Anoles are active and robust little creatures, and appreciate some elbow
room. The best containers to use as enclosures are the fish tanks or aquariums
that are popular with tropical fish owners, and which can be found in just
about any local pet shop. These fish tanks come in standard sizes, they’re
sturdily made, and some have even already been set up as reptile enclosures and
are sold as kits. A good rule of thumb when figuring the amount of room your
pet Anole needs is to figure it in the form of one Anole per gallon size. Yes,
I know Anoles are land animals, but this is just a way to simply get at the
proper size for your Anole’s home.
If you figure it as one Anole per gallon,
you’ll know that you can safely place up to five Anoles in an enclosure that
could hold five gallons of water. Therefore a five-gallon fish tank can house
up to five adult American Anoles—simple. Just remember that male Anoles are
territorial and that two similar-sized males may actually fight. One male and
four females are okay.
Also, large Anoles will harass smaller ones and keep
them from eating, so make sure they’re all about the same size. You can make an
Anole’s enclosure as simple or as elaborate as finances, room, and aesthetics
permit; the Anoles don’t really seem to mind one way or the other. However, you
still may want to make the arrangement more interesting by adding some
decorative stones, plants, sticks and/or gravel. Anoles are very active remember
so make sure that none of your decorations can shift or fall and hurt your
pets.