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 #1785401


TwilightRealm
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 Atrax--Better to keep a pair or trio?

Atrax, I know you have years of experience under your belt, so I have to ask:

I’ve read on a few sites that if a male and female are kept just as a pair, the female will get stressed out by the male unless a second female is introduced. My pair are in a mostly vertical 30-gallon tank so that they have plenty of room to stay away from each other. Is this alright or will the female still be stressed? How will I be able to tell if she is?
07/07/08  02:47am

 #1785558


Atrax27407
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   Message To: TwilightRealm   In reference to Message Id: 1785401


 Atrax--Better to keep a pair or trio?

The only problem with a pair is that the female will be constantly pressured to mate. Even with adequate hiding places, the male will be relentless. If you have a trio, the presure will be less but there will be more hatchlings due to the second female.



07/07/08  10:02am

 #1785760


TwilightRealm
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   Message To: Atrax27407   In reference to Message Id: 1785558


 Atrax--Better to keep a pair or trio?

If I got a second female and eggs were laid, would it be wrong if I just.. left the eggs there? Knowing that it won’t be incubated properly and/or may be eaten by an anole? Or would that be a horrible thing to do? The idea of hatchlings is awesome but I know it means more equipment (minus the extra tank I already have), and I’m not really in a position right now to spend another hundred of dollars.
07/07/08  02:19pm

 #1785761


TwilightRealm
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   Message To: TwilightRealm   In reference to Message Id: 1785760


 Atrax--Better to keep a pair or trio?

Also, I know that females have their own hierarchy. If I did get another female, are there any chances that one is going to be stressed out from being the submissive one?
07/07/08  02:20pm

 #1785811


Coolguy132435
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   Message To: TwilightRealm   In reference to Message Id: 1785761


 Atrax--Better to keep a pair or trio?

yup...there is definitely a female heirarchy. The dominant female can and will boss arond the smaller one sometimes. Once spring started, one of my females began to bob her head and chase around the other female in my cage. This made the smaller one very stressed out. Luckily, it has stopped happening recently. I think that it got really bad for one person on the forum and they decided to give away the smaller female.(I dont remember who it was, but i think it was DragonTU84?Tell me if im wrong)
07/07/08  02:59pm

 #1785825


TwilightRealm
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   Message To: Coolguy132435   In reference to Message Id: 1785811


 Atrax--Better to keep a pair or trio?

It seems like no matter what I do, an anole is going to be stressed. Keeping a single male, keeping a pair, keeping a trio?



07/07/08  03:13pm

 #1788500


TwilightRealm
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   Message To: TwilightRealm   In reference to Message Id: 1785825


 Atrax--Better to keep a pair or trio?

Today I woke up, misted the anole tank, sat back and watched. The male climbed up and licked the leaves, while the female, about 7 inches down from him, watched. She licked a drop that rolled down a vine toward her, then began to slowly make her way up. The male seemed to take note of this and began to lick all the leaves around him as fast as he could. Then he did the head bob and extended his dewlap, although not fully. She stopped and then moved further off and then began to climb up in a different area. He leapt over to that area, just a few leaves above where she was, and began to move around. She froze, then after a moment ran and hid. He jumped onto the glass side (not too far off from where he was) and facing up, began to bob his head again and extend his dewlap.

So question is, is this stressing her out? I can’t recall observing her being a real dark brown, just a light brown when he seems to take notice of her, I think. She’s just come out of hiding and was hanging upside down from the mesh lid, licking water off the screen. I leaned closer to see what color she was (a light brown), although it darkened and she got the spots around the mouth when she saw I was looking at her, and then she fled.

The current problems with getting a new anole is the possible dominance/submission stress one female may give another, and the quarantine period itself of the new anole. While I have a spare tank, I don’t have all the extra equipment to house the anole during this period. I have the substrate, I could get an extra basking bulb, but I don’t have a lamp for it, and I’d have to buy another canopy with a UVB bulb, some sticky stuff to hold up the spare thermometer and hygrometer I have, an extra thermometer, branches, and plastic plants. If it is very necessary to get a third anole, I suppose I could spring for these things, but to be honest, after the quarantine period, it’s going to feel weird just having a spare tank with the full setup.
07/09/08  01:44pm

 #1793772


TwilightRealm
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   Message To: TwilightRealm   In reference to Message Id: 1788500


 Atrax--Better to keep a pair or trio?

I still would like some more information as to whether to keep them a couple or make them a trio.
07/13/08  04:01pm

 #1793996


Atrax27407
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   Message To: TwilightRealm   In reference to Message Id: 1793772


 Atrax--Better to keep a pair or trio?

The natural state of things is for a male to defend a territory the includes the territories of between 2 and 6 females. The females will skirmish at the borders of their territories and establish a "pecking order". Male Anoles will also mate with "novel females" that wander through his territory. In fact, they prefer them to females-in-residence.
07/13/08  07:33pm

 #1798572


TwilightRealm
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   Message To: Atrax27407   In reference to Message Id: 1793996


 Atrax--Better to keep a pair or trio?

Alright, went and got another female anole. I’ve got her in the spare tank, had to do some shopping to get it at the right setup. She’ll be quarantined for at least a month before I let her join the other two.
07/16/08  08:36pm


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