# My New Little Buddy



## aNisip (Nov 21, 2012)

As I got out of the car yesterday, I noticed a young Knight Anole barely clinging on to the border above the garage door. And as I approached to get a closer look, he didnt react and let me get as close as i wanted. After further inspection, I noticed many scratches on his head and eye, as if he got attacked by another anole or a predator. So I scooped him up and set up an enclosure for him and fed him a roach. I have no experience with Knight's; I have kept brown and green anoles in the past but these guys are an arboreal species and want to know if I'm doing things right. Thanks!


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## agent A (Nov 21, 2012)

how cute! :wub:


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## SilentDeviL (Nov 21, 2012)

wow cool ,,, i never see these in the wild in Canada ..... I guess is too cold..


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## lancaster1313 (Nov 21, 2012)

The enclosure looks like a good size, for now. It could use a little more foliage to climb and jump from. Maybe a vine from a craft store that you can use suction cups to fasten it to the smooth surfaces.

_Anolis equestris _can be active lizards and stress easily when handled or even looked at. lol Some lizards will stress more than others. You can see when they are over stressed because they will start looking bad and their skin will darken and be grey, especially behind the eyes(not the normal color change to brown that they do). They are like a mood stone. A nice bright green usually means they are doing well.

Don't forget that they need uvb and a basking light. I have had young ones that got sick fast from just being inside for less than a couple of weeks during winter without the lighting.

You can actually watch the skin darken on the side that they are soaking up the light with, if you bring them into the sunlight. I love the texture of their skin and how soft it feels, even if they are not good for handling.lol


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## lancaster1313 (Nov 21, 2012)

SilentDeviL said:


> wow cool ,,, i never see these in the wild in Canada ..... I guess is too cold..


 Definitely too cold. They established here in Florida because of the pet trade. People must have released them or they escaped. Now they are a very common sight in my area.


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## Mëluzynn (Nov 21, 2012)

Are they an endemic specie in Florida ? Beautiful lizard, looks so exotic ^^


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## aNisip (Nov 21, 2012)

well they have been here as long as i can remember...they are originally from Cuba, but have been introduced like Adrienne said and are doing well here...they are quite beautiful!


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## Mëluzynn (Nov 21, 2012)

Interesting


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## twolfe (Nov 21, 2012)

I have no experience with this species. How cool! I've been to Florida several times but never saw any anoles that looked like that one. I guess I've been looking in the wrong places.


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## aNisip (Nov 21, 2012)

Yup these guys are an arboreal specie.....you won't find them on the ground or in bushes that often...


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## petoly (Nov 21, 2012)

that enclosure is way too small for it. I have the same enclosure. It's barely enough for a hermit crab. these knight anoles grow to be around 20 to 22 inches on the largest reports. A minimum enclosure is a 30 gallon tall for a juvenile, and at least a 40 gallon tall for adults, with 55 gallon being preferred for a single adult (some people go as far as housing them in a 120 gallon tank). They need uvB lighting (reptisun 5.0 is perfect) for proper food digestion and Vitamin intake from the light itself.

Green and brown anoles are also considered arboreal but they don't need that kind of room because of their size. Also these Knight anoles can be very agressive when you handle them so be careful. They are also more prone to stress than green anoles so I suggest putting them in a quiet room.

They also need a basking spot of around 90F and around 60 - 80% humidity. this can be achieved by covering half the tank with a towel or plexiglass. leave the other half open for ventilation

Right now he's suffering in that enclosure; he's got no basking spot, no room, and no uvb light. sorry to be the bearer of bad news bud. with you being in florida, he was probably doing better outside =(

he's so pretty.


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## agent A (Nov 21, 2012)

petoly said:


> that enclosure is way too small for it. I have the same enclosure. It's barely enough for a hermit crab. He needs at least a 10 gallon tall all to himself. Brown and green anoles are also considered arboreal. treat them the same way as you would a green anole.


dude! he just caught the thing

he probably is too busy to just run down to the pet store and get a huge cage

he'll get to it

the anole should be fine in something like that for a few days


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## aNisip (Nov 21, 2012)

Thanks Myke for the criticism I need some help with this as you can see...this setup is only temporary and mainly for a recooperation enclosure.....do those scratches look bad? Does he need medicine or something?

And these guys have been long established here in FL (someone realeased some as pets and they have taken hold in south FL) ....I have several adults (bit bigger than a foot) in the giant Royal Poinciana Tree in the back yard and Oak Tree in the front yard....this guy is offspring of them. And for lighting, I do have a UV light as his heat and light source...you can't see it that well in the last picture, but he is 'sunnin' himself on the wall right where the light was shining...(I turned it off for the picture) ....I only handled him because he was lethargic from the temp and his injuries and my warm hands perked him up...I know these reptiles, I see the adults in the back yard all the time, territory fighting and nomin on some unlucky brown anoles...and I would see the knights up higher on the tree trunk, get a nice fat juicy dubia adult female and let it crawl upwards and they would go bananers for 'em...and he is in a quite room, my bug room....he loves watching the mantids....but when he sees me a commin' he flattens out and tries to go on the other side of the branch ....and I only got him to eat by grabbing a lateralis roach with forceps and holding it up near his mouth and he nom'd it...I plan on moving him into a 40gallon when I can stop by the store and get a screen top. Okay, now having said all that, do I get an A?


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## petoly (Nov 21, 2012)

sorry I didn't know it was a temporary enclosure. All Andrew said was he put it in an enclosure. nothing was mentioned if it was temporary or not. oh and I wasn't criticizing you for grabbing him Andrew. I was just stating in general. I never said DON'T touch him lol.

those injuries don't look fresh at all to me. Looks like he's had them for a while and they healed. I wouldn't worry. do they have a discharge? do they look shiny? from the pix to me they look like they have been there for a while. it could also be a skin infection, but because of the shapes, and the placement they are in they do look more like cuts. I only wrote all that because you said in your first post you have no experience with Knights. I wasn't trying to rag on you. nice find actually lol I wish I had one.

lol I don't really see what help you would need then. you know what youre doing. I just gave you everything that was wrong again because I read you had no experience with them. main thing is I thought you were permanently housing him in there.

yes you get an A


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## aNisip (Nov 21, 2012)

Yeah my bad, I never said anything abt temporary...and some were old scratches and some were new, near his left eye were discharging some liquid, so I dried it with a paper towel then let him bask in the sun...I would like to establish a bond with him and be able to hold him let him chill on me...and for feeding I'm pretty sure it was an accident on his part, I'm pretty sure his mouth was open as a defense response and then "attacked" the roach...how can I get him to actually eat? I just threw in like 4 roaches and they all went to the bottom and are hiding beneath the log...its like whenever I get near he freezes and flattens out so I 'don't see him' so I can't throw food in so he can see it or anything. .. (but I know that the roaches will probably crawl around and get his attention while I'm not there...


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## patrickfraser (Nov 21, 2012)

Pretty cool. Wish i had things like that in California. The only lizard I ever see is a "blue belly".


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## petoly (Nov 21, 2012)

neosporin works great on reptile cuts.


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## ismart (Nov 22, 2012)

When i was a kid. i had a cuban anole. At least that what they were called when i was growing up. They live pretty long. I had a female. She used to lay a lot of eggs. I never got her a mate tho. Best of luck with it. The wounds at least don't appear to be life threating.


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## lancaster1313 (Nov 23, 2012)

My daughter found a hatchling today. It was cute with its little umbilical stub still showing. &lt;3


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## aNisip (Nov 23, 2012)

I found one last year like that...it had the cutest eyes! And personality! ^-^ It thought I was a big tree and climbed all over me  ....I hope my buddy pulls through, he is awesome!  But being a wild caught, isn't used to clear glass walls and is trying to go through them all day...and is still a little afraid of me...I hope this bonding thing hurries up, I want him to get used to me...


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## lancaster1313 (Nov 23, 2012)

They can rub their little noses and lips raw when they try to get out. Maybe it will help to cover the enclosure.

If you get a larger enclosure (recommended), try to avoid having screen or mesh on the sides if you have a face rubbing lizard.


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## angelofdeathzz (Nov 23, 2012)

Well if they get that big then a few more sheds should help with the wounds in appearance anyway, I would think? Nice find Andrew!


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## aNisip (Nov 23, 2012)

Yeah...when I kept brown anoles...they face rubbed a lot the first two weeks or so, but then stopped for the majority and did it once awhile....i want to cover it, but I also want him to get used to my movements and used to my non threatening presence...yeah hopefully I can break his wild-ness and get him more used to a recovering pet feel...he still goes stick like when I open cage and freezes, I don't see him feed even when held in front of his face...the only time I got him to eat was by him ready to bite a stick I was adding to his home and quickly placing a roach in his open mouth...I want him to be healthy and well fed but can't get him to eat...maybe if he is hungry enough he will learn to hunt in his enclosure....or should I try feeding him like I did the first time to make sure he eats and recovers? Thanks for the advice and input! ....and thanks Nick and others! I caught him originally to aid him back to healthy, but he is such a beaut I'm getting attatched


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## lancaster1313 (Nov 23, 2012)

Try not to handle it or stick your hands in the enclosure for a couple of days. I guess misting will be about all you should do until it gets acclimated. It will probably eat eventually. I have never had one that didn't eat after a few days, but sometimes they prefer not to be watched and will take a while before they eat when you are around the container and looming. lol

They do like to take mushy banana or banana babyfood once in a while.


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## aNisip (Nov 24, 2012)

Thanks Adrienne! No more handling or hands in his home for now (and thanks to you too Myke for the other info)  I will stop throwing roaches in there hoping he eatz them and will keep misting.....and thanks for tip on nanners  ...hey Adrienne I don't mean to get too off topic, but what was the name of that park where I can find some g grisea? (And like a location) Thanks in advance!


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## lancaster1313 (Nov 24, 2012)

Here is a link to the site:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=fern%20forest%20nature%20center&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;cad=rja&amp;sqi=2&amp;ved=0CCsQFjAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.broward.org%2Fparks%2Ffernforestnaturecenter%2Fpages%2Fdefault.aspx&amp;ei=VbqwUKzeHMXm2QXT94CQBg&amp;usg=AFQjCNGAipzBCAw_UlwDEJNB6ttFUzdEQA

It is just by word of mouth that someone found _Gonatista grisea _at the location, but I didn't find them there myself. However I saw the mantids that he found and they were _Gonatista grisea_.


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## selkielass (Nov 24, 2012)

I rescue injured garter snakes- skittish ones benefit from a towel draped over or around the tank like a bird cage cover so they don't get spooked by every movement in the room.

Plain triple antibiotic ointment is safe for snakes, but a avoid the stuff with pain killer in it- that stuff can cause scale loss in snakes. Dab it on with a q-tip or medical swab.

Weak betadine solution is good for treating skin infections and cuts, but don't let them drink it. W snakes it is a great body soak for vent and tail problems.


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## angelofdeathzz (Nov 24, 2012)

The wounds don't look fresh and seem fully healed up for the most part, aren't they? The way they're spread out it looks like a bird tried to get him and failed, if it was another bigger anole I would expect to see more of a shark bite triangle shaped scar. I would try to catch some larger type prey that is normal to find in your backyard/area, he would be used to those food types, can't hurt to try? But even when you get a new mantis(in the mail) they won't eat for a bit as a rule, they need to adjust first so it would seem totally normal for him not to eat yet I think

Wish you the best of luck with him, he's amazing looking especially to find in you yard like that!


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## aNisip (Nov 24, 2012)

Yeah, I'm not as worried abt the wounds anymore as I once was, but some ordeal...hatching then defending yourself against a hungry bird..geez!

And natural diet: insects and other anoles....when adult: insects other anoles and mammals and small birds...so I went outside to get some natural food he would find and got a smallish brown anole...put him in and now its up to Bud to nom nom  brown anoles are invasive and outcompeted the nicer more appealing green anole...and these brown anoles nomd on some carolina nymphs I released &gt;:| .....so I'm 'okay' with feeding a couple of them off...


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## aNisip (Nov 26, 2012)

He is a happy Knight! I found the brown anole hiding from him in the old wood, so I got it out and put it on a branch near him and closed the lid. Moments later the brown anole tries running down the branch away from him and he launched himself with great precision and landed a hit and and immediately began noming on the lesser anole...bud is now fed  (that brown anole was stealing the roaches intended for bud....so bud ate his roaches too!  )


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## angelofdeathzz (Nov 26, 2012)

Sooo graphic, I can almost see the blood trail? :lol: glad he ate, there is a pecking order that was lived out here.  In Mexico he's on the menu, once a bit bigger anyway...


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## Mëluzynn (Nov 27, 2012)

More pictures of little buddy ? XD


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## aNisip (Dec 5, 2012)

I took my Sub-adult _H majuscula_ male out for a stroll, and he decided to walk on Sir Knight's castle, so this is his response to the mantis' action and towards me taking a picture of him...









A couple days later, as I was walking in the door, I heard something with wings trying to get through the screen porch and fed it to Sir Knight, he thoroughly enjoyed it!  ( look at those teeth!!! :tooth: )


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## petoly (Dec 8, 2012)

he is definitely the coolest anole species ever =)


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## lancaster1313 (Dec 8, 2012)

It seems like we get alot of hatchlings around my yard. I can easily dig up some eggs and hatch them most of the time. I have watched one of them shoot out of its egg with such force that it squirted right up and out of the 16oz cup and onto my hand. :blink: I was only opening the cup to check on the egg and it must have triggered the hatch. I was afraid to move until the little one started eating its yolk and the other slimy stuff that was around it. :sweatdrop: 

I wonder how many of the tiny ones will make it through our possible cold spells. Even though they are invasive, they are cute and full of personality. I worry about the little babies in the cold.


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## aNisip (Dec 13, 2012)

It shot out!? That's crazy, I thought that all reptiles just cracked open the egg with their egg tooth and got out that way...hmm Where do they get all that energy and propolsion?

Last year, I found a super duper fresh hatchling with its yolk still remaining on its stomach, it looked like it hampered the little bugger... but I released him and he happily went on his way...  

The adults just drop from trees, frozen with cold, and easily fall prey to birds and racoons if they don't heat up....I would imagine the same for the youngsters...poor lizards  the babies resemble baby iguanas so closely when they hatch!


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## aNisip (Dec 21, 2012)

found a ringneck snake under a log I flipped whilst looking for queen ants to feed to my grisea...he/she has some awesome colors on the belly!


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## lancaster1313 (Dec 21, 2012)

Over a year ago, I found a ringneck in Butterfly world after a visit with Richard. This specimen had absolutely no color! It was black where it is supposed to be, but white on the belly and ring.

Ringnecks are not good eaters in captivity, if one tries to catch and keep them. Many will starve themselves to death rather than eat.  Unfortunately, their favorite prey are other small snakes.

If you decide to keep yours, I hope that it is the rare one that eats for you.  

I gave that beauty a chance for a couple of weeks and after no feeding response(tried everything except snakes), I released the unusual specimen. Months later, I got the pleasure of seeing it in my yard! I hope it breeds and makes more amelanistic specimens around here. &lt;3

I can't see your attachments.


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## aNisip (Dec 21, 2012)

Yeah I read they were difficult to feed in captivity...I just let 'em go.. and ok about the attachments...I can see them. Hmmm....i'll see what I can do...


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