AA reader Jonathan McFarland sent in these disturbing photos with the following remarks:
“I hope you can shed some light on what’s happening to the wild anoles in my Louisiana suburban yard. This week I have found two adolescents with both eyes bleeding or infected. The attached pictures show only one side of the specimens but in each case both eyes appeared as shown. Any info you could provide would be much appreciated.”
Thoughts, anyone?
Professor of Biology and Director of the Living Earth Collaborative at Washington University in Saint Louis. I've spent my entire professional career studying anoles and have discovered that the more I learn about anoles, the more I realize I don't know.
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Skip Lazell
Wow! Fortunately, have not seen this yet in Jackson, MS….
Laura
I used to collect these anoles when I was 15. I had twenty of them, of which they lived very well. Some laid eggs, but nothing My daughter is 5 and also into reptiles, esp. lizards. We now have 5 green anoles,, 2 male & 3 new females. I’m having a 2nd childhood with her..lol
From the look of the eyes, it looks like a fungal issue of some kind.I also hint at pesticides in residential areas wipe out the insects they eat.
We have some here in GA, I’ve seen some as far north as Rome, GA! So far the new green anoles we have are eating well, and my daughter & I like to go out bug hunting. We use the fish nets so the green leafhoppers can’t get through the netting. We turn on the porch light at night to get the bugs. It’s going to be a challenge when winter comes along and bugs becoming scarce. I’ve seen some anoles here, far & between.
I think people see them a lot, then they don’t. Again I think it is a fungal issue. I have tried with my anoles grapefruit seed extract in their water, just a few drops. It’s natural and kills fungal issues, antibacterial too.
Thanks so much for your journal. I will happily contribute more if you want. I hope my photo loads. This is a happy skink with a very young anole we named Leaf.
Dave
Hello,
Thanks [a year late I confess] for all the info here on anole eye problems, and hoping everyone is having success in dealing with them. The mention of fungus and one easily attainable treatment is especially appreciated.
I’ve been running a captive operation for nearly five years now, and with all factors being the same only rarely noticed eye problems.
These I attributed to moisture seeking feeder crickets, but despite measures taken there the incidence of eye problems has increased just in the last 6 months or so. I’m wondering about everything from fungus to bacterial infection to baby spiders and possibly even newly hatched larvae from intended feeder moths [which have proven critical to anole health and longevity in my experience].
Whatever the cause[s] in my case, I’m wondering if there’s a comprehensive, one stop database on anole eye issues and all their potential causes/treatments, captive and wild, here or elsewhere.
Any help greatly appreciated in advance. The online needlestack on this topic has been especially frustrating, and vets are not an option due to the expense. I’ll provide more detail on my specific setup if requested; it’s probably too lengthy for now.
J.J. Anderson
My brown anole, Big Guy, who has lived in my inside lanai his entire life, about two and a half years, went blind. I noticed him acting strangely and got him; looked at his eyes with my magnifying light and what I discovered was that his molt had failed to come off the eye area, instead pressing into his eyes. Had I found him a mere two-three days earlier I probably could have saved his sight, as a wet q-tip did remove the molt, however, sadly, it was too late. It furthered saddened me that he quit eating and drinking. He knew me well, so I don’t believe there was any fear of me, and I kept him in a large Zilla Fresh Air Habitat. Took my old boy a month to starve himself to death. Glad I found him, though, as we would go into the yard where he could feel the grass and dirt beneath him in his last days.
That was four months ago. Three days ago Cindy, another two-three year old girl living inside the lanai her entire life was acting strangely. Got her and she, too, had gone blind, but it wasn’t the molt issue as with Big Guy. She was dead two days later. I love these guys and it breaks my heart when I can’t help in these cases.
J. Barron
I live in Albany Louisiana & the past month I have noticed that all & I do mean all of my lizards have simply disappeared. They had always wintered under a flashing on the sides of my house. But now I don’t see any of them, not even small ones.
I have no idea what has happened to them. I have been here for 20 yrs & never had this happen before.
J.J.+Anderson
This is a late response, but I’m going to make it anyway. Although I am a Native Texan, I am stuck in Florida. I’ve fallen in love with the anoles/lizards and go to great extremes to protect them. Just about all of mine disappeared, too. Early part of the year we had quite a few and anticipated more to come when mating season began. I grow mealworms for them (and give them to anyone who wants them, no charge). Then…….gone. Just gone. If you like these guys it would bother you; I LOVE these guys and it made me furious. I name them and they absolutely know their name; many come to me when I call them and they are MUCH more than most folks realize; they have emotions, they’re smart, they’re mean and they can be very, very sweet (I’ve seen very big guys let smaller boys (yes, boys!) climb onto their backs when it was exceptionally cold to help keep them warm).
Anyway, I decided to stay up all night and do walk-abouts throughout the night. I did this for over fourteen straight nights (I’m retired so, exhausted, I was able to sleep some during the day). What was getting my guys? Snakes. Must have gotten a nest close by. I’ve seen an occasional one here in four years, but nothing like this. I just call them night snakes. In the day here they are called racers, they’re black and can get very large. All are non venomous.
I’ll leave it at that. Perhaps that’s your problem, too. Sorry so long, I really do dig these guys. I posted some months ago about two of my inside lanai anoles going blind, for different reasons. I’ve since had at least ten, inside and out, go blind. Some had their molt stick to their eyes, others I do not know what happened. Reptile recommended eye drops had no affect. In every case, although some continued to drink water for me, only one, Happy Boy, ever ate again, and he ate only one mealworm, nothing more. Terribly sad. Take care everyone. I’ve no problem with receiving personal correspondence.
Wendy
I to had a liz named Blunt. He was running around one day and he ran into the wall, so I started watching him and the flies were everywhere. They were almost flying into his mouth and he would miss them so I thought he might be blind. My husband and I went out on the porch and caught him sleeping and looked at him. His nose was Blunt on the tip and he looked fine. A few days later I found him dead. My lizards 🦎 live in a closed porch so their protected and live years. Always kills me.
Jesse Taylor
My brown anole has a huge swollen eye!!!! What do I do?