calisphere
New member
I've had my female Knight Anole for a few months now. They are either the largest or one of the largest anoles in the world. I don't remember which. They are very similar to green anoles in care, from my understanding. According to the American Museum of Natural History, these guys can drop their tails. They have tons of teeth and are said to have a nasty bite. I was tagged twice today, but it didn't break the skin. She sure did hold on though. It's recommended not to hold this particular species as they stress easily and are aggressive. These guys will stand their ground.
Anyway, Zilla is what I call my female (was told it laid eggs during shipment). I assume she is a wild caught Florida specimen. I'm not too fussed about that as they really aren't supposed to be in Florida. They're originally from Cuba. Anyway, I've been slowly hand taming my Zilla and she's taken to it very well!
Now the problem is, she's started nose rubbing in her new tank, so I'm going to switch her back to her smaller one to see if she stops. If not, then I think I may have broken her by letting her out of her cage so often. She's my little flying monster and will willingly jump 10 feet down to get wherever she feels she wants to be.
Tonight, I took her in to two different local reptile shops for their opinions on why she might have started nose rubbing in her new tank (no definitive answers there). She managed well in both stores and tolerated petting by one of the employees, though after a few seconds she browned up. The reason she tagged me was because I held her a bit tight when she was attempting to jump into the monitor cage. She seems to have felt that lizards three times her size weren't a threat.
When I took her to the second reptile shop, she did beautifully and was comfortable enough to green up. She then preceded to leap from my hand to each of the store employees. She was aiming for behinds and backsides mostly. She was even more friendly than one of the iguanas they had.
Overall, I'm just raving about how sometimes the generic descriptions of behavior can be completely wrong. These guys are supposed to be flighty and bitey and yet my Zilla greens up most when she's making me hold my arms in weird positions just so she's comfortable! I do also hand feed her so perhaps that helped. I honestly think that as a species, Knight Anoles might be worth looking into. Oh, and for the record, I also handle my brown anole, though she doesn't seem to enjoy it nearly as much. Perhaps time will tell?
Does anyone else have a Knight Anole or a species that doesn't fit the norm?
Anyway, Zilla is what I call my female (was told it laid eggs during shipment). I assume she is a wild caught Florida specimen. I'm not too fussed about that as they really aren't supposed to be in Florida. They're originally from Cuba. Anyway, I've been slowly hand taming my Zilla and she's taken to it very well!
Now the problem is, she's started nose rubbing in her new tank, so I'm going to switch her back to her smaller one to see if she stops. If not, then I think I may have broken her by letting her out of her cage so often. She's my little flying monster and will willingly jump 10 feet down to get wherever she feels she wants to be.
Tonight, I took her in to two different local reptile shops for their opinions on why she might have started nose rubbing in her new tank (no definitive answers there). She managed well in both stores and tolerated petting by one of the employees, though after a few seconds she browned up. The reason she tagged me was because I held her a bit tight when she was attempting to jump into the monitor cage. She seems to have felt that lizards three times her size weren't a threat.
When I took her to the second reptile shop, she did beautifully and was comfortable enough to green up. She then preceded to leap from my hand to each of the store employees. She was aiming for behinds and backsides mostly. She was even more friendly than one of the iguanas they had.
Overall, I'm just raving about how sometimes the generic descriptions of behavior can be completely wrong. These guys are supposed to be flighty and bitey and yet my Zilla greens up most when she's making me hold my arms in weird positions just so she's comfortable! I do also hand feed her so perhaps that helped. I honestly think that as a species, Knight Anoles might be worth looking into. Oh, and for the record, I also handle my brown anole, though she doesn't seem to enjoy it nearly as much. Perhaps time will tell?
Does anyone else have a Knight Anole or a species that doesn't fit the norm?