Getting a Chinese water dragon. Tips?

[Ambilobe123]

Next week I’m purchasing a cwd off of kijiji. She’s about 4 years old and captive bred.

She comes with her enclosure (36x18x36, glass) which is not ideal, and I plan on moving her into my custom 6’x2’x6’ build or possibly free ranging (way more research needed for that lol).

I know the basic husbandry for these guys, but I was wondering if anyone with firsthand experience could share anything they noticed that works better, and also any red flags to look out for.

Her:

Her current setup:

 

[Ambilobe123]

@nightanole @kinyonga ?

 

[kinyonga]

I had a trio of water dragons for a number of years…but it was years ago now. They produced eggs which I hatched and raised a couple of the females which I then put with another unrelated male.

The cage was (approximating, since I don’t have it anymore) about 6 feet long and 2 feet wide and 2 1/2 feet high. It had glass sides to stop the water from splashing out and the lid was wood with ventilation. It was custom made by someone else.

About half of the bottom of the cage was sectioned off with a piece of glass…and a sink drain was installed in floor of that part with a tap below the cage. It gave them an area about 10” deep by 2’ x2’ to swim in…and they loved it!

Then…the other half of the cage had two wash basins…one upside right and the other upside down on top of it with a hole cut in the side of the upside down one so the females could get in to lay their eggs. The upside right basin was filled half full of plays and.

I had a very thick “y“ shaped branch resting on the top of the basins at one end and extending over the glass so it overhung the water. There were a few other cage “furnishings“ too.

For care…
I fed them insects, dusted the same way we do the chameleons and the insects were fed/gut loaded the same way we do for chameleons too.

They also got a salad twice a week using all the veggies, greens and fruit we use to feed the insects on here. (No bee pollen though…just because it wasn’t popular back then.)

The whole water area was drained out every second day and fresh put in…the tap made it fairly easy.

Wash basins…
https://www.valuemed.ca/wash-basin-...NMlOIeV-YZqShRsJ2u89xdWzx1DshMHBoCihEQAvD_BwE

More later…

 

[kinyonga]

Back again…

Keeping the dragons in the set up I described meant the humidity was quite high in the cage which they seemed to enjoy.

The temperature was in the mid 80’s F in the warmest end of the cage (above the basin set up) and in the mid 70’s F in the rest of the cage.

I used the same Reptisun 5.0 long linear tube light for UVB that I use for the chameleons and the same regular incandescent household bulb for basking.

Don‘t forget, the tail won’t regrow if it loses part of it.

They seem to be subject to mouthrot, MBD, eggbinding, and most of the other things that chameleons are prone to if the husbandry isn’t good.

Some are very easy to handle and some are not…so I always just let them decide if they were willing to be handled or not.

I’ve likely forgotten some things…so if you have any questions, just ask. I’ll do my best to answer them.

They can produce eggs without mating and there is some possibility that they can produce eggs/hatchlings through parthenogenesis as well…so the egg laying bin is necessary.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6550409/
https://reptilesmagazine.com/asian-...-parthenogenesis-at-washingtons-national-zoo/

 

[nightanole]

Wash out the water bin now, and change out the water almost daily. They are going to poop in it, and they are going to hang out for hours in it, and they are going to pretend they are alligators and have their mouth submerge in it. They are going to get mouth rot, its not a matter of if, but when. So keep the water very clean, maybe even put in some doggie hygiene products.

Other than that i just raised/setup mine like beardies. You can even get them to eat a little fruit like pumpkin and banana. And mine would eat pork roast for some reason...

 

[nightanole]