Checklist: setting up your green anole terrarium

🖨️ Keep it handy: print this page or save it as a PDF (Ctrl+P then “Save as PDF”) — it is designed to be ticked off as you go.

Step 1 — The equipment, item by item

Realistic total budget: 250 to 400 € all in (excluding an automatic mister, +65 to 85 € as an option). The detailed choices are in our green anole terrarium size and setup guide.

• ☐ VERTICAL glass terrarium, 45 × 45 × 60 cm minimum, front-opening with a mesh top — 130 to 200 € (anoles live up high: never a horizontal tank)
• ☐ UVB 5.0 “tropical” source (tube or bulb) — 25 to 40 €, non-negotiable, replaced every 6 to 12 months
• ☐ 25 W basking spot + fixture — 12 to 25 €
• ☐ Thermostat / dimmer — 20 to 35 €
• ☐ Timer for the 12-hour photoperiod — 8 to 15 €
• ☐ Thermometer(s) + hygrometer (digital preferred) — 10 to 20 €, you can’t run a terrarium blind
• ☐ Coco-fibre substrate, 4 to 6 cm deep — 10 to 20 €
• ☐ Live plants (pothos, ficus, bromeliad) — 15 to 30 €
• ☐ Branches, vines and decor for high perches — 15 to 30 €
• ☐ Hand mister — 5 to 10 €
• ☐ Calcium + vitamin D3 — 10 to 18 €
• ☐ Starter live prey (crickets, fruit flies) — 8 to 15 €; see our feeding the green anole guide

Step 2 — Temperatures and humidity: dial in BEFORE the animal

A reptile does not produce its own heat: your job is to create a gradient and measure it. The UVB fine-tuning is in our green anole UVB lighting guide.

• ☐ Basking spot (up high): 29 to 32 °C measured under the lamp
• ☐ Ambient zone (daytime): 24 to 28 °C
• ☐ Cool zone (bottom of the terrarium): 22 to 24 °C
• ☐ Night: spot off, drop to 20 to 22 °C — healthy and beneficial (heat cable on a thermostat only if the room falls below 18 °C)
• ☐ UVB 12 h/day on a timer, 20-30 cm from the perch, with no glass or plastic between lamp and animal
• ☐ Humidity: peaks at 70-80% after misting, back down to about 60% between sessions — never a constant 90% (mould)
• ☐ 48 h of stability: all these values held two days in a row, terrarium still empty — the only real green light to add the animal

Step 3 — The 5 mistakes that doom an anole

• ☐ Choosing a horizontal terrarium: anoles are arboreal, they live up in the foliage.
• ☐ Skipping UVB: without it, metabolic bone disease (MBD) — irreversible and fatal.
• ☐ Housing two males together — one male per terrarium, no exception; see green anoles in a group.
• ☐ Handling it like a pet: it is a display species, and its tail detaches under restraint.
• ☐ Blocking the vents to “keep the humidity in”: without airflow, the enclosure rots.

For the full species profile (gear, guides), see our green anole page.

🩺 Reminder: this page informs, it does not diagnose. For any symptom or health question, your veterinarian remains the only reference.