I saw an adult male brown anole in my garden for the first time a week or so ago. Knowing they compete with greens, I decided to catch him to spare the greens in my garden (I have quite a few). I wasn't sure if I should release him somewhere else or keep him with my other anoles, but being novel to me (and invasive) I decided to hold on to him for the time being. He's in a 40-tall with two greens (adult male and female) and a med gecko. Unfortunately I think he's depressed. Whereas the greens are pretty active during the day, the brown either sits static on a stick (he's got a favorite) or, occasionally, hides in the gecko's coconut shell. I haven't yet seen him eat, although I have seen him poop so I suppose he's eating. I've also never seen him close his eyes for sleep. I have an infrared CCTV camera observing one side of the enclosure and another non-IR (but low-light capable) camera on the other side, routed through a surveillance DVR. I occasionally review the video to see what they're up to while I'm at work, but as noted, I've never seen him eat nor sleep. It so happens that "his" stick is right under the IR camera. There's a good bit of eyeshine from the IR emitters, so I can see clearly when he blinks, but he doesn't close his eyes for any length of time, even at 3 in the morning. (I haven't, obviously, watched every minute of the last week, so I'm not sure he's a total insomniac, but in a random sampling of footage he's awake.) Not being familiar with browns, I'm not sure what physiological signs indicate severe stress, if any. I mean, physically he seems fine: fat enough, for sure, and no skin problems that I can see. The other anoles don't bother him and the gecko minds his own business. He doesn't posture, extend his dewlap, do pushups or anything else, really. He does not assume the "perch" position with head and neck erect, with or without dewlap display. I believe my tank is large enough (if barely) for all these lizards, and I have plenty of plants, sticks and perches. Food is crickets, 1/2" or larger, fed high-calcium diet but not dusted. Tank is misted twice a day and covered while I'm at work to ensure high humidity (60-80%). Full spectrum CFL on one end, heat lamp on the other, with a hot pad underneath one side; temps are between 75-87 degrees F. Also, I'm not entirely sure he's a male. I can pretty reliably sex green anoles without handling them; I've only handled the brown once, when I caught him. I didn't see the tell-tale pores behind the vent as on a green, but this brown has a very impressive dewlap, far larger than a female's. So, does anyone have any input to offer? Ideally I would set him free, but I'd like to avoid it; southeastern Louisiana has plenty of invasive species as it is.
