Howdy lizardsandfriends followers,
My name is Faith, and I’ve worked in the Lizard Lab for the past two years. (Check out my previous blog posts here and here!) In this post, I’ll describe how we can tell the difference between male and female anoles. If you live in the southeastern United States, the Caribbean, or Central or South America, you may have caught an anole and wondered if it was a boy lizard or a girl lizard. Here’s how to tell!
Female green anole on the left, and male on the right. Note the male’s large dewlap! (Click on the picture to make it bigger.)
Both male and female anoles perch on trees, eat insects, move around a lot, and change colors. As a result, it can be difficult to determine the sex of an anole. Lucky for us though, anoles are sexually dimorphic – this means that males and females have distinct traits that we can use to tell them apart, especially if you can look at the lizard up close. (Some of these traits also help us tell males and females apart in other types of lizards too, but some of these traits only apply to anoles.)
- Check the body size of the anole. Adult males grow to be bigger than adult females. If a male isn’t fully grown yet, he may be the same size as a female, but if you see a really big anole, it’s probably a male.
- Look at the lizard’s throat. Male anoles have a big dewlap, a colorful throat fan used to communicate with other lizards. Although some female anoles also have dewlaps, they are usually lighter colored and much smaller.
- Check the lizard’s tail. Male green anoles (Anolis carolinensis) and males of some other species have two scales much larger than their other scales at the base of their tails. These are called “postanal” scales. You may need a magnifying glass to see these scales on a small lizard, but the presence of these scales on a green anole is a sure sign that you have found a male.
In green anoles, males (left) have enlarged postanal scales (the yellow arrows point to these enlarged scales). In females (right), all postanal scales are the same size. (Click on the picture to make it bigger.)
In addition to how the lizard looks, you may also be able to determine the sex of an anole from how it behaves.
- Males are often more aggressive than females. If you find two lizards in the middle of a fight, and you see lots of dewlap displays, push-ups, head bobbing, and biting, then you have most likely found two males. Females will also fight with other females, but they don’t do this very often, and they aren’t usually as aggressive as males when they fight.
- Males use courtship behavior around females, trying to attract them to mate. The displays that males use in competing with other males are the same types of displays they use to attract females – dewlap displays, push-ups, and head bobs. Females may head bob in return, but this is not always as obvious.
Next time you see an anole, use these tips to help you figure out if it’s a boy or a girl!
Patti Columbe
Mar 2, 2017 -
Love this article!
Poo
Aug 18, 2018 -
So good I have both anoles myself a girl and a boy this helped me know more facts and tell the difference for thare baby’s thanks!
Nevaeh Swafford
Feb 10, 2019 -
i still cant tell what the sex is of my anole named geico
Danielle Branch
Feb 27, 2019 -
My students, (well only the girls) cheered when they realized that their new pet was a girl! Girl Power!
Whitney Hufnagel
Apr 14, 2019 -
help I don’t know my lizard just used is dewlap last night but it only stayed out for like 2 seconds
Amber
Jun 18, 2019 -
From what I understand. Girls have delays too. My girl has a small pinkish one she puffs out every now and then. She doesnt have the postnatal scales and shes smaller.
mjadmin
Jun 18, 2019 -
Hi Amber, Yes, female anoles also have dewlaps, but they are much smaller than those of males. I really enjoy watching the females display!
Javier
May 3, 2021 -
I have a boy and girl they we’re having sex I took a video of it but I wonder would it lay eggs on the mat or will I have to put dirt
mjadmin
May 5, 2021 -
Hi Javier, Females will only lay eggs “on the mat” if they’re stressed and have nowhere safe to lay the egg. (And, often females will hold the egg inside for a few extra days if there’s no good place to lay them.) Even a small cup with moist soil would be an ok place for egg-laying.
dennis
Oct 29, 2019 -
i have a girl
Toni
Nov 11, 2019 -
We live in southwestern Florida, and I recently saw a pair of brown anoles on our back doorstep. I was just watching them when suddenly one’s throat started bulging out, back in, and back out again. The throat was bright, bright red with little white dots on it. At first I thought, “OMG, is he all right??”, thinking he was overheated or unwell, but I quickly realized it must be a male displaying mating behavior to the female. I looked it up later and realized it was most likely a Cuban brown anole, displaying his dewlap. It was quite an interesting sight to watch for several minutes, as his dewlap ballooned up, then retracted again. The size of it was surprising! Even more recently, a brown anole hitched a ride on the hood of my car … I was going down the street at about 35mph when I saw him sitting directly in front of me on my hood. I pulled over as quickly as I could, and shooed him away … I was afraid he would fall off the car, and I’d run over him. I just adore Florida’s small lizards – I think they are so cute!
Kathy
Jan 26, 2020 -
I had two anoles to come in my house on my plants back in the fall one ended up in my frount bedroom where it get the moreing son, I began to research all I could about anoles I was able to catch him after a month I think my anole is a Male I have seen him showing off his dewlap and doing pushup he is doing this for the other anole that gets up by the aquarium I put him in, I would love to know what the sex is of the other anole that hangs out where it gets the even son.Sure would like to know what the sex of this anole is but got to catch him/her.
Loretta
Feb 20, 2020 -
Do newly hatched male green anoles already have a dewlap or do they have to go theough a period of sexual maturity and then develop a dewlap? Do immature males have a full colored dewlap and postanal scales?
mjadmin
Feb 21, 2020 -
Hi Loretta, This is a great question! Newly hatched green anoles do have enlarged postanal scales, and most have a bit of color under their throat where the dewlap will develop. When they hatch, they have the beginnings of the dewlap – all the parts are there (cartilage, muscles, and so on), but the dewlaps take a few months to grow.
Lilac0203
Aug 2, 2020 -
Loretta they do have them i have 1 male 1 female both adults and 1 baby male and a baby female we are themeing the names moms name is lilac dads is oliver colers is the theme
Franco
Feb 26, 2020 -
I have a girl anole, yesterday a Male anole came into my house, he flapped his delap at her and she nodded! Now I’ve got 2 lol
Femon
Mar 18, 2020 -
I really like catching anoles and other lizards in my yard then putting them in separate clear boxes (with air holes, obviously). The boxes stack, so I have one on top for large lizards, one on the bottom for small lizards, and one in the middle for the medium sized lizards or lizards that don’t fit into a small or large category.
My only problem is: Is it safe to categorize them like this? One of the large ones are very aggressive (he bit the shit out of my hand a while ago when I was checking him) and the small one is a female so she’s not aggressive much at all. I separated them but he might hurt other lizards badly. The only medium one I have is a male and he lost a good bit of his tail when I found him. I’m worried other lizards will pick on him and try to fight him if I put other lizards in there. What do I do?? All of my lizards besides the tiny female need to be separated from all other lizards!
mjadmin
Mar 19, 2020 -
I wouldn’t recommend putting any two males together, as during the breeding season, they’ll fight very aggressively with one another. Housing males and females of the same species together will work much better, even if they are different (adult) sizes. I also wouldn’t house two different species in the same box, no matter how temporary the arrangement.
Do make sure to let them go again, so they’ll stay healthy and you’ll continue to have lizards in your yard! This sounds like a stressful housing set-up for the lizards – do they have access to water, food, and shade? I’d also recommend letting any injured lizard go right away.
Mackynzie
Jul 11, 2020 -
I have a male and female green anole in a 40 gallon tank and they mated for the first time yesterday(atleast that I know of) and the female was fine. I caught them again later that night and after she was still fine. Now today she’s just dragging her back legs and army crawling everywhere in the enclosure. Could he have hurt her? Is this normal? I can’t really find much about the mating process just about the aftercare for eggs and babies. Should I remove one to the 20 gallon I have? I’m just so scared she’s hurt and stressed out. She’s also been darker brown for 2 days but if I get her out and hold her she turns back green almost instantly. The warm side is always 82°F/78-81% humidity and the cool side is 66-68°F/81% humidity. I’ve been misting 3-4 times a day, 2 hours before I switch to their night time light. Please anything is appreciated, I’ll do anything to fix my baby!!
mjadmin
Jul 13, 2020 -
Hi Mackynzie, My first question would be whether you’re completely sure that your smaller lizard is really a female, as this sounds like a stressed lizard who might be dominated by the large male in the cage. Or, if she really is female, she might be expelling the male’s mating fluids through her cloacal vent, wiping her vent on the ground to eliminate them (not common, but possible). I’d suggest housing them separately for a little while, to make sure the smaller lizard is ok before returning them to be housed together. Sometimes two lizards just don’t make a good pairing, and it’s possible that’s the case here. Good luck to you! – Michele
Kaila Wood
Jul 29, 2020 -
Yesterday, from an aloe plant that we bought last, week a brown anole hatched (came as a suprise to us since that’s not a normal thing to happen in canada), I’m purchasing everything required to take care of it, but im trying to figure out if its a boy or a girl, as well as the food to feed it. Right now my fiance is running around the house catching live flies for it, but i wanted to buy the dried crickets, worms, and grasshoppers for it. Does the food have to be live or is the dried critters with calcium powder okay?
mjadmin
Jul 29, 2020 -
Hi Kaila, Anoles won’t generally eat dried food – if it’s not moving around, it doesn’t look like food to them. (But you could give it a try?) I’d recommend getting medium-sized crickets or small mealworms from a pet store, and feeding them 3-5, a few times a week. If the lizard is an adult, you could see if it has a large red dewlap – if so, it’s a male, and if not, it’s a female (female dewlaps are very small). I hope you have fun with the surprise lizard!
Lilac0203
Aug 2, 2020 -
Can i house my 2 baby anoles together
mjadmin
Aug 3, 2020 -
Yes, that should be fine!
Kay
Sep 27, 2020 -
This may sound dumb, but can females still lay eggs if no male is present?
I have 2 female anoles (no dewlaps, both have the white stripe, no extended glandes under the tail).
I just cleaned out their tank, cleaned and dried all vines, bowls, logs, lizard lounge and plants and I noticed after their hunting for the feeder crickets- a larger than normal white egg looking thing. These two have been known to lay on each other almost in the mating stance all the time evw when the heat and humidity is perfect. I can’t believe that is a very large poop. But I’m still going to ask. If I could post pictures I would.
mjadmin
Sep 28, 2020 -
Hi Kay, This isn’t dumb at all – it’s really interesting! If you’re sure both of your lizards are female, it’s still possible for them to lay eggs. This can happen for two reasons. One is that female anoles can store sperm for up to 8 months (or more), and they can lay fertilized eggs using sperm from earlier copulations. Or, even if females don’t have any sperm stored, sometimes they will lay what we call “slugs” – unfertilized eggs that are often not shelled. One of these two situations is probably what you’re observing!
Maria
Mar 20, 2021 -
Hi. A green anole has adopted me. It showed up in my bedroom about 6 weeks ago. It likes to hang out by my window and had taken to sleeping in the penthouse of my blinds. Went to Petco, they sold me a can of crickets. I left it on windowsill, it ate it. Idk where it gets water, what do l do about that. It’s is about 6.5″ long, head to to of tail. I was told it was a girl, she does have a stripe down her back, but the other day it displayed a bright red dewlap. What do you think. How can l feed her and give her water. I can’t catch her. Thank you
mjadmin
Mar 21, 2021 -
Hi Maria! Congrats on being adopted by your anole! Anoles don’t generally drink from pools of standing water – they lick droplets of water from vegetation (or from the side of a cage). If you have a potted plant near her spot, you could mist it with water every day, and she might drink by licking the leaves. And, we all have small insects or spiders in our homes, and your lizard is probably finding them to eat. She’d generally be healthiest outside, but she can probably get most of what she needs by foraging in your home.
Jun
Mar 25, 2021 -
So Today i caught 2 anoles and put them close to each other the green one was bobbing his head and had the dewlap but the other one the brown one didnt do anything also the male was scared of the other one when i moved it close to the green one it didnt do anything but the green one was very scared so is the brown one a female or a male
mjadmin
Mar 25, 2021 -
Hi Jun, Has the brown one turned green at all? If not, it might be a different species than the green anole. (I don’t know where you’re writing from, but there is a species with the common name “brown anole” – Anolis sagrei – that is invasive in many parts of the southeastern US and Hawaii.) Or, perhaps one is a small male scared of the other who is a larger male? If you aren’t sure that they aren’t both males, it’s probably best to not keep them in the same cage.
Cannon Kelly
Aug 29, 2021 -
I have 3 anoles one puffed out it dewlap and the others haven’t so I think two r girls and one boy YAY (hopping for babies) will the other anole attack the eggs or baby’s?
Cannon Kelly
Aug 29, 2021 -
My anoles are wild 2 girls 1 boy is what I think will the girl eat the eggs if it lays one (the other girl won’t eat the eggs I hope) .-.
mjadmin
Aug 29, 2021 -
None of the anoles would eat anole eggs, but once laid, eggs are unlikely to hatch unless they are kept at appropriate temperature and humidity. If they do hatch, any of the adults, and most especially the male, are likely to eat the hatchlings, so I would recommend releasing them.