Monday, December 31, 2012

Green Living Consulting Q&A: How to know wether you are getting a good anole or not?

Question by James: How to know wether you are getting a good anole or not?
I am thinking about getting a green anole. I heard that however, most of them are caught wild ones which mean they may be sick or have parasites etc. What are signs of these that I can look for? Also, where can I get a bred anole instead of a wild caught one?

Best answer:

Answer by Penguin
The best thing to do is to get comfortable and watch the anoles in the store for a while. You will probably look like a creeper, but you want to pick a pet who is healthy. You want to look for alert, shiny, clear eyes. The anole should run when the worker or whoever tries to catch him. Colour is also a good sign–if the anole is lethargic and grey-brown, avoid it. Look for an alert, green to green brown–the anole should at least turn green when being pursued. It might be a good idea to ask for the one who seems like he is being the biggest pain in the butt about being caught. If you notice any sort of bumps or injuries, don’t get that anole. If you can see the spine and/or ribs and the eyes have a sunken look to them, don’t get that one. It is pretty easy to tell a healthy anole from an unhealthy one, so you shouldn’t have trouble finding a good one. =)

You’re right about anoles usually being wild caught. You’re also right about them having parasites. However, here is the thing: many, many wild reptiles (among other animals) would have those same parasites in their natural habitat, and yet they would still live out their full lives without ever having a problem with them. Reptiles have adapted to survive in spite of small amounts of parasites in their systems. The only major problem is when that small amount gets out of hand. This is usually caused by a seemingly unrelated imbalance, often simply from stress. You can reduce stress, and thus the risk of having to deal with harmful parasites in your anole, by making the transition from one habitat to the other as smooth as possible. For example, leave your anole alone for at least 4-5 days when you take him home. Just give him food, water, and misting, but don’t try to interact with him at all. Try to keep him in a quiet place where he won’t be too disturbed by a bunch of unusual activity. It’s also very important to give him a ton of places to hide. If you have to search to find him, that’s good–it more than likely means he feels safe.

A breeder is going to be difficult to find…you might be able to find one online, but check up on their reliability before buying anything…I’d always be wary of ordering live animals online.

Finally, a preventative measure you can take is to get a fecal exam done as soon as possible. All you have to do is bag up a nice fresh whopper (yum) and ask your qualified reptile vet to test it for parasites. That way you can treat anything serious before it becomes a matter of life and death. I know that some people actually do preventative treatments of antiparasitics such as Panacur, but I’m no vet, so I couldn’t begin to tell you the dosage on that. Better consult a professional (e.g. real life, not on-line ;D) if this is something you want to do.

Weeelllp. Kinda rambled for a bit. Hopefully you were able to get something out of it though. Enjoy. ;D

Add your own answer in the comments!



Tags:anole, Consulting, getting, Good, Green, know, Living, wether

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Site Search