Green anoles are native to the warmer areas of the United States of America. Often called American chameleons, these small skittish lizards can change color surprisingly quickly moving from a light green through darker greens to a deep brown depending on their mood. This color-changing aspect makes them fascinating captive reptiles to observe but this isn't the end of the story.

Green anoles also have a number of other benefits as pet reptiles. Firstly, these lizards can be kept in communities whilst most other lizards need to be kept singly or in pairs. This community aspect means you can house a number of these lizards together and enjoy the interaction between them.

Green anoles may be seen waving their legs, bobbing their heads up and down and finally inflating their dewlaps - a large red flap of skin under the skin of the lizards.

Infact, these lizards can be so fascinating to keep that they make one fo the best lizards to start off with for any new reptile keeper. Indeed the only downside is that these lizards are so small and so quick that they really cannot be handled so please be aware of this before considering investing in one or more.

Housing

Green anoles are active lizards and so despite their small size, they appreciate a decent amount of space. A cage of 60cm long may house two or three individuals though a cage of 90cm long or even larger is even more appropriate.

Standard reptile caging is typically appropriate for them such as a glass tank with a reptile lid or one of the various wooden vivaria.

These lizards rarely drink from water bowls, preferring to lick droplets off the cage and this, combined with the fact that they require adequate humidity to moult, means that a warm, humid environment works best for them.

A substrate of chipped bark tends to work well, with numerous artificial plants to hide in. In addition, these lizards normally spend much of their time off the ground, perching in trees and bushes and so to make them happy you should include a range of perches in the form of twigs and branches to give them somewhere to rest.

Ultraviolet lighting is necessary to enable these lizards to properly fix vitamine D3 and some form of heating - most usually a low-power reptile heat pad - will be required to bring the warmest part of the cage up to a temperature of around 25'C.

Feeding

Anoles have been seen to nibble on pieces of fruit like banana or orange but the vast majority of their diet should be made up of live insects. Crickets, young locusts and mealworms can all work well and you should try to offer a variety of these insects to offer as wide a range of nutrients as possible.

These lizards will eat daily and so you should aim to feed them at least once a day though one should try to ensure no uneaten livefood is left in the cage where it may annoy, or cause damage to, a moulting lizard.

Also remember to spray the tank regularly with lukewarm water to increase the humidity in the cage and to provide your lizard with a drink. Indeed many specimens will sit out like a cage bird, enjoying the water droplets spraying down from above and it can be quite fun to watch the look of pleasure on the little lizards faces.