Hi! My name is Brittney, and I am the new lab technician here in the Johnson lab. I did not have much experience with lizards before I came here, but I am learning a lot about them now. One job I am in charge of is taking care of the eggs and the baby lizards after they hatch.
As you may know, most lizards lay eggs, which they generally bury in a place where they can stay warm and moist. Here in the lab, we give the lizard moms a nest box full of moist soil, where they can bury their eggs. Anole eggs are about the size of a “Jelly Belly,” a very small jelly bean. After the moms lay the eggs, we collect the eggs and keep them safe in a small petri dish until they hatch. We put this dish in a box called a “reptibator.” The reptibator keeps the eggs at a warm temperature and high humidity, the conditions the eggs need to survive. This is very important, because the eggs are very sensitive as they grow; too much or too little water would not be good for them.
Baby anole lizards emerge from their eggs 25-45 days after the eggs are laid. As soon as they hatch, they are already very mobile and hungry for their first meal, so we put them in a cage in our lizard room, where the adult lizards live. But, because the baby lizards are so small, they are not able to eat the large crickets we feed to our adult lizards. Instead, the babies must eat baby-lizard sized crickets. These special crickets are called pinhead crickets, because they are about the size of the head of a pin. As the baby lizards grow bigger, we feed them bigger crickets.
So far we have had five eggs hatch, and we are expecting at least another five more! Newly hatched baby lizards are adorable and I can’t wait for more eggs to hatch!
Manish J.
Nov 14, 2014 -
You are very lucky as you have amazing things to do.. 🙂
Diane
Jan 30, 2017 -
How do you get the baby anole to eat? I have flightless fruit flies and they just walk over top the lizard. Should I keep it in the cage it was born in with the big ones or put it in it’s own little cage?
mjadmin
Jan 30, 2017 -
Hi Diane, Lizards should eat when they’re hungry, and flightless fruit flies should be the perfect food for a baby lizard. If they aren’t eating, they might not be recognizing the flies as food, for some reason. You might try offering them small mealworms or crickets instead. Definitely don’t leave a baby anole in the same cage as the adults, or the adults will probably eat the baby.
Jen
Sep 3, 2017 -
Put old fruit out under the plant that is your anole baby nursery and flies will find it and the baby will develop it’s stalking moves. That’s what I do. I just hatched a new baby today but big lizards will eat the babies so try to keep your babies in a fern separate from big lizards, in your flower bed, the babies will stay close to where you put them. And then be sure and missed it with your water hose three or four times a day and that way you’ll see the lizard come over and take its tongue and drink off the phone but I have seen the Cuban’s eat their own babies I haven’t seen the green anoles eat their own babies that I have seen the Cubans three incidences it’s terrible
Cathy
Sep 14, 2017 -
I have a baby lizard that just hatched and he’s so small I want to keep him till he gets a little bigger in about a week or so, and then release him. I bought some mealworms and fruit flies for him. I’m not sure if he’s eating the flies, and the mealworms look pretty big. Should I cut them in half for him or just put them in whole for him.
Thank you
mjadmin
Sep 15, 2017 -
Hi Cathy, Many lizards will only eat live prey, so cutting a mealworm in half would probably not work well. I’d recommend sticking with fruit flies, pinhead crickets, or very small mealworms. Good luck!
Cathy
Sep 15, 2017 -
Thank you so much for your quick reply. I had let his brother go immediately who looked much larger 3 weeks ago, but he looked very capable. This baby is so small just hatched, and I have Skinks around my yard. I now see a lot less fruit flies and he is now climbing up the glass. 🙂
Kris
Sep 28, 2017 -
We found out in one of our boxes on our back porch 2 eggs now have them in our reptibator and when we candle them we see they are growing well and moving we are going to see if we can get pin heads for them to eat is there any other items they like to eat and do we need to powder the pin heads for the babies I never have had a pet lizard and my girls are so excited to watch them grow
mjadmin
Sep 28, 2017 -
Hi Kris, Pinhead crickets dusted with calcium/phosphorus powder are great food for baby lizards. Wingless fruit flies are another option. As they grow bigger, you could offer larger crickets and small mealworms too. Good luck!
lol#savage
Nov 14, 2017 -
they are cute and ugly done
Teresa Hooker
Jul 1, 2018 -
So my anloe laid an egg in her water bowl. Should I leave it there or move it?
If moving it is the answer what should I do
mjadmin
Jul 2, 2018 -
Hi Teresa,
If there’s water in the water bowl, the egg could be dead (although anole eggs can be immersed in seawater for a few hours and survive, I’m not sure what would happen with freshwater). If you don’t want the egg to hatch, you could put in the kitchen freezer for a few hours, and then throw it in the trash. If you do want the egg to hatch, you’ll need to bury it in moist soil, and keep the soil moist and warm (without dropping water on the egg directly). You should position the egg horizontally, so that the narrow ends are pointing side-to-side, not up-and-down. It usually takes about a month for an anole egg to hatch. Good luck!
CHRISTOPHER DAVIS
Jul 2, 2018 -
So we have had our male and female anloe for a few seasons now and we get babys every summer we have no problem getting them hatched. We keep them separate with plenty of leaves for water drops and we have tried pinnhead crickets and flightless fruit flies but can never get them to eat any advice
mjadmin
Jul 3, 2018 -
Hi Christopher, I’m not sure what to suggest, as pinhead crickets and flightless fruit flies should be just the right food for hatchling anoles. It sounds like you’re taking good care of these hatchlings. Do they have sufficient sunlight (or a full spectrum bulb) and a warm (but not hot) temperature?
Casey
Aug 19, 2018 -
Baby anoles sometimes need a calorie booster that you can mix with water and gently dab on the mouth area for them to lick, or they won’t eat their fruit flies, or get enough nutrients from them. You also need a tropical uvb light on them more often than an adult lizard, and a bit more heat. If you still can’t get him to eat, you may have to very carefully rub a fruit fly on his snout until he opens his mouth and chomps on it (then realizing it is food). They won’t drink from a water bowl, so they will need to be misted with warm water several times a day.
Lisa
Sep 4, 2018 -
I’m wondering if someone can help me. I have a baby hatchling, about 6 days old. He seems to still be energetic, but I have not seen him eat at all. I have flightless fruit flies that walk all over him and he does not want to eat. I also tried putting a little bit of apple sauce on his mouth but he does not open his mouth 🙁 Please help
mjadmin
Sep 4, 2018 -
Hi Lisa,
I have two ideas that might help. One is that you didn’t mention how much water you’re misting the lizard with – you should make sure to spray the hatchling around 2x a day with water it can lick off of leaves, or the side of its cage. If it’s dehydrated, it may not eat even if it’s hungry. Second, you might try pinhead crickets, which you may be able to purchase at a larger pet store. Best of luck with your little guy!
Michele
ANOLEINMA
Sep 10, 2018 -
Hi, we just noticed a hatchling yesterday in our Anole tank that has 1 adult male and 1 adult female. After moving the hatchling to its own enclosure we have seen him drink droplets and eat 2 fruit flies dusted with calcium. Pinhead crickets are on the way. Do you know how many pinheads and/or fruitflies the hatchling should be eating a day? Also, for determining gender… I see that the hatchling has the same stripe that the female does (but not the male). Do all hatchlings have this stripe and the males just lose it or do only mostly females have the stripe?
mjadmin
Sep 10, 2018 -
Sounds like you’re giving the hatchling great care so far! I would start by giving it perhaps 5-8 pinheads or fruit flies every day – if there are one or more left at the end of the day, the lizard is getting enough to eat. If there are several left, scale back the feeding a bit. Depending on what species you have, you might or might not be able to tell the sex at this early stage. Many juveniles have the same markings as adult females, so that’s not a good indication of sex. If you have green anoles, you can use the photos at this link to help you distinguish the postanal scales, under the tail, which is a reliable marker of sex in that species.
Lisa
Dec 12, 2018 -
I have a baby green anole and it had hatched about 3 weeks ago. It is in its own enclosure inside the lizard tank. It eats and drinks on its own. When can I add to the tank with the other anoles.
mjadmin
Dec 12, 2018 -
Hi Lisa, Congrats on the hatchling! The danger in adding it to a tank with adult lizards is that they would likely view it as prey and eat it, even if the adults are its own parents. I would wait until it is at least 75% of the size of the adult female before adding it to the larger tank, which would probably be several months from now. Good luck!
Shailynn
Jun 2, 2019 -
Hey my baby brown anole that I hatched out from an egg wont eat at all and the only thing I have all blue mosquitoes and meal worms nor will it open its lough Cuz I Evan tried to force feed but it wont open its mouth so what do I do
mjadmin
Jun 3, 2019 -
Hi Shailynn, This is a tough one! Most mealworms might be too big for a hatchling anole, and wingless fruit flies (often sold at pet stores) might be best. They don’t eat much at a time, so it might be getting enough, even if its just a little bit. Good luck!
Lizard mom
Jul 10, 2019 -
I have a week old green anole hatchling, still currently with the adults. I’m afraid to move him to his old terrarium do to the face there is plenty for him to eat in the bio active terrarium the adults are housed in. There’s pin head crickets, isiods ect He is doing great so far. I just of course worry that the adults will get him. Any suggestions on creating a fast bio active terrarium for the baby.
mjadmin
Jul 11, 2019 -
I agree that it’s a concern that the hatchling might be eaten by the adults in the terrarium – but perhaps this is a wily little hatchling that will manage to avoid them. A terrarium for a hatchling would look much like the version that works well for adults, but you wouldn’t need to provide as much space, and smaller perches work well for smaller lizards.
Random Person
Oct 8, 2019 -
Umm okay so I found a baby green anole and I just want to ask, can you feed them a banana? And this lizard is probably 2-3 weeks old.
mjadmin
Oct 9, 2019 -
Anoles generally eat only live prey – so, crickets, mealworms, fruit flies, etc. While it’s possible that a very hungry lizard might try something like a banana, that’s not a normal food source for an anole and it wouldn’t be a food that would keep the lizard healthy.
Janine
Oct 19, 2019 -
I have a baby green anole just discovered 4 days ago, 2.5″ long, snout to tip of tail
Nice long tail she whips around. I have 1 male green anole in with 3 female green anoles and 1 female bahamian brown anole. So, total of 4 girls, 1 boy. All in harmony in an 18″ x 18″ x 24″ tall exoterra built fir a largs crested gecko. I have 2 crotons and a Chinese evergreen real plants as well as fake palm tree leaves on the tribal statue that came with it. I removed the foam backing. I put on a background to the back of the glass. I use eco earth and a boel of conditioned dechlorinated watee. There is cricket drink and orange cricket feeding cubes put in the terrarium daily for unesten baby crickets to eat. I have had these started last March 2019 this year. I found 4 eggs that I incubated byt tiny worms grew out of them. Yuck. I threw it out, I had put the eggs in a small Solo dose cup with a perforated lid, moss, misted, and inside the terrarium under the heat lamp. They were just mushy white creamy muck. I just figured every egg was a slug.
Then, one day this week I found a baby on the top of the tank on the thermostat sensor cord. So adorable. I have never ever seen any of my girls ir Bubba my male—attack each other—and are actually protective of tgis baby. I know who the Mom is, as she is always close by. She’ll show her dewlap—my female dies dewlap—when she wants the baby left alone to explore. So, how in the world is this hatchling, nearly 2 3/4″ long, and 1/8″ wide–maybe a tiny bit wider–head–eye to eye horizontally—EATING? What is she eating? I mist 3 to 4 times a day. Humidity around 68-88. Temp in 80’s ambient. Up to 100 right under heat lamp. Several areas to hide and levels of heat variance. I added a human heating pad under my tank, bot sure if it is helpibg much. I am using a 75 watt bulb since my vertical tank has multiple areas for them to self-regulate as needed. Also I have the correct UVB bulb. The baby visibly drinks water drops off the glass walls, I saw her/him.
I thought of fetting flightless fruitflies or just putting a piece of banana or apple on the bottom of tank for winged flues. I already have some fruitflies in the tank from somewhere. I guess the baby either is eating them or parts of tiny small
crickets? I called 3 stores and they said it’d be okay to leave him in with the others because the mother will watch over her young. I am hoping and think it is a female baby. That way there’ll be no male to male aggression as it grows. What do you suggest? I really seem to have a loving protective family. My male is amorous yet very laid back with his harem. They all stack on each other and sleep together and each have their favorite hiding spots. Can I leave baby on there and add flightless fruitflies or what? I can send photos of my setup. I know it is Bubba as the Daddy and probably Slinky as the Mom. She is ALWAYS around when Tootsie–baby—is out. Tootsie is so tame she will come on my hand.
mjadmin
Oct 20, 2019 -
Hi Janine. Thanks for your comment – these are really interesting observations! Yet, there is no evidence that suggests that anole lizards can recognize their young, and no evidence at all for parental guarding or care. Generally, moms lay eggs in the soil or leaf litter and abandon them to hatch and grow on their own. And in the wild, hatchlings avoid areas with adults, because adults are most likely to eat them. If you keep your lizards well fed with invertebrate prey, perhaps they will leave the hatchling alone, but any of them (and especially the male) are most likely to see the hatchling as potential prey. If you’d like to keep the little guy around, I’d suggest putting it in a separate cage. Best of luck!
jenkinsjim408@gmail.com
Sep 22, 2020 -
Will the mother eat the baby should they be separated
mjadmin
Sep 23, 2020 -
Yes, sometimes she will. It’s best to house them separately!