brown green anole

Question

anole   QUESTION: Hi, i have an anole that i bought over 2 months ago and he is always brown..except wen he is sleeping he turns bright green. I know this is because he is stressed out....but i cant figure out why? He lives in an 12x12x18 tall terrarium, 10.0 UVB-UVA light, 50 watt day basking bulb, his cage is at 85F and drops to 75F at night for him to sleep in, 60% humidity, lots of fake plants and 2 bend a vines...his tank is very think in plants. i mist his cage every morning and he also has a little dripper to drink for during the day. He is a male. He eats like he should...powdered crickets and sometimes mealworms. He was green wen i bought him and ever sense i have had him he has been brown...i dont have a cat or dog that could stress him out either. I just dont know what he is upset about. Am i doing anything wrong? Should i change anything?

ANSWER: Hello Luke,

What type of thermometer are you using, a stick on type, a digital probe or a temp gun?
Which type & brand of UVB are you using, is if a fluorescent tube bulb or a compact/coil light?  The basking light is it a bright white light or a colored light?  
Is the basking light directly beside the UVB light?  
Everything else sounds fine.  Maybe you could post a picture of his entire tank setup for me?
Do you dust his feeders several times a week & leave a dish of calcium in his tank for him?
He is a nice looking anole though, good sized.

Tracie


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------


anole   QUESTION: I am using a digital thermometer/humidity gauge.
I use a Repti Glow small tube UV light.
The basking light is a dull yellow collar.
The UV light stretches for the basking side to the cool side.
Also here is a pic of his entire cage, he has a tube magnetized to the side of his cage door to keep his crickets and mealworms in with his calcium.
He is great sized for being kind of young, eats everyday, drinks fine, no problems going to the bathroom, very active all day always climbing and jumping.
I dont hold him or mess with him. So hes left alone all the time.
He looks and acts healthy so i dont think hes sick.
The only thing i could think of that would help is getting a female but i think his cage is around 15 gal and i heard that is to small for 2 anoles.

Answer
Hello Luke,

Ok, your setup looks nice, there is nothing wrong with how you have set it up & the temperatures, etc.  Yes, if you would like to get a female for him, I suggest getting at least a 30-40 gallon just so they have plenty of room.
The only thing right off that I will recommend is that the Reptiglo tube UVB could be bothering him.  Is it a 10?  They have been known to emit low wavelength frequency of UVB which can irritate the eyes & cause overall poor health, etc.  Perhaps you could try to get him a Reptisun 10 tube bulb instead?  Here is a link where you can get one from online, for a good price:

http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-fluorescent-bulbs/504983/zoo-med-rept

Let me know how he is doing.
How is his color looking today?

Tracie