Pet Information > ASK Experts > Exotic Pets > Reptiles > Rescued a baby green anole lizard

Rescued a baby green anole lizard

22 13:55:49

Question
We live in the Dallas area of Texas and are blessed with a variety of geckos and anoles who live in our backyard year round. We use no poisons in our landscape and these creatures do a fine job keeping pest (roaches, crickets, ants) under control.   We almost never see the anoles in the winter unless they come out to sun themselves in a sunny area outside on warmer days.   I am content to have them stay there in the "wild" and enjoy their life there in our backyard.
That said it has been in the 20s here off and on the past several days and I found a small anole looking very black, lying on my concrete patio.  Fearing he had quite frozen to death, I picked him up carefully and expelled some warm breath upon his back.   At that he appeared to try to hiss at me, so pitiful and stiff with cold.   Maybe he is just too small to survive like the larger ones, who hide under unused pots during the cold days.   I brought the little guy in to warm up and he gradually returned to a brilliant green - very lively little guy, though he did start to shed his skin - perhaps because of the cold.   I had no intention to keep him except long enough for the outside temp to get around 40 degrees F. and then with him still in  the small jar with a few leaves misted with water, I took the top off the jar and placed the jar under
a styrofoam pot with no lid so he could leave at his leisure. There was still a space under the edge to crawl in and out easily from under the pot.    A few hours later I returned to retrieve the jar and found him, once again, almost "frozen" brown and half in, half out from under the pot.

Now, here we sit him back in the nice little jar with misted leaves.   He is lively and pretty lime green, about 1.5 inches in body lenth with a nice long tail.   
I do not need or want a "pet" anole,  I simply wonder if I am doing any good at all - should I try to feed him for a few days
(if so what?)  or should I just put him back outside and let nature take its course.

Thank you very much -  feel free to share this .   Annette

Answer
 Nature should have forced him to get below the frost line.  If you don't want him, you have two choices, to let him back in the wild to take his chances or contact you nearest herpetological scoiety.  Local herpers might know areas where he can find shelter in the wild  quicker before the cold slows him before he can find it himself.