Please help, if you know anything about lizards?

Question

My townstairs roomate has been gone latly and has left her lizards unfed and unclean. I have no idea what they are or what to do with them. Their used to be 2 but now there is only one. I cleaned the cage and gave it fresh water. I couldnt find any food for it in its supplies except dead mealworms. I also found a bag of green stuff that is squishy and I am wondering if its food. The lizard is small and grayish, it kinda changes shades of dark green to gray green. If you know how to help PLEASE do. NOTE I am pretty sure it is a brown anole

Answer 1

This poor remaining creature is lucky you intervened.  If you do not intend to forcefully seize and keep the lizard; then find a good home for it during her absense.  Your roommate is obviously too irresponsible to be a pet owner (is she 3?  Did her mommy take her on an outing?).

She can count herself lucky that she's not MY roommate.  I WOULD have reported her to animal control, and she WOULD have been charged with abuse!

As for the poor thing's care... crickets (they should be gut loaded, I'll post a recipe for this) will work if it's missed several meals.  Mealworms are not as nutrtious.  The crickets should be small, no longer than the reptile's head is wide.  If the anole is weak/skinny, then pull the hind jumper legs off the crickets first, to save the enole vital engery catching them.

The anole needs a warm and moist environment.  I'll paste a few links below with basic care info. which you can check out when you have a moment.

Many Kuddos, and THANK YOU for saving the animal.

GUT LOADING CRICKETS for REPTILES:

The number one problem:

Dried up and malnourished pet store crickets and mealworms. These food items are essentially useless. A dehydrated and unfed cricket contains almost no nutrients at all; refrigerated mealworms are even worse. A lot of the variety in nutrients found in wild insects is actually in the stomach content - usually plant material. We need to duplicate this to provide the best for our reptiles; without the risk of illness/disease/parasites which can result from feeding our pets wild insects.

Please note that wax worms, while fattening, are not nutritious.

Basic Dry/Staple Cricket Food:

Equal amounts of dry Iguana food, dry dog food, chick starter mash, oatmeal (you can add dry baby food wheat/rye/barley, etc. as well; even shredded wheat - no sugar).

Grind these items together.  Place in a small lid/bowl for the crickets to eat.  Store the unused portion in the refrigerator or freezer, until needed.

Supplement daily with one of the following: sweet potato, bananas, zucchini, oranges, carrots, strawberries, assorted squashes (acorn, yellow, etc.), grapefruit, green beans, apples, kale, spinach, cactus pads, and just about any other nutritious item you can think of (do not use white/yellow potatoes - these are starchy and only good if used as a moisture source during shipping, and NEVER use Avacado - it's poisonous to most animals).

Provide the dry food and kale at all times (kale is readily available during the winter months, too), rotating the other food items through in succession. The key is variety, and to provide an assortment of varying nutrients. What you are trying to do is offer your reptiles crickets with guts 'loaded' with fresh foodstuffs.

The crickets should be gut loaded for 2-3 days prior to offering them to your reptiles.

Also, provide fresh clean water in a lid/bowl, adding a sponge or folded paper towel to prevent drowning.

  

Don't offer more crickets than the reptile(s) will consume within: 1.) a few hours if it’s a lizard, salamander, frog/toad, or 2.) a few minutes, if it’s a water turtle, so you know the crickets will still be full of the good stuff when eaten.

Be sure to remove any uneaten crickets so that they do not soil your pet's environment/water or bother your pet, once it is full.  Crickets CAN turn the table - and feast upon your pet! Or aggravate them, causing stress and even cessation of eating.

Also be sure the crickets are the correct size for the reptile.  The cricket should be the same size long as the reptile’s head is wide.

I hope this has been of help.

Answer 2

They are pretty easy to care for.  I have some of them and frogs also.  I go to the Petmart pet store.  They have this display that has crickets in a box. I think its called "bugs in a box".  It's a small 2 inch x 3 inch box and has live crickets in it.  You would need to get the small ones as they have small, medium, and large crickets.  There are about 30 of them in the box.  I would just open the box and put them in the cage. There are several more exotic things to feed them but for the sake of keeping it alive, I would do that.  Mealworms will work but sometimes they won't eat them. The squishy green stuff sounds like something rotten your friend just forgot to throw out.  Don't attempt to give it to him and make him sick. Good luck. You are great for stepping up and doing the best you can.

Answer 3

You can go to your local pet store and purchase a container of meal worms or crickets. It's very cheap, possibly no more than 5 dollars. Your room mate is an irresponsible idiot, I must say. People like that should not own reptiles. Perhaps you should try to convince your room mate to give them away to a good home.

Answer 4

Go to the pet store and get some live mealworms. Anoles need about 3-4 mealworms per day, although if they haven't been fed lately they might eat more. Crickets work too. Also check the humidity of the cage and use a mist bottle to spray some water in it. Clean out any p**p, or replace all the bedding if necessary. Then tell your roomate to be more responsible. You might even think about asking her if you can have the lizard.