Housing/lighting:
Basilisks
are active lizards and need large enclosures, the bigger the better.
A 60 gallon tank for one adult is often the recommended minimum, but
your basilisk will be much happier in a much larger tank. We recommend
a custom built enclosure. You can build a 4 foot by 3 foot enclosure
for less money than the cost of a 60 gallon glass terrarium. Melamine,
plywood, acrylic, glass, and screen are all options for home built
enclosures.
We recommend lush vegetation as cage decoration. Live and/or fake
plants should be used in abundance to offer your basilisk security.
Logs and branches can be used for climbing and basking.
Basilisks need a heat source for basking as well as quality UVB in
order to thrive and show healthy coloration. We recommend active UV/heat
bulbs or mercury vapor bulbs that combine high quality UV and heat
into one bulb. The basking spot should be around 95 degrees, with
ambient cage temps in the 80s. Night temps can drop into the 70s.
Males must be isolated from other males. You may opt to house breeding
groups together if you have a large enough enclosure and if the lizards
are of healthy, breeding size.
Water:
Basilisks
love water. It is important to offer a large dish for them to soak
in. Clean this bath daily to avoid illness. A misting system or frequent
sprayings is also necessary for this humid species.
Food:
Basilisks
are omnivorous eating insects, pinky mice (if desired), and occasional
fruit and veggies. Feed your lizard appropriately sized prey—food
items that are to large can harm your basilisk.
Basilisks
will eat numerous types of insects. When feeding crickets, make sure
your source of crickets is clean. You may gutload your crickets with
commercial cricket diet and/or we suggest offering your crickets fresh
fruit, greens, and water. Remove all old food from your cricket container.
Mold can be toxic to your lizards. We suggest using a moistened paper
towel/sponge, citrus, or carrots to provide water for your crickets.
Whenever
possible try and provide a variety of appropriate sized prey items
for your lizard including super worms, silk worms, roaches, grasshoppers,
and a variety of other bugs (not fireflies). However, we strongly
suggest not using bugs found outside, as they may have come into contact
with pesticides that can kill your basilisk. Also, use waxworms in
limited amounts, if at all. They contain little nutritional value,
and although relished by lizards, contain high amounts of fat.
You can also feed pinky mice/rats to adults ; this is especially good
for females during the breeding season.
Basilisks
can also eat a variety of greens including collard greens, red leaf
lettuce, green leaf lettuce, mustard greens, turnip greens, and dandelion
greens. Stay away from iceberg lettuce, large amounts of kale, cabbage,
or spinach. We also suggest a variety of vegetables such as carrots,
squash, sweet potatoes, peas, corn, and fruits.
Supplementation:
There are
many different and often contradictory opinions/views on supplementation.
Calcium, D3, and vitamin supplementation are necessary for your basilisk.
However, supplementation will depend on what you feed, the bulbs you
use, and how much natural sun they receive. Many sources recommend
supplementing babies daily and decreasing to once or twice per week
for adults. But both too little and too much supplementation can lead
to problems.. We suggest you supplement your babies daily with a ratio
of 1 part Rep-Cal Herptivite to 3 parts Rep-Cal calcium with D3. If
you are housing your lizards outdoors or are using mercury vapor bulbs,
you will need to tone down your calcium with D3 supplementation.
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