Green Anole Breeding & Egg Care Guide [Easy Step By Step]

Many people struggle with breeding green anoles because they do not have the right equipment and aren’t confident with the process. But breeding them does not have to be complicated and is extremely rewarding.

Are you ready to start breeding green anoles for the first time?

Then we have made a list of 18 important steps you must take to be successful. We’ve noted them all in detail in this article.

Grab a pen to jot down the steps and get started this breeding season.

What is the best way to take care of these delicate anole eggs? And what are the ideal temperatures to keep the eggs alive?

To find the answers to these questions and more, check out the complete anole breeding guide coming up next.

Green Anole Breeding Guide

Green anoles (Anolis carolinensis) are small to medium-sized lizards that can change color from green to brown. If there’s anything cuter than a green anole, it’s a green anole baby.

Would you like to breed green anoles? What must you do to provide the best green anole egg care that will successfully hatch the eggs?

Up next, we have listed 18 steps that will take you stage by stage through the process. It covers everything you must know about how green anoles mate, how to support your green anole laying eggs, and how to look after the adorable hatchlings.

First up though, we’ve listed all the tools you’ll need for this process. Take a look.

What You’ll Need

Pick up everything on the list and then meet us at step one.

Step 1: Put the Green Anoles Together

To begin breeding green anoles, you must put at least one female green anole and one male anole together.

In the wild, a male anole will usually have about 4 or 5 female mates. So you don’t have to feel afraid of putting more than one female in the enclosure with a male.

Never put two males in the same enclosure as males are very territorial and do not get on with other males. A male will even fight his own reflection if he sees it on a mirrored surface.

Step 2: Know the Breeding Season

To successfully breed anoles, you must put your anole lizards together at the right time. Breeding season for green anoles begins in the early spring and ends in the late summer.

Step 3: Choose the Right Size Enclosure

A 10-gallon enclosure is a good size for a pair of green anoles to live in. Make sure the enclosure is taller than it is wide as anoles love to climb like they do in the wild.

If you have more than two anoles living together, increase the enclosure size.

Step 4: Set the UVB Light

A female anole that is pregnant will spend more time basking than other adult anoles. She does this so her eggs will develop faster.

To ensure she can do this, keep the basking spot at 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

Use ceramic heat emitters to keep the daytime temperature in the terrarium between 75 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The nighttime temperature must always stay between 65 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step 5: Maintain the Humidity

Your pregnant green anoles need to have enough to drink to stay hydrated. Ensure the humidity inside the enclosure stays between 60 and 70%.

To keep the enclosure humid, mist the environment several times a day spraying water droplets directly onto the side of the terrarium. Green anoles will drink the tiny droplets that settle on the walls and plants.

Lay moist soil and sphagnum moss as a substrate to help keep the environment humid. A very shallow water dish over a heating pad is also very effective.

Step 6: Feed Your Anoles

You must pay particular care as to how you feed your green anoles during the breeding season.

Note that the females will not eat as much during this time as they would usually. In the wild, they also spend less time foraging for food while gravid.

Give your males and females a good diet with plenty of small insects like fruit flies to eat.

You must give your female anoles food with enough calcium while they are pregnant. Dust their food with calcium powder fortified with vitamin D at least 3 times a week.

Never give them calcium supplements with added phosphorous.

Step 7: Provide Hiding Spots

A gravid green anole will spend more time hiding than it will when it is not pregnant. This is because it will try to stay out of the way of potential predators while its stomach is heavier and it moves slower.

Make sure your females have enough hiding spots. There must be at least one per female.

Green anoles like to hide behind live plants, so make sure there are plenty of orchids and ivy in the terrarium.

Step 8: Get an Incubation Container

Just two weeks after green anoles mate, a female will begin to lay eggs. You must have your incubation container ready to transfer the eggs into at this time.

Your container does not have to big as your terrarium, but you must have space for the eggs that the multiple females will continue to lay throughout the mating season. You must have a container big enough for you to space the green anole eggs at least 2 centimeters apart.

Step 9: Lay the Substrate In the Incubator

Veterinarians recommend using vermiculite as a substrate for the green anole eggs.

Mix the vermiculite with water to ensure it has enough humidity for the eggs to develop properly without having to rewet it. Mix 15 milliliters of water with every 15 grams of vermiculite before you lay it on the base of the incubator.

Step 10: Set the Temperature In the Incubator

Set the temperature in the incubator to between 80 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperatures must not exceed 85 degrees but the closer they are to 85 degrees the faster the eggs will develop.

Keep it in indirect sunlight to make a DIY incubator that will best mimic the conditions the anole eggs would be in in the wild.

Step 11: Look Out For Reproductive Behavior

Male anoles display certain visual displays to attract females. These include head bobbing and fighting off any new male or any intruding males that attempt to come near.

Male courtship also includes showing off its bright pink dewlap.

Step 12: Look For Green Anole Lizard Eggs

A green anole female lays tiny white eggs that are less than a centimeter long. You need to keep a watchful eye out for them to rescue them before it is too late.

The females will dig holes in the substrate to bury eggs. They will lay one egg every 1 to 4 weeks during mating season.

In the wild, they lay their eggs under pieces of rotting wood, moist leaf litter, and in soil where they think they will be safe from predators. The mother then abandons the eggs.

The eggs will be white with brown speckles. They have very soft shells and visible veins inside them when you hold them against a flashlight.

Step 13: Transfer the Green Anole Eggs to the Incubation Container

Not sure how to care for green anole eggs?

When you spot the anole eggs, you must immediately transfer them to an incubator. To transfer the eggs to the container, you must not attempt to grab them with your hands as they have very fragile soft shells which break easily.

Use a plastic spoon to lift the anole eggs out of the terrarium and place them in the incubator. Partially bury the eggs in the vermiculite substrate.

In just 5 to 7 weeks’ time, the eggs will hatch.

Step 14: Prepare the Nursing Tank

Eggs will begin to appear in the terrarium 2 weeks after green anoles breed. 5 to 7 weeks later, the first baby anoles will appear.

Before this happens, you must prepare the nursing tank as you must not keep the babies in the same place as the adults. The nursing tank is just another terrarium, but one that is exclusive for babies and juveniles.

Because they are only small and get along well, a 110-liter tank is plenty of room for up to 20 baby anoles. Since juveniles spend more time on the ground than they do climbing, a tank that is wider rather than taller is ideal.

Put all of the same furnishings in the nursing tank that you would in an adult anole tank. Add more foliage to the nursing tank as these little anoles spend longer on the ground around vegetation.

Step 15: See the Baby Green Anoles Hatch

5 to 7 weeks after laying, you’ll see the green anole eggs hatching. The baby anoles will be just 5.2 to 6.7 centimeters long.

The baby anoles will look just like tiny versions of the adults, except they have wider heads and shorter tails. Also, the ridges on their heads are less pronounced while they are still babies.

Juveniles have a white dorsal stripe that distinguishes them from adults.

Step 16: Transfer the Babies to a Nursing Tank

Gently remove the green anole babies from the incubator and place them in the nursing tank. You must keep the babies separate from adult males, females, and any other lizards.

The green anoles will only become adults when they are 8 months old. Keep them separate from the other adults until that time.

There is no such thing as the territorial male while the anoles are still babies. So, you do not have to fear housing multiple baby anoles together, housing a male and female together, or even a male and a male.

Juveniles are not reproductive. So housing both sexes together at this time is not an issue.

Step 17: Feed the Baby Anole

Hatchling anoles are only small and will not be able to handle the large meals their parents eat. So feed them smaller insects like pinhead crickets, (or one-week-old crickets that measure less than 3mm), baby dubia roaches, and flightless fruit flies.

You must feed the juveniles every day.

As you do for gravid anoles, you must coat their food at least 3 times a week with calcium powder fortified with vitamin D. Never give them calcium powder with added phosphorus.

Step 18: Take Care of the Young Anoles’ Needs

Apart from the differing feeding requirements, take care of your baby and juvenile anoles as you would the adults. This includes keeping its enclosure at 60 to 70% humidity by misting.

You must also ensure the daytime temperature in the terrarium stays between 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The nighttime temperature must always be between 65 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

Green Anole Egg and Breeding FAQs

There are so many fascinating things to learn about green anoles and their breeding habits and egg laying.

Do you have some questions about how this process works?

Then take a look at the following information to find the answers to some of the most asked questions about this topic.

Do Green Anoles Lay Eggs?

Yes, green anoles do lay eggs.

During the breeding season, female anoles begin to lay eggs two weeks after mating.

How Many Eggs Do Green Anoles Lay?

A female will normally lay just one single egg per egg clutch, but on the odd occasion, it might lay two eggs.

Female anoles usually lay one egg every 1 to 4 weeks throughout the mating season. They usually have between 15 and 18 eggs before the season ends in late summer.

What Do Green Anole Eggs Look Like?

Green anoles lay tiny white eggs. Their eggs have thick bumpy shells and are sometimes speckled with flecks of brown.

Their soft-shelled eggs measure 0.6 centimeters in length and just 1.4 centimeters in circumference. Because they are so small, these eggs are often hard to spot.

Can Green Anoles Store Sperm?

Yes, a female anole can store sperm. Green anoles mate and the female can store the sperm for up to 8 months.

What is the Best Way to Keep Green Anole Babies Alive?

The best way to keep the anoles alive while they are still babies is to keep a close eye on them and make sure they have everything they need.

Once the anole babies hatch, you must feed them once a day with insects covered in calcium powder. Keep them far away from other adults including anoles of different species such as brown anoles.

Make sure their food is small so they can easily eat it. You must mist their environment daily and keep the terrarium between 75 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit during the day.

Which Signs Show a Green Anole Is Pregnant

A gravid green anole’s stomach is bigger.

Pregnant anoles move slower and spend more time basking than anoles that are not pregnant. They also spend more time near hiding spots and do not eat as much.

Getting Ready to Breed Green Anoles

Green anoles are not your average pet which is why it is difficult to find help on how to breed them. Thanks to this article, we have seen 18 steps that will help you to breed green anoles this mating season.

These steps include putting the right pairs together, preparing the terrarium, and giving the green anoles the right food. It also includes creating the incubator and transferring the eggs into it.

Finally, we saw how best to keep hatchlings and juveniles safe and well looked after.

Did you find this article interesting?

At Oddly Cute Pets, we always strive to provide you with the best information about how green anoles mate and how to look after green anole eggs. For more guides on these fascinating reptiles and other small pets, check out our website.

Thanks for reading!