Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got 2 green basilisks a few months ago... a male and a female. Both had been doing very well until recently. In the past week, the female as become very lethargic, and barely opens her eyes. She's gone from being extremely skittish, where she'd tear around the cage if I tried to touch her, to today I was able to pick her up w/out a fight at all. The oddest thing is how she keeps her eyes closed the majority of the time, even if running around the cage. She has gotten skinny, and hasn't eatten in about a week I believe. The male is doing just fine however, he is finishing shedding yet again at the moment.

Any ideas? I was thinking of giving her vitamins w/ a dropper, maybe warm water baths tho I'm worried bout stressing her, as she stresses easily.

I know how you feel, my male basilisk that i have had for a year had a lethargy problem where he wouldnt move all day. id come home at night and hed be in the same spot and id wake up and hed be in the same spot. He even does that to this day. But it sounds to me like yours isnt getting enough vitamins because of the eye problem. i have heard that a lack in vitamin A can cause eye problems, so try to feed your crickets nothing but carrots, sweet potatoes and tomatoes. but dont give her too much vitamin A because large doses can be harmful. i have tried so many things to get mine to eat (but he doesnt look skinny) and none of the appetite stimulants work for me. i have to hand feed my dude every day, because he has no interest in food what so ever. buy some waxworms to fatten her up, they usually love those guys. also dont handle her because that could also be stressing her out and causing problems. wait till shes better before you handle her, but i dont reccommend doing it anyways. just keep trying and spend time researching. www.anapsid.org is a great place to find info. on herp problems, etc. good luck!

Is it possible she is gravid? I had a female water dragon that got egg bound and she acted the same way as your bassie. She ended up dying before we could find a vet that would see her (it was a holiday weekend). Anyway, I wouldn't wait too long to get her checked out by a vet.
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A mans got to do what a mans got to do. A woman has to do what he can't.

Mom to:

1 little boy born 7/19/04
2 male RES, born 1999
1 ribbon snake, age unknown
3 FBT, ages unknown
1 female bearded dragon, born 5/2002
1 male lab mix, born 5/24/03
1 female calico cat, born 6/7/04

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sig file edited 1/29/05 [phw]

I agree with dsgnGrl, this is generally stress related, egg binding being one cause, also territorial stress or other health problems. a vitamin suppliment wouldn't hurt. If you post a pic, we can let you know if her weight is an issue.

I'll see if I can get a pic of her up.

She's not really doing any better. I tried a vitamin supplement, and worm meds. The night I first posted, she was really lethargic, and I was able to pick her up w/out an issue where normally she runs all over the cage from me. I gave her a warm water bath that night w/ the vitamins and stuff, and the next night she was stronger, to point I couldn't catch her lol. She opens her eyes more now, well one of them... she tends to keep one shut almost constantly. I haven't force fed her yet, she's a biter so it's hard for me to do anything w/ her.

How old do they have to be before mate? Her and the male are brother/sister, so same age, and he doesn't have his full crests yet. I've had them about 3 months, and when I got them you could just barely tell one was male and one was female.

Pics up of female and her brother. Female is titled Sick Shai, male is Louie. Not the best quality on hers, and he was in his sleeping spot since I took late at night, but shows them.

The pics didn't come up.

Do you have them in the same cage? I had two basilisks once, a male and a female. My girlfriend had bought them for me from a flea market and they were doing fine. The female started to lay around and wasn't very active at all. she died and we found out that there was food competition. My girlfriend was like that can't be because the food was always gone. Well, the male ate it all. If they're in the same cage i'd try seperating them and seeing if she does any better. I'd also keep an eye out for eggbound as well. You said that you gave her a bath and she seemed to be doing fine. Well, she might be dehydrated. Don't force feed her or anything because it tends to emotionaly hurt lizards.

For now I would get them in seperate enclosures if they aren't already, and give her a bath frequently. Maybe that's the reason, i'd take her to a vet just in case.
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1.0 Savannah Monitor - Artimus
2.0 Emerald Swift - Jesus, unnamed
1.0 Baby veiled Cham - Sir August De Winter 1-20-05 RIP
1.0 Green Iguana - King Arthur
1.0 Rose-hair tarantula - Bill
1.0 Basilisk - Adam
0.1 Water Dragon - Lady

Took her to a vet today... she's pretty much on warm water baths, gatorade baths (that amuses me still hah... but vet said good way for them to absorb electrolytes)... an herbal treatment for any infections she may have, and a food mix to force feed her with. Funniest thing is she HATES the taste of the herbal stuff, she kept spitting it out. I'll have to mix it w/ the food tomorrow, as she took that ok. She's currently in a seperate cage from the male, just to be able to keep her warmer while she gets well. And yes, the male did tend to eat most or all of the food, but I always made sure to put more in for her when he was full.. then he stopped eating it all once his growth spurt stopped