Basilisk Lizard

The Basilisk Lizard, nicknamed the 'Jesus Christ' Lizard, has the amazing ability to be able to walk upon the water. It can run up to one hundred feet across any body of water. The Basilisk goes into the water, and using it's feet, pushes down, creating almost like an air bubble. Gathering enough speed, it uses the air to push forward.

The Basilisk Lizards are found in the Central and South American rainforests, usually near rivers or streams. Their diet mainly consists of insects, small invertebrates, flowers, and smaller animals, such as snakes, birds, and fish. They must beware of birds, snakes, fish, and other reptiles and mammals. Their colours can range from green. to brown, to striped, even to red.

Females lay about 2-18 eggs, five to eight times a year. Eggs hatch after about three months and the babies weigh about 2 grams. The female will dig a shallow trench in moist soil and lay the eggs there. Once the eggs are covered, that is the last parental care that they will receive. Once the eggs hatch, the young head into the trees and hunt insects to survive.

The Basilisk can be classified into any of these groups: Phylum Chordata (animals with a notochord), Subphylum Vertebrata (vertebrates), Class Reptilia (reptiles), Order Squamata (lizards and snakes), Suborder Lacertilia (lizards), Family Iguanidae, Genus Basiliscus, Species B. basiliscus (common basilisk), B. plumifrons (green basilisk), B. vittatus (brown or striped basilisk), B. galeritus (western or red-headed basilisk).

Basilisk Lizards can be made into pets, as long as their requirements are met. You can put more than one lizard into a tank, but it is better to just have one male along with some females. Putting more than one male into a tank can cause major fighting and even death among them as the males are very territorial. Exposure to sunlight is very beneficial to them as they are cold blooded and like to bask in the sun's warm rays. If this is impossible, provide a warm heating lamp. It is better to keep Basilisk in the wild though, as they are very temperamental.

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