Anole will not eat

Question
QUESTION: Hi my daughter's anole will not eat. We got it (we think it's a boy) about 9 days ago and he has only eaten one cricket. He just shed today, ate the skin and everything. We are having a problem keeping the humidity up, we mist it frequently and it won't stay above 50 or 60 percent. I don't know if humidity would affect his eating? We have only tried feeding him crickets and now today we tried meal worms because someone suggested it. He is pretty skinny, he's young we think because he is not very young. We really just want him to be healthy, he hasn't really been doing that well ever since we got him. If you have any suggestions for what else we could try to get him to eat it would be greatly appreciated. This is our first reptile, so we are learning as we go here.

ANSWER: Hello Kelsey,

Ah, Anoles are so hard to keep sometimes.  
Do you have a green or brown anole?  Do you have a picture of him?
What are the basking temperatures in the tank?  Are you using a bright white basking light as well?
Do you use a UVB light & if so, what type & brand do you use?  A fluorescent tube bulb or a compact/coil light?  
What sized crickets are you feeding him?  Mealworms are perfectly fine, as well.  You could also try phoenix worms, too.  You will most likely have to order them online from:
www.phoenixworm.com

Are you using a stick on type of thermometer, a digital probe or a temp gun?
The humidity can be around 50% & be fine.  Do you have a water dish in for him & a dish of calcium powder too?
What type of substrate are you using, sand, tiles, paper towels?

Tracie

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


Franklin   QUESTION: Okay, so we have a green anole named Franklin. I will include a picture for you, it's one I took today, he is quite skinny. Basking temp is usually 85 or 90 degrees farenheit, the temperature on the other side is usually 80. We have a UVB light made by ExoTerra, it's a compact top canopy, with a 5.0 coil compact top light bulb (this was all suggested to me by the lady at the store who seemed to know lots about reptiles. We also on the one side have a Fluker's mini sun dome with a basking bulb in it, it's a 50 Watt bulb.

We have tried feeding him small crickets and the mealworms but he won't eat either.

We have two thermometers, round stick on ones, one on each side of the tank, plus the humidity one too. There is a water dish and we just got calcium powder because no one told us to get it at the pet store, but we read online that it should be used.

We are just using the green mat (cage carpet) for our substrate, we tried moss to help with the humidity but it just made the water puddle and I was afraid of molding.

We made an appointment at the vet for Wednesday for him because I am very worried, I haven't seen him eat anything other than his skin when he shed. Could you let me know if this seems like a good set up? We have lots of hides and a rock (not a heat one just a real rock) and a plant (which he LOVES) and two different logs.

Thanks, Kelsey

Answer
Hello Kelsey,

Franklin is a cute boy!  
The round stick on types of thermometers are not good at measuring the basking spot temperatures.  I would try to find a digital probe or a temp gun for better readings.  
Yes, the calcium powder can either be placed in a dish in the tank or you can powder his feeders several times per week for him.
The green mat for substrate is fine, better than moss.  You can use moss in the hide/cave for him to help him with shedding.  
The main problem I see is the coil compact light.  The compact/coil lights are known to be very hard on the eyes.  I would replace it with a long fluorescent tube bulb.  The only good tube bulb in the US is the Reptisun 5 or 10 either one.  It can be placed directly beside the basking light for him.
Try taking the compact/coil light out to see if he improves.

Let me know how he is doing.
Tracie