water dragons

[lizards_rule]

hello there everybody
can you give info about your water dragons anything, something . stuff i shoulden't do + stuff i should do!
what temp. you keep them at. ehm what they like to eat. stuff like that
i really apritiate it or how ever you spell that
thanx yves

[andrea88]

Some basic info:
Adults need 350 gallons MINIMUM. Dimensions should be 6' tall, 4'wide, 2 feet deep MINIMUM as they are aboreal.
Many places and people will tell you that they can do with much smaller, but all you need do is look for pics of water dragons on the net and see that 99% of them have rubbed their faces off down to the bone and beyond as a result of too small of an enclosure.

They need sufficient uv. A powersun or uvheat bulb is needed in an enclosure this big, unless you use 2-4 uv tubes.
They need high humidity. A misting system or humidifier is needed.
They need a varied diet of mice, feeder fish, crickets, superworms, mealworms, wax worms, etc. They need to be fed daily. They need calcium supplements at least twice a week and vitamins once a week.
Males need to be housed alone or in a room-sized enclosure with 2-3 females.
Females can be kept with other females if you have enough room.
Be prepared for the very-real possibility that pairs and trios wont get along and will fight. You will need spare enclosures in case you have to seperate them.
They need a basking spot of 91F. Ambient cage temp of 84F and a cool end of 74F. At night you can let the temps drop to 84-74F.
They need a pool deep enough to submerge in and long enough to turn around in. The water needs to be replaced and pool disinfected DAILY as they defecate and urinate in the water.
They NEED an initial vet check up and fecal test done as 99.9% of baby water dragons are wild caught and will have parasites.
They have a life span of 12-20 years if cared for properly.
Males can reach up to 40" and females rarely pass 30".

Water dragons are a high-maintanance, high cost tropical lizard.
They are not a good beginner herp, or a good herp for kids. They require A LOT of time.

Expect to spend $1000- $3000 on initial set-up and at least $500/year on feeding and maintanance(bulb change etc.).

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask me.

[Zoe]

Hi andrea,
We may be talking about the wrong animal, but even the biggest I've ever seen or heard of is 3 feet long, and most are smaller (females : 2ft).

I also don't believe they require that much space. Though more space is better, most do fine in 200-300 high gallons.

I also don't think that the setup could any way cost 3000$. You need a tank or cage (used can be as little as 100-200), a UV light (35-70$), a heat light (10-25$), and all the branches and plants and such (20-100$). And of course food :
· Crickets
· Wax worms
· Earthworms
· Pinkies (baby hairless mice)
· Small feeder fish (such as goldfish)
· Lettuce (but has no nutritional value)
· Carrot
· Kail (alot of the dark leaved foods)

and the calcium they need (10$ per container).

It's the health problems that water dragons fairly often get that cost a lot, such as R.I.s, mouth rot etc.

Don't take it wrong andrea, just my opinion!

lizards_rule, here are a couple sites I found interesting and informative:
http://waterdragons.tripod.com/care.html
http://www.icomm.ca/dragon/dragoncr.htm

Good luck, water dragons make great pets and are a lot of fun to handle. Babies are zippy as heck but most adults are non chalante and easy going.

Zoe

[andrea88]

Keeping a water dragon in anything smaller than Ive reccomended is just plain cruel. These really are lizards that require an enormus amount of room, and you need to respect and accomodate that.
You should not do what is best for you, you should do what is best for the creature in question.
Most experts will reccomend a width of 2X the animal and a depth of 1.5 times. 6 feet of height really is necessary as they are aboreal and extremly active.
An enclosure of 350+ gallons cannot be purchased at any pet store. It needs to be custom made for high humidity. I think the cheapest cage you will find will run you about $800. (Want a nice furniture quality piece? $2000 please.....) Add $100 for a uv bulb, $40 for a fixture, (Or about $200 for uv tubes and fixtures + basking bulbs and fixtures) $40 for a humidifier, $20 for a tupperwear bin for a pond, $50 for a filtration system, $20 extra a month on your power bill, want to decorate the cage? add $200 for fake plants, branches and hide spots, $10 for calcium supplement, $5 vitamims.
Now on to feeding....
My 1 year, 5 month old dragon eats 4 juvenile mice a week. Plus 6-12 jumbo dew worms a week, plus 25 mealworms, and 15 superworms. At pet store prices this will put you back about $15 a week. Want to breed your own? Add $200 for mice, mealworm and superworm colony set-ups. And 2-3 hours a week for maintanance. I have yet to hear of an adult dragon that willingly eats fruits/veggies.
UV bulbs need to be replaced every year. $100 a year.
UV tubes need to be replaced every 6 months. $80-$160 a year (depending on brands you buy)
If you have a filter in the water, the media needs to be replaced at least twice a year. $30

It really does add up........

Water Dragons are tame though, if you work with them. Mine gets 2+ hours daily of free-roam time in a heated room. He loves whatching us and loves taking treats from our hands. Sometimes he will sit on our shounder. He does not like to be held though and will whip and scratch if you try to restrain, pick up or hold him.

My male is at 29 inches (1 year, 5 months) and growing strong. He will no doubt reach 40" by the times he is 2. The body is really only like 8-12 inches, it is the tail that takes up the length.
Which is why it is so important to have a huge enclosure. I have head of many dragons that broke their tails right off as a result of turning around too fast in a small enclosure and whacking their tail hard.

Im just sick of people downplaying the care and needs of herps. They really require more than the minimum or "what you can get away with."

There is a big difference between a herp THRIVING under ideal conditions, and a herp merely SURVIVING under "ok." conditions.

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[Zoe]

I agree with you for the most part, a lot of people put snakes or lizards in the very minimum they can live in, and that is not cool.

800$? I think that's a little heavy, you could buy the materials yourself and make one for under 500$. Not many people have time for that tho eh.

Also I know of UV bulbs and filtration systems that go for less than 100$ and 50$.

Anyway, water dragons are high maintenance, moreso than other lizards, but then all herps should be fairly high maintenance, and any boids or monitors or skinks cost a lot to house and feed. But if you have money to spend on something, water dragons are a good choice.

BTW cute water dragons!! My uncle has 4 of them, 3 are CB youngsters but one is a big rescue male. He has half a tail and is missing a lot of his face. He was kept in a 50gal before he came to my uncles . However he's doing much better now, and is just the sweetest thing! He has free run of my uncle's place but usually stays around the light and plants and in the 100gal aquarium (poor fish hehe).

Zoe

[KaHane]

very nice looking dragon!

[andrea88]

I hope you don't think I was being b**ch. I know I come off very strongly, Im just a really passionate person... I scare a lot of people off that way...

(The pics are all of the same dragon, he just changes blue when his uv lights are starting to wear out.)

[Zoe]

No don't worry, even if you were being totally rude (which you weren't) you'd only have been acting that way to try and ensure water dragons get good homes!
I want to get one some time in the future, I just love em to pieces! For now though my uncle's will have to do.

Zoe

[lizards_rule]

hey thanx everybody i really appritiate it so thanx again ,
but listen don't worri about the size cage i'm giving him ! i'm gonna give him/them a room of they're own (they need privacy you know lol j/k) so thanx for everything what i'm mainly loooking for is they're tempermant (or how ever you spell that) and what they like to eat . so thanx every body and keep it comming!

[norman]

great lookin dragon andrea88!