There are a lot of people who enjoy keeping anoles as pets, and they can be a lot of fun to take care of overall. If you have noticed some issues with your anole as of late, then you might be worried about what’s going on.
If your anole is acting a bit unusual, then it’s very possible that it is feeling stressed. Why would your anole suddenly feel stressed, though?
Read on to learn about potential reasons why an anole might be stressed out. You should be able to use this information to figure out what you can do to make things better.
Anole stress problems can be solved once you figure out what is going on. So long as you can get to the bottom of why your anole is feeling the way that it is, everything should be okay.
Signs of Stress
One of the biggest signs of stress to look out for with an anole is if it is changing color at night. When brown anoles are stressed, they will often start to turn green at night when the lights are turned off.
Conversely, green anoles will turn brown when they’re going through severe stress. Color changing should be taken as a clear indication that there is major stress happening, and you’ll want to do what you can to find the source of stress.
1 – Temperature Issues
Sometimes something as simple as a temperature fluctuation can cause an anole to become stressed. Anoles thrive at temperatures between 75 and 78 degrees Fahrenheit, and they like to have basking spots that can be as hot as 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
An anole isn’t going to like it if the temperature dips below 65 degrees Fahrenheit. If you aren’t monitoring the temperature well, then it’s possible that the anole will get stressed.
Try to determine if your anole is getting too hot or too cold so that you can make the necessary changes. Having a thermometer of some kind near your anole’s habitat is going to be a wise idea.
If you have your anoles too close to a window, then there could be issues with drafts causing things to get cold at night. You should be able to adjust things and get the temperature back to something that your anole will be able to appreciate.
2 – Fear of Potential Predators
Fear of potential predators will cause anoles to get stressed as well. Do you have a cat in your home that seems interested in your anole’s habitat?
If a cat comes close to an anole’s habitat, then that is likely going to scare the anole quite a bit. Cats are intimidating creatures that can easily kill anoles, and the mere presence of a cat is enough to cause stress.
Your cat could be leering at the anole habitat and making the anole fear for its life. This could be causing all of the issues that you have been noticing as of late.
It’s going to be wise to keep your cat or other animals that would scare anoles away from the habitat. This should help your anole to feel a lot more at ease.
3 – Handling Issues
When handling an anole, you’re going to want to do so with care. Some anoles might become stressed if you handle them too much or if you don’t handle them gently.
If you have been handling your anole recently, then you should consider whether this could have contributed to the anole’s stress levels rising. You might want to be more careful when handling your anole in the future.
Handling is usually considered to be stressful for anoles, but some anoles open up to their owners and will allow gentle handling. If you’re having issues with handling, then you should likely just leave the anole alone.
Too much stress is something that can cause an anole to become ill, and you don’t want to harm your pet. As long as you know that handling an anole isn’t easy, you’ll be able to make the right choices moving forward.
4 – Psychosocial Issues
Psychosocial issues can cause anoles to become stressed as well. Are you keeping multiple anoles in the same habitat?
It’s pretty common for people to do this, but some anoles just don’t like being around too many other anoles. You could have a bad mix of anoles that is just not working out as you had hoped.
For example, you might be housing two males together or two males and one female. This can cause the anoles stress, and it’s something you’re going to want to change.
If you’re going to have a male anole, then you’ll want to house it alone or with two female anoles. Sometimes it’s easiest to just take care of one anole in a habitat by itself, but if you’re going to take care of a group of anoles, consider the composition of that group.
5 – Improper Care
Finally, you should know that failing to care for your anole properly can cause stress issues. This might seem obvious, but some people who are new to caring for anoles might not be doing things right.
You could be feeding an anole wrong or you might not be giving it enough food. There could be things that you aren’t providing for your anole that are preventing it from being happy.
Consider what could be going wrong and ensure that you’re educated about how to care for anoles the right way. If you need to make some adjustments, then you might be able to turn things around so that your anole won’t feel so stressed moving forward.
Enjoy Your Anole
Enjoy your anole and do your best so that it can live in a stress-free environment. If your anole does become stressed, then you’ll at least know the potential causes of stress so that you can fix the problem swiftly.
It can be very satisfying to raise an anole, but you do need to be careful how you go about doing certain things. So long as you’re willing to learn and pay attention, things are likely going to be just fine.
I have a bachelor’s degree in Film/Video/Media Studies, as well as an associates degree in Communications. I began producing videos and musical recordings nearly 15 years ago. I am a guitarist and bassist in Southwest MI and have been in a few different bands since 2009, and in 2012 I began building custom guitars and basses in my home workshop as well. When I’m home, I love spending time with my three pets (a dog, cat, and snake) and gardening in my backyard. I also like photographing wild birds, especially birds of prey.