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[peterjohnson64]

Hey James, glad to see you have an interest in these luvely lizards. If they were a rare lizard I think they would be extremely sort after. They are highly active and therefore need a larger enclosure.

You can definitely keep them in a 4 foot tank but that is for yoru benefit only and not for the lizards. Even in a 6 footer they wont get as muich exercise as they should. If you are going to keep them in a smaller enclosure then be careful of overfeeding and include a lot of vegetable matter. I went to a pet shop in SA once and they had a large male in a tank that appeared to be 6 foot by 4 foot. this lizard seemed dangerously fat to me. It was clearly overfed.

As for heating you dont need too much. My dragons laid their first clutch this year on Sep 9th. that means they were mating in August when the nights got down to zero and the days were lucky to max out at 21. They are a cold climate lizard for sure.

That said, they also need UV and the best way to get it inside is with a mercury vapour globe.

My suggestion for an indoor cage would be a large fishtank with a mesh lid. You dont need to retain heat. Use a mercury vapour globe as a basking and UV source suspended over one end. As a substrate use eucy mulch. Get it at bunnings for $6 a bag. Spot clean and fully replace every couple of months.

As for water, the minimum is a bowl that allows th elizard to fully submerse itself. As has been said it will defecate in the water. PLEASE TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY. Most people seem to think we are idiots when we say they pooh in water. I have to replace the water in with my hatchies every time I walk past it. So, if you are going to build your water source in make sure you can repalce or filter it properly.

As for food, I have a previous post called "feeding blue tongues". Feed your EWD's the same stuff as well as some live insects.

funnily enough, I have a yearling in my pit that has survived from last year. He is bigger than the one that I kept inside and who didn't hibernate and gets fed every week. The ones in the pit rarely get fed. They have to find their own. But they still manage to give me 40 found babies a year plus the ones I dont find.