and kiss a lizard, like some people do with their dogs. This is just not the way it is.

However you can expect your lizard, once it is tamed, to be receptive towards you. Meaning it will come towards you when you approach him. And even eat food from you when you put your hand nearby.

But how do you actually tame these lizards?

Firstly once you first introduce a house a lizard to your enclosure you need to give them some time to adjust to their new environment. The best way to do this is to literally leave them alone first. Without attempting to touch them. This is advised to be done for at least the first week, maybe a bit less, but a week is or more is better.

Once you passed this initial period and you’ve giving them space to adjust, you then need to present them with some food. But do not hold onto the food and try and coax them towards you. Just simply present them with the food and watch them as they eat it.

This is the first attempt for them to get used to your presence and associate you with positive experiences, such as food.

Once you have got past this stage, the next step is to start introducing food to your house gecko. Using a pair of metal tongs. The idea here is to simply place the food, using the tongs, each day so that the house lizard can see you.

Do this repeatedly for 2 weeks to a month. Be patient, the idea is to gradually let the house gecko start to associate you with being fed and being a positive part of its day.

After you start noticing that this is working the next step is to place the food down using your hands. Each day use your bare hands or gloves, If you do not want to handle the insects. Place the food for the Gecko to come, but do not be tempted to try and grab the Gecko.

You need to take your time and let him come to you. What you should find is, towards the end of this process. If it’s done correctly, your gecko will start to build the trust for you and associate you with being fed on a daily basis. And in time will start to move towards your hands for the food, rather than waiting for you to disappear.

Be patient with this process because it’s not an overnight solution it is something that you have to do bit-by-bit to build up the trust.

Related Questions:

Can Lizards hear you? Yes, they can hear but their hearing is very different to us. Instead of flappy ears like we have, they have small holes that are quite visible. The sound is passed through these holes. Their eardrums are just below their skin level. They can’t hear very well, but better than other reptiles such as snakes for example.

What happens if a lizard falls on your left arm? It is  believed that you will feel some type of personal shame in the near future. This stems from a number of superstitions that exist around lizards. In fact there is a big list of various different places a lizard can fall on your body and for each one there is an expectation that something will happen.

Do Lizards Smell? Yes, they can do. You wouldn’t expect them to smell, because when you compare them to mammals they do not produce as much feacas. They also do not shed too regularly and they do not mark their territory using urine, like dogs can do. But for some reason they do have a smell.

Do house Geckos Carry diseases? Yes, they can carry salmonella, so you are strongly advised to take caution. This disease can spread by direct or even indirect contact.

How big can a common Lizard grow? On average you can expect them to grow from three to six inches in length. Therefore they are a relatively small lizard. However, in the wild, or as a domestic pest, they are known to travel in numbers, so as a collective it can be quite overwhelming.

anole lizard turning brown

What Can Live With Green Anoles? (Tank mates, Mixing, Sharing)

If you are like me, you want all the facts before you dive in. Understanding what Green Anoles can live with is important (Click here to see my best 7 substrates for Anoles) if you want to make the best efficient use of your tank. Let me explain in detail what they can be mixed with and some important things to avoid.

What can live with green Anoles? They can live with house Geckos, various species of Tree frogs and even the Fire-bellied toad. However, it is not a good idea to mix them with brown Anoles, as they are quite aggressive towards the green specie and they will be bullied.

Now that you understand what they can live with, let me give you a bit more detail on the sharing habits, and how to avoid problems. Such as the perfect way to work out how many Anoles to share together. The best way to mix males and females and more.

The Ideal Tank Mates for Green Anoles

Deciding to mix and find compatible tank mates can be very challenging in fact it can be quite disastrous if you get this wrong. You stand a good chance of putting your pet lizard at serious risk or at least injuring them in some way, if you do not get it right.

To help you understand which lizards can pair well with a green Anole, I have compiled a list for you.

Firstly, before I begin the list, the first line displayed below is a green or a brown anole. However, I am not suggesting that you consider mixing these together. Because the green and brown Anole do not get along (more on this later in the article). Anyway, here is the list:

  • Green or Brown Anole (not both, as discussed earlier).
  • House Gecko
  • Treefrog (Green, Grey, Squirell or Barking species)
  • Toad (Fire-bellied)

This list I have provided is a good mixture of potential combinations. The idea is to mix and pick, not all in one enclosure.

They have been selected due to the fact that they are not as aggressive. Therefore they are likely to get along well and have similar requirements. These requirements refer to diet, temperature, etc. Keep in mind that this is not a guarantee that they will actually work together in perfect harmony.

Sometimes you may have an unexpected “bad egg” that will ruin the harmony of a tank, regardless of the expectation of its bread or specie. However, his is a good general guide to get started.

How many male and female green Anoles can share a tank?

Sharing male and female animals is quite simple, but you have to be careful about how much space you give them. Also you need to get the combination correct. If you get this wrong you could be in for a big mess.

The simple rule of thumb is, maximum 2 anoles for every 10 gallons of Tank space. To give you some examples of these combinations, let Me Explain. Let’s say that you have 4 Anoles.

And you want to house them all together in an enclosure. Based on this calculation you need to have a 20 gallon tank.

To continue this example, let’s say you have 6 anoles, as you can imagine, you need to have at least a 30 gallon tank, to keep them happy.

This will go on and on with the additional anoles added to the enclosure. However you need to consider the type of enclosure that you purchase as well. Reason being, they need a Tall enclosure, rather than the conventional wide version.

This is because they need to have two levels. The first level (ground level) will be where they will dwell. And the higher second level will typically be where you have your plants and greenery. Which will help the humidity of the tank.

Also after the plants are misted, the water droplets dropdown and nourish the anoles. They do not like to drink from water dishes, so these droplets are mandatory.

Apart from this you also need to consider the male and female mix before you go ahead with your purchase. It is not a good idea to have more than one Male in the enclosure. This is for the simple reason that it is likely to end up in fights.

However one male with multiple females will get along just fine. You should find that one male can easily keep 4 or 5 female anoles more than happy. Just bear in mind, if you do mix this way, there is a good chance that they will mate and breed. So you will need to consider having even more space for the hatchlings.

Can Green & Brown Anoles Share?

You may be considering mixing green and brown anoles together. On the surface, this may sound like a good idea. Simply because you may assume that there is nothing much different with these species apart from the obvious colour differences.

Not a Good Idea

Before you do this, let me warn you it is not a good idea. This is for the simple reason that the brown ones are very aggressive, in comparison to there green tank mates. Therefore you will find that your treasured green anoles will be bullied.

In particular, when it comes to feeding or even basking to capture as much heat as they need to survive, they will be pushed out of the way. This can result in the green anoles starving or suffering from heat or calcium deficiencies. Ultimately it could lead to you losing one of the green anoles.

Will They eat Their Own Kind?

If you are considering sharing the enclosure with multiple Green anoles, in particular mixing the males and females together, you may find that they do indeed eat each other.

But this is mainly to do with hatchlings. In the event that anoles mate, breed and lay eggs. The hatchlings could be at risk of being eaten by one of their tank mates.

What’s the best enclosure for sharing?

As discussed earlier you need to make sure that you have at tall vivarium, which can accommodate a maximum 2 lizards for every 10 gallons of space.

In addition to this, you need to make sure that it is a tall, vertically aligned terrarium. It needs to be very well ventilated. This is because the air ventilation for these lizards is very important for their survival.

It needs to have a lot of plants and greenery which will be located in the higher level of the vertical vivarium.

I can’t emphasise this enough, never go short on the amount of greenery and plants. These can be live plants or alternatively you can go for artificial alternatives. For example, acrylic vvines or other types of artificial greenery.

These lizards would much rather hang out in the green areas, rather than at the lower level hiding in caves.

Related questions:

Q. How long can green animals live without food?

In the wild green anoles do not eat every single day. They have to hunt for food. And as he can expect they are not guaranteed to be lucky in hunting everyday.

For that reason they can easily live without food for a couple of days, which is even regarded as normal in their natural environment. However for it to become a real serious problem they are likely to be able to live a lot longer than that without food, maybe even a couple of weeks.

However you are not advised to test to see how long they will last. Make sure that they are well fed, if you are looking after them in captivity.

Q. What can you feed a brown Anole?

Brown anoles have a similar diet two green anoles. This includes the following?

  • Spiders
  • Crickets
  • Waxworms
  • Roaches
  • Ants

In addition to this they will even consider eating their own kind, as well as other lizards, such as a skinks. They will even eat old dropped off tails and old shedded skin.

Another interesting fact about their diet, if they are located near water they will even eat small fish or pretty much anything that will fit into their mouth.

do anole lizards chirp

Do Anole Lizards Chirp?

After hearing the chirping sounds of a Lizard, you may be concerned or interested to know if Anole Lizards Chirp (Click here to see why these are the best 7 substrates for Anoles). Maybe you are considering picking one up as a pet or just interested. I was also interested in the answer to this, so I have decided to write this article to explain.

Do Anole lizards chirp? No, Anole Lizards do not make sound. In fact there are almost 5000 different Lizard species and very few have the vocal ability to make sounds. The gecko is one example of a Lizard that is known to make sounds.

Now that you know about the Anole lizard, let us look into which lizards make this chirping sound, as well as other weird sounds. Not just that, but the reasons why they make these sounds. Also, lets understand other forms of communication that lizards use.

Which lizards do chirp?

The Gecko is known for making a chirping sound, along with an array of other sounds. It is one of the few lizards that has vocal ability to make sound (more about this later). This chirping sounding is sometimes confused with weird barking sounds too.

It is believed that this chirping sound can happen for one of two reasons:

  • Territorial
  • Mating Calls

Territorial mating calls

The first reason, as listed above is for territorial reasons. But what do I mean? Basically it used to repel predators or rival male Geckos.

Mating Calls

The second reason is for mating calls. This is relatively straight forward, it is an opportunity for the Gecko to entice the female into its trap for mating.

What other sounds are lizards known to make?

There are different species of lizards that make weird and wonderful sounds. My objective is to explain to you now what they are.

Mediterranean House Gecko Sounds

The first one to discuss is the Mediterranean house gecko. It makes a range of different sounds. Firstly, it’s known to make a chirping sound as well. This is known to be used to fend off his enemies.

In particular, it has a very distinctive “single chirp”. It also has a loud squeak. Again, this is used to ward off enemies as well.

Another one of its sounds is the “click”. This clicking sound is known to attract the opposite sex. Females are lured in for mating.

The turnip-tailed Gecko Clicking Sounds

The  turnip-tailed Gecko is known to make clicking sounds as well. These clicking sounds have often been compared to insects. It is almost as if it’s mimicking these insect sounds.

It is also known to make a chirping sound. This is also associated with attracting females for mating.

The New Caledonian Gecko “Growling Devil” Sound

The New Caledonian Gecko has quite an interesting sound. This sound is quit distinctive. And if you heard it, you would probably be freaked out.

It is known to make a really loud and weird growling sound. Almost like a growling dog. It has also been nicknamed the “Devil in the trees” for this very disturbing growl sound.

The Tokay Gecko Lizards “Tokay” Sound

The Tokay Gecko lizard is known for its a very distinctive “Tokay” sound. So much so, that it is named based on this sound. if you heard this sound, you would be quite amazed.

The “Chee Chak” Gecko Lizard Sounds

This is another gecko which is named based on its distinctive sound. It makes it a weird “Chee Chak” sound, hence the name.

How do lizards actually make the sounds?

As discussed earlier, Geckos are one of a few lizard species that can make sounds. But the question is, how do they actually make these sounds? Let me explain at a high level.

Geckos actually have vocal cords, which most lizards do not have. As well as this, they have a well developed larynx. Along with this they have cartilage and muscle positioned in their throat to help create the sound.

Air is passed from its lungs and manipulated using its throat muscles. As it passes by the larynx its vocal cords create vibrations. Depending on the frequencies of these vibrations, different sounds are made.

How do lizards communicate?

Lizards communicate in a few different ways, not just sound. They communicate using visual (body language), Chemical based communication and also a combination of these. Let me explain this now.

Visual communication

The first example of this is the Green anole. It has what is called a “dewlap”. It is a large throat fan, which can be expanded. This Dewlap has amazing visual communication qualities.

It can entice and trigger ovulation in a female Anole. It can also be used to inflate and discourage any unwanted male predators.

The next example of this visual communication is the Frill-necked lizard. It has an extended flap of skin around its head. This can be inflated and used to intimidate any Predators It may not always work to scare them off, but it is one of their ways of communicating, “do not mess with me”!

The island lizard has a couple of different ways of communicating for a number of different reasons. Firstly it will jump high in the air to grab the attention of the female, to try and differentiate itself from all the other competing males.

They also have an interesting way to flatten out their body and lie on their side, to trick their enemy. If this doesn’t work, this is usually followed by physical confrontation.

Another known communication behaviour from lizards is push-ups. They will literally do push ups to try and send a message to their predators. This may be seen in captivity, for example in a zoo.

It has been known to see lizards doing push-ups, if the see a visitor getting too close to their lizard enclosure.

Chemical communication

A good example of these chemical communication methods is the skink. The skink is known to let out chemical pheromones. These pheromones are known to be excreted from its legs.

These pheromones can be decoded by another lizard by smelling and then reacting to the chemical. However lizards do not smell in the same way that we do, as humans. They actually use their tongue which is similar to snakes.

By using their tongue, they can grab the smell and decode the communication methods used by the skink.

Related Questions:

Do Anoles Make good pets? Yes, the green and brown anole in particular are great beginner lizards. They are not too big and quite a good place to start with lizard keeping.

What happens if you don’t have the correct housing for your Anole? If you have a Green Anole, for example, If you do not provide the best housing it can get stressed. If this happens a number of health issues can be triggered as well as your Anole turning Brown.

Are Anole Lizards Aggressive? They can be if they are provoked, If you do not handle them properly the Anole could bite. But this is easily avoided by using common sense and treating them with respect.

Do Anoles Mark their Territory? Yes, the Anole uses visual displays to establish and mark their territory. This includes flexing its Dewlap, push-ups and aggressive head motions to make sure that no other male will try and infiltrate their territory.

green anole breeding

Green Anole Breeding (Best Tricks plus Pictures)

Keeping Green Anoles (Click to see why these are 7 best Anole Substrates) is one thing, but breeding them is another. I was interested in how other successful breeders have done it. So I have compiled my research on this for you today.

How do you breed Green Anoles in captivity? You need to have a maximum of one male in the enclosure, to stop any fighting, and provide a few females. Provide the best housing, including temperature, water and humidity. Also the right number of live plants that have been misted to provide necessary water droplets.

Unfortunately many people feel that they just need to have a male and female in an enclosure and “the magic” will happen. Unfortunately that is rarely the case. To be a successful Green Anole breeder you need to have a firm grasp of the basic requirements for it to work. So, let me provide this info for you now.

What is a green anole?

I’m going to start off by giving you a bit of background about the Green Anole, where its from, scientific name, etc, before before we get into the breeding detail below.

The green anole is a bright green specie of the Anolis Genus. Its scientific name is Anolis Carolinensis and it is from the Southern region of the United States.

It has been quite popular as a pet since the 1950s and is a really great starter pet for a beginner Lizard keeper.

Can you legally keep or Breed a Green Anole?

Before you rush out and purchase one or even consider breeding, you need to check if you are allowed to own one legally in your state. This is mainly applicable to people living in the United States, in particular, the state of Georgia.

Georgia, for example, have certain permits that are required for certain lizards. So check this out first, before you go any further.

What do you need to properly breed them?

Now I’m going to discuss what is required to breed a green anole successfully. Such as housing, etc.

First and foremost, you need to understand that the actual season of breeding is between April and September.

However, this breeding window is not the only factor that you need to consider to successfully breed.

Why People Struggle to Breed Anoles

One of the reasons why people struggle to breed them is because they do not understand the full requirements. Providing a few crickets and roaches and stuffing them in a cramped enclosure is not the recipe for successful breeding.

I you do not get all of their requirements right, they will not breed at all. It’s just a natural bodily function, to remove an unnecessary bodily task such as breeding for survival.

What housing would you need to breed?

First and foremost you need the correct housing, a normal 20 gallon tank will not be enough. Reason being you need a really tall tank. This is for a few reasons, firstly they like to climb.

But mainly, the male Anole will want to use the upper portion of the tank to create a territory. This second level is also used to have live plants for humidity and water distribution.

You need to spray water (also known as “mist”) on them, so it drips down on to the ground floor level. As it falls, droplets are formed, which the Green Anoles use to drink and keep hydrated (they do not like unnatural water dishes).

These plants need to be sprayed a couple of times for the best results.Also, once you have hatchlings (more on this later) they will also need these necessary droplets.

Optimal Humidity, Temperature & Lighting for breeding

Now let’s talk about the temperature, lighting and humidity that is required to breed. Firstly, you will need to provide at least 12 hours of lighting every day.

The temperature needs to remain at roughly 80 degrees Fahrenheit. It needs to stay quite humid but also have a kind of airy atmosphere, not too stuffy, are you with me?

Mixing/Sharing

The maximum amount of males that you want to have in the enclosure is just one. Don’t worry though, one male can comfortably keep up to 5 females happy, and breeding is not a concern.

Be warned, if you do put more than one male in there, you will find that they will fight and cause problems. They are quite territorial and the first thing that the males will want to do is establish his own territory.

How Do Green Anoles Breed?

Firstly the male Anole will initiate the process with some vicious head bobbing. This movement, which will attract the female, will also include inflating its impressive dewlap (see image below)

The Magical Dewlap

This dewlap, which reflects the UV light, and is seen as a brilliant Colour by the female, induces ovulation by the female. This includes females that may be carrying sperm from the previous breeding season.

The male will appear to be quite aggressive with the female, but do not worry, this is just the way nature intended. It will grab hold of the female and appear to bite the back of her neck.

This is to bring her into position for breeding. After the mating is completed, the male is done with her. She will have enough sperm in her to last for this mating season, as well as right round to the next season.

However ,each time she needs to lay an egg she will need to be courted by a male and see the display of the dewlap to make it happen.

How long does it take for the female Green anole to lay the eggs?

The female will lay one egg at a time. There will usually be 10 to 12 day period between each egg. In total you may get approximately 10-12 eggs. This breeding season will be from Spring up until late autumn.

Each ovary will essentially be responsible for one egg. Once each egg is laid, it is usually buried in the substrate. A good substrate for this is soil by the way. This is because they will dig and leave it on the surface or into the soil.

Ideally you want to make sure that you’ve got good substrate and plants available. This will give them ample choices where to hide and bury their eggs. Once the eggs are laid you can leave some for natural development and some you may consider putting into incubation.

You can expect them to be hatched within 6 to 8 weeks. This is assuming that they have been incubated correctly at 80 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit.

Incubating the eggs

The incubation needs to done at a controlled temperature, from 80 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. You can place the incubation container (this can be a simple plastic cup) into the incubator.

In addition to the cup, they will also need to be covered in vermiculite or you can use moist sphagnum moss too.

You can also consider putting them into an appropriate attic at room temperature.  Providing it has the right setup.

Caring for hatchlings

Hatchlings are notoriously difficult to rear. This is because they are quite aggressive. They have a natural instinct to attack their offspring. They also have a tendency to get very dehydrated. This is unless you provide the necessary water they need to survive.

As discussed earlier, their water requirements is as follows: Same as the adults, they will not enjoy drinking water from a water dish, so do not waste your time by providing this. Instead as discussed earlier, make sure you have a lot of live plants that are sprayed (mist) daily allowing water droplets to form, which they will drink from.

For food, you need to provide small insects for them. and this could be baby crickets, fruit flies, etc. But you need to make sure that they are well fed, watered and looked after you.

Survival of the hatchlings

When it comes to survival of these hatchlings unfortunately they are under constant threat from birth. This includes other siblings, as discussed earlier. Not just this, also other adult lizards within the same enclosure. They are likely to attack them. Fortunately there are some which go quickly and will be able to survive to become full sized.

Related questions?

What happens if you Green anole is feeling Stressed? If you Anole is feeling stressed, your green Anole may turn brown, This is an indication that they are unhappy and an opportunity for you to fix the problem.

What Happens if your baby Anole is not drinking properly? If your Baby Anole is not drinking properly. You can help them to drink by using a Baby Anole pippette (click for more info on this).

brown anole lifespan

What is a Brown Anoles Lifespan?

Brown Anoles (Click here to see why Anoles love these substrates) are great little pets, especially when they are well looked after. Their Life expectancy can be dependant on a number of factors that I plan to address in this article.

What is a Brown Anoles Lifespan? On average brown anoles will live for 5 years. However this really depends on how well you treat them in captivity. They require specific heating, lighting and diet specifications for them to avoid any life threatening health conditions.

Now that you know how long they should last, let me explain what you need to avoid and what you need to do to keep them happy and fulfil their expected lifespan.

What is the Brown Anole?

The brown anole is native to Cuba and Bahamas and is a brown coloured anole lizard. Its scientific name is Anolis Sagrei, however it is also known as the Bahaman anole.

Primarily it’s colour is brown, however it does have some black and tanned colours on it’s body.

How does captivity affect the lifespan of your brown Anole?

I will now discuss with you how captivity can affect your brown anole. Firstly in captivity housing of the brown Anole can make a massive difference to its happiness and longevity of his life.

There are a few factors which can affect its housing happines:

  • Heating
  • Lighting
  • Diet
  • Sharing with other lizards

Heating

Heating issues can cause major problems with your brown anole. They require a very specific heating requirement to keep them happy and healthy. I will talk more in detail on this in the next section, however this can be a big factor for the longevity of their life.

Lighting

Lighting is another big issue which can cause problems if it is not correctly laid out. In particular UVA and UVB lighting is essential. They need this to aid their calcium levels.

Sharing

When it comes to sharing it is important that you get the correct mix of lizards. Get this wrong and you will have a major problem o your hands.

Mixing can cause a number of different kinds of related issues. Firstly if we just focus on their own specie only, you have to be careful with how you mix the genders. If you have more than one male in your enclosure, you will face territorial issues and fighting for certain.

Sharing with other Anole Species

Some people attempt to mix the Brown Anole with other Green Anoles. Their assumption is they are pretty much the same, just the difference of colour. However in reality there is quite a difference.

In particular, their behavior. With experience, you will notice that the brown anole is likely to be more dominant and will overpower the Green Anoles. Initially this might be quite subtle, but there will be long-term issues.

Such as the Green Anole being pushed away from basking areas, meaning they get starved of the necessary UVA or UVB lighting. Also simple day-to-day tasks such as eating can be an issue. You may find that they are also getting pushed away and start to become underfed.

Sharing with other Lizard Species

Other lizard keepers have also attempted to mix brown anoles with Geckos. This can also be a problem because the geckos can be quite aggressive. Also, the sleeping pattern for some geckos is very different to a brown anole.

For example, some geckos are nocturnal. Meaning their activity is during the Night-Time hours, when the brown anoles are sleeping. You may find that your brown anole lizards are literally getting trampled on in the night. This will obviously cause them some major health issues. And may even cause a reduction in their life expectancy.

What can you do to improve their life expectancy?

Now that we have covered some of the issues that can affect the life expectancy of a brown anole. I now want to discuss what you can do to improve their life expectancy. In particular I will be covering housing improvements, such as providing the correct substrate, cover, space, lighting, etc.

Correct Substrate

Firstly let’s talk about the substrate. To keep your your them happy it’s important to get the right substrate. If you have a healthy and happy lizard, there is a good chance that there will be breeding happening.

With the assumption that you’re mixing males and females. In this case it’s a good idea to have a good soil-based substrate. This is great because it’s a natural substrate. It is also handy when it comes to planting live plants.

The additional benefit of this is that you can pot the plants directly into the substrate, without having to have a separate container for them. Whenever they lay their eggs, they can burrow and dig into the soil and keep the eggs safe.

Providing the correct cover and space

You will find that your brown anole will really appreciate some good cover and space. Therefore, if you are using live plants, it will appreciate hiding around them. It will also appreciate other accessories such as bark.

One tip to know, if you are using plants in the enclosure, is to make sure that there’s nothing toxic on the plants. This can then pass on to your lizard and cause health issues. It also may reduce its life expectancy.

Heating and lighting requirements

I’m going to explain the heating a lighting requirement to keep your brown and all happy.

If you have multiple Anoles in your enclosure you need to have at least two or three basking spots. They really do appreciate these basking areas and it is important for their health and wellness.

This is also mimicking their natural environment, where they will have multiple options to bask.  You will also find that some of them will group together on one basking spot.

The best way to achieve this is to have lighting which has UVA and UVB and place these lighting fixtures approximately 8 inches away from the basking areas, to get the optimum  light rays to them.

For this you will need a 60w bulb to achieve the ultimate light and the basking areas should reach up to temperatures of around 95 degrees Fahrenheit. You should also be providing a Cooler area which goes anything from 75 up to 85 degrees Fahrenheit.

You can also consider swapping out the 60w spot bulbs with a UV light instead, however I must warn you that this can work out to be quite expensive. If your budget is not an issue then go for it, however if you would like to reduce costs there is a better way.

Instead of these UV bulbs you can actually get a UV heat strip and attach it to the length of the enclosure. Make sure it’s the full length of the enclosure and it has reflectors to make sure that the lighting is reflecting in the right direction.

However if you are using UV bulbs it is important that you replace them every 6-8 months, to make sure that they are emitting the correct lighting. Do not wait until they blow, just replace them on a regular cycle to maintain the correct lighting.

With regards to heat mats or heat rocks it’s probably not a good idea to use these they are not really the natural behaviour of the brown anole and and if there is a requirement to have extra heating during the night and infrared bulb will be more than adequate for this.

Related Questions:

Will baby Anoles drink from a water dish?  No, baby Anoles prefer to drink from droplets faling from live plants in the enclosure. If you provide water dish, the chances are it will get ignored.

what do bearded dragons play with

What Do Bearded Dragons Play With? (9 Great Ideas)

Keeping a Bearded Dragon is easy if you know how to play with it. Playing with it will improve your bond and keep him happy. All my memories of having fun as a child are largely around playing games with my friends or family.

What do bearded dragons play with? Bearded Dragons have a number of options in captivity, such as playing with a ping pong ball, using a simple house mirror, small bridges in their enclosure, hiding in a simple hideout in their enclosure or even playing “hunt the food”.

Now you know what they play with, let me give you some detailed explanations of how you can set these games up, other suggested activities and explain the mental benefits of playing with your Beardie.

Why do you need to play with your bearded dragon?

In the section I’m going to discuss why you need to consider playing with your bearded dragon. You may be tempted to think this is a complete waste of time. However, have a think, how would you react if you were stuck in a 10 or 20 gallon tank with nothing to play with?

Just like humans bearded dragons need some form of stimulation and motivation to enjoy their life. The type of stimulation that I’m going to suggest is commonly known as enrichment. This is physical as well as mental stimulation.

This can improve the life of your bearded dragon. Not just physically but mentally. You may even increase his life expectancy.

Things that bearded dragons play with

I will now list a few activities and items that you can use to play with your bearded dragon. This will keep them happy.

01. Introduce a ball of Fun to Play With

One great thing that you can use to play with your bearded dragon is a simple ball. Yes, a ball! This can be a ping pong ball or even a small rubber one, just make sure its not too big.

The idea is to try and entice your bearded dragon to play with the ball. Obviously if he looks or moves it he will be interested by the movement, which will stimulate him to play with it.

For the best results with this, get a bright coloured ball. This will catch his attention and make him go nuts!

02. Playing with a mirror

Another toy that you can introduce to the bearded dragon’s tank is a simple mirror. This mirror wall trigger some interesting behaviour from your bearded dragon.

Bearded dragons are quite territorial, so if they believe that another bearded dragon is infiltrating their space, they will do weird things. In particular weird behaviours. They will either be submissive or to tell the other infiltrator to get away.

So you can expect one of two actions to happen either it will do a weird kind of “head bobbing” movement or it may do what is known as the “bearded dragon wave”.

Head Bobbing in the Mirror

The head bob will indicate that it wants to tell the mirror, which it believes to be another bearded dragon, to steer clear and move away. Basically trying to show it who is the boss.

On the other hand, if it does a wave. This is to tell the mirror, or the other bearded dragon in its head, that it is scared and submitting. Basically he doesn’t want any trouble.

The Mirror Warning

One word of warning with this, do not leave the mirror in there for extended periods of time. This is  because this may stress out your bearded dragon. So limit it to 10 to 15 minutes at a time at best.

You can trigger a similar reaction without a mirror if you are interested. It can also work if you put two bearded dragon enclosures close together. Once they get sight of each other, you should see either a head bob or a wave. Again, this is not something that you should do for a long period of time though.

03. Climbing all over you like a rash

Another great game that the bearded dragon would like to do is climbing over your body.

Once you build a bond and get your bearded dragon comfortable with handling, you can literally just place the bearded dragon on your body. A suggestion for this, try lying on the floor then placing the bearded dragon on your body and allowing him to explore you.

Not everyone is comfortable with this, and to be honest not every bearded dragon will be interested either. But if you feel this is something that might benefit your beardie, then go for it. By the way, this is not something that you should do on a regular basis either.

04. Let them play in the Hideaway

Bearded dragons love to burrow and hideaway. So, one way that you can stimulate this behaviour, and allow them to enjoy playing, is to setup a simple hideaway.

For example, this could be a simple cat hideout or a special Breaded Dragon bridge (click to see the price on Amazon) it could even be an old jumper that you use. It can use it to burrow away under. Allow your bearded dragon to have some fun with this.

05. Playing with a bridge

Another toy that you can add, that your bearded dragon can play with, is a simple bridge. This can be something that you create yourself or you can purchase.

The idea is to stimulate your bearded dragons natural pleasure of climbing. It will basically allow it to go from one point of the enclosure to the other over the bridge.

This is not a massive playtime stimulation on its own, but with a combination of these things in this article it all adds up.

06. Playing with swimming

You may even want to explore or allow your bearded dragon to go for a swim. This is a great pastime for some bearded dragons.

I say some because not all bearded dragons take to water favourably, if your bearded dragon is one that does like this then go for it.

A great suggestion for this is to get a small kiddies paddling pool, making sure it’s not too deep and maybe put some accessories in the pool such as some rocks or other things. Gently ease your bearded dragon into the paddling pool and see if he takes the the water and enjoys it first.

However, be warned you do not want to leave your bearded dragon in the water unattended because it may get stressed in the water and may not want to be in there, also you need to look out for Predators that may see your bearded dragon on its own.

Also if you are doing this it needs to be on a particularly hot day to make sure that they’ve got the right temperature.

07. Natural hunting games

Another thing that you can consider doing is allowing your bearded dragon to go for a natural hunt, just like they are in their natural habitat.

In captivity they are reliant on receiving food from you on a regular basis. But using this game you can place the food in an open area, such as a home patio or a really well maintained, low cut lawn, and literally place the insects in random locations. Giving your bearded dragon an opportunity to find its own food.

08. Taking your baby for a walk

Taking your bearded dragon for a walk is another great activity that will keep him happy and playful.

To do this you need to attach a harness to your bearded dragon. This is so that he does not run away. In addition to this, you will need to make sure that it is an environment where there are no other predators. Such as family pets, like cats. Also even little toddlers can be a threat, they may be inclined to grab or hurt the lizard.

It is unlikely that your lizard will want to go for a long walk, so keep in mind it’ll be pretty much a small little walk. In reality it won’t be so much of a real walk per say, it’ll be more of an inspection of the environment. You can expect the majority of the time, your lizard will probably be looking around, more than walking.

One word of warning though, make sure that, wherever you decide to take your bearded dragon, you do not let it walk on any environment that may has harmful pesticides. This is because it could ingest these pesticides and make it feel sick.

09. The food treasure game

Another great game that you can play with your bearded dragon is creating a food treasure hunt. What this means is you would effectively hideaway some food that it naturally loves. Then allow it to find it on its own.

To achieve this you could put it in a simple plastic container or maybe hidden under an item within the enclosure. Or you may even want to get festive, for example Easter, and create a themed container.

Related Questions:

Do Bearded Dragons like to be handled? Initially no, however once you build a bond with them they will get to know and trust you. You just have to make sure that you handle them correctly (Click to get more info on this) once you build the trust.

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