baby brown anole

Question
Hello,
About a week ago today I discovered a baby anole living inside a large palm
tree I purchased at Home Depot. It was about 1/14 inch when I discovered
him, and I took him  right to petland to find out what he was. Since then I
have been hunting on the internet to find information on him, I have never
owned a lizard before. When I brought him to petland, they put a very tiny
pinhead cricket in the container I was carrying him  in, and he ate it, albeit
with much difficulty, sort of like watching a snake eat something almost too
big for him. I have since put him in a 10 gallon tank, with a full spectrum
light overhead, potting soil bottom and a few branches for him to climb on. I
have been misting the tank about 3 times a day, and have seen him drink
from the droplets.  The thing is, I do keep getting the pinheads for him, but I
don't think he's eaten since that first day, about a week ago. He is so so
small I am wondering if that one cricket could be enough for some time? I
get mixed answers from pet store personnel. The room I keep him in is very
bright, and around 80 during the day, 74 at night. I have tried catching soft
bodied insects for him, but I haven't seen him eat any. Any suggestions on
other food perhaps? I have heard of wingless flies but they seem to be sold in
great quantities, and I obviously don't need many. Any suggestions would be
greatly appreciated.

Answer
Hello Lisa, hatchlings should be fed flightless fruit flies (FFF is what they are commonly known as) They are small and easy for him to catch. And even though he is small the fruit flies will take quite a few to fill him up. And if you provide the fruit flies with fruit and water they will stay alive for a long time rather then buying new ones every 2 days.

The rule is nothing bigger then the space between his eyes if the pinhead cricket does not fit in the space between his eyes then it is too big. If it does fit between them then he is fine and although it may look difficult to eat it isn't. They do not chew like we do so it can take them a while to get it down. Usually when they bite they try to kill the insect before swallowing it so this may be why he would sit with it in his mouth and seem to have a hard time eating it.

Anything else let me know, I don't like the advice given from pet stores. Most of the time the employees don't quite know what they are talking about when it comes to reptiles. They will tell a customer anything they want to hear.

Good luck
Yexalen