IF u know you herps, read up n help me out

[Captial K]

Hey there guys, ( n gals)
i've been usin this site for like months now, its good to see so many herpers in one place, and i guess its time to make my first contact with y' all...
I've been byeng all sorts of differnt leopard geckos and i plan to breed them once there adults, i have bananas, 3 types or albinos, some blizards, and some paternless, and i plan to get some more over time...
But aside from that... as im sure most of you have seen (canadians anyway) the latest "Telus Mobility" comercials have these adoriable little frilled necked reptiles running around with these cute looks on there faces...
i don't know if i'm going to be able to paste a picture on hear, but i'll try... if not maby one of you seen the same comercials, and since my herp adiction is just new and still forming, i had hoped one of you more experianced nuts might know what there called so i can run right out and order me up one, (or 2)

Thanks a lot- Looking 4-ward to talkin to you all

[GekkoGeck0]

Plumed basilisks. The males are the ones with the large crests on their heads, and every single one on that commercial seems to be male.

They need a LOT of space, like asian water dragons... And they're arboreal, as far as I know... and I've heard they're aggressive. I'm not sure if you can get them in Canada. I haven't seen them in many places in the States for sale, since they have pretty big requirements for care.

NOTHING like leopard geckos, that's for sure.

[GekkoGeck0]

I want to add that if you've only had experience with leopard geckos, I certainly wouldn't recommend you purchase a basilisk.

I'm copying and pasting from http://www.yearofthedragon.ca/bassie.pdf

Phylogeny: A member of the family Iguanidae.

Scientific name:Basiliscus plumifrons

Life Expectancy: 10-15 years.

Adult Cage Requirements: Tall vertical space (Approx. 5’) with a large water feature.

Natural Habits: Semi-arboreal and semi-aquatic. They enjoy spending time in shrubbery and trees as well as in the water and they are excellent swimmers. They can stay underwater for up to 30 minutes.

Diet: Insectivore, eating mostly small invertebrate prey items. A typical diet would be 10-12 appropriately sized crickets or the equivalent each day. Feeding of rodent prey should be rare if done at all. Supplementing the insect prey with calcium is absolutely essential. Sometimes these animals will eat vegetable matter but this is rare.

Heat: For the green basilisk the best way to provide heat is via an overhead heat source. They will benefit from a basking spot which reaches 35C (90F). The ambient temperature should be 26C (80F) to 30C (85F) with a cooler end that the basilisk can retreat to as low as 24C (75F) to 26C (80F). A thermal gradient is important to provide. As
long as it is not too cold for the human inhabitants of the house and there is no draft there is no need for extra heat
sources at night.

Water & Humidity: Basilisks will appreciate a large dish of water big enough to swim and submerge in. They will also enjoy being misted. Humidity is important for these animals because they come from a humid rainforest. It should ideally be 60-70% in the enclosure. This can be accomplished with misting, humidifiers, waterfalls or fountains.

And this is just the beginning... this is only one short caresheet. Apparently they don't tame down well and get stressed from handling.

I'd stick with the geckos.

[Tim and Julie B]

Oh yeah they are around. Their are a few people that breed them. Don't ask because I don't remember. I know Year of the Dragon has some but they are here in BC. You just have to look around on the internet to find someone out east. Yes they are arboreal. I don't know if I would call them aggressive but they are deffinatly not friendly, although there is always exceptions to the rule. But they are not that hard to keep as long as you keep the humidity up. Around 80%. I use a beckett filter in a large rubbermaid. They are semi aquatic and love to swim. They eat pretty much anything that moves. But there main diet should be insects with the occasional pinkie. They are a wonderful species ( I mean all basilisks) to keep and I would recommend them only if you truley love them because they are not as easy as some others to breed. They also aren't worth as much. But if they are something you are interested in by all means get some. I love the species and there should be more available. Given the right environment they can be very long lived as well. Hope this all helps. If you have anymore questions please PM me. Tim.

I just wanted to add that a Banded basilisk (Basiliscus vittus) was one of my first lizards. If I spell the latin name wrong it's because I just don't want to look it up.

[ThEmAdHaTtEr]

As for the leos: Have you sexed the Leos correctly? I hope you have only one male and the rest females, if so then you should have a pretty cool breeding colony! . Can we see some pics? Just make sure they are properly sexed because if two or more males are in the same enclosure they will fight, not good!

[Jeff_Favelle]

You can try smaller brown basiliscs before getting the double-crested greens. They are smaller, cheaper, and are basically the same lizard so you can learn the ins-and-outs of basilisc husbandry!! You might want to try a Collared Lizard as well. They are like a desert Basilisc. Ha ha, not really, but they are cool and fun to work with. There are TONS of neat lizards out there.

Goos luck.

[SCReptiles]

Greeting and welcome on board. My name is Chuck and I live the southeastern United States. My main interest is North American pit vipers, but I also know a little about giant pythons. Let me know if I can be of any help.