Water Dragons

[jamesr]

Hello everyone
I know I ask a lot of qusitions on this site but isnt that what its for well anyway.
I think im gonna get a water dragon and illve been researching them for about two hours and illve got mixed opions.Well I need to know about the smallest cage size as im going to build a wood one myself out of melimine and paint it,also about water how much people use and waterfalls ect and temperture in there and how oftern two feed if feeding crickets.
THANKS

[jamesr]

Oh and also what substrare do you use for them

[jamesr]

Sorry and how oftern can I handle them, how long and do they bite much.
Thanks

[tooben]

hi im thinkin of getting some water dragons myself. i just love them i surpose the cage size would depend on how big they are. any way if you get any idears could you let me in on any of the info you get as any help is good help.

[jordo]

Personally I'd prefer an outdoor enclosure for adult WDs as they are quite large and active lizards, however if it was kept inside a glass tank would be more suitable, imo, because they will probably get water everywhere. There should be enough water for them to comfortable submerge in. Feed juvs every day or two and adults twice a week, give them a varied diet of insects and spiders, minced meat, small yabbies, pinkies and a little fruit and veg.

Keep handling to a minimum, they do bite so if you want a more "tamer" pet maybe a beardy is the lizard for you.

[jamesr]

Well indoors would an adult go good in a 3 or 4 foot wood enclosure

[tooben]

well if they bite like a shingle back. mate they hurt my thumb felt like it was going to pop.just like the cartoons thump thump thump.

[warp81]

they grow up to a 1m at there largest, im jus in the process of finishing an outdoor aviary for the 2 that i have the aviary is 2.7m long by 1.3m wide by 1.8m high, so at the end of the day u can make ur enclosure as big as u like. i wouldn put them in an enclosure smaller than 6ft or 7ft in length. the water has got to be changed every day as they poo and wee in there that is unless u have a good filtration system. as for substrate every 1 has a different opinion i use aquarium gravel but the only problem with that is that its hard to keep clean. generally they arent the kind of lizard that becomes tame like a beardered dragon or blue tongue but in sayin that i hand feed mine all the time

[jordo]

Originally Posted by jamesr

Well indoors would an adult go good in a 3 or 4 foot wood enclosure

No, like warp said cage size for an adult should be no less than 6ft.

[jamesr]

Ok well I was only thinking of have just one as a pet.

[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.

[jamesr]

Well thanks a lot peter ill see what I can do.

[warp81]

hey peter when u say a pit wat do u mean by that? do u give the ones u have outdoors a big hide box? wat do they lay there eggs in and wat age do they reach sexual maturity. oh also do u incubate the eggs or let nature take its own course

[Logan & Allana]

Originally Posted by warp81

hey peter when u say a pit wat do u mean by that? do u give the ones u have outdoors a big hide box? wat do they lay there eggs in and wat age do they reach sexual maturity. oh also do u incubate the eggs or let nature take its own course

I've heard they reach sexual maturity at 4 - 5 years old. Mine are a breeding pair and they are that age and over 2ft long. They lay there eggs in the sand also what I've been told by the breeder so you do need a place for them to dig. It's best to take eggs out and incubate them as they do eat there young, you can leave them there but you will have to keep a close eye out when there ready to hatch. As for indoor enclosure size, if you want them to breed it should be nothing smaller than 6ft long x 6ft high x 4ft wide they love to climb so you need that extra hight. Even a cage that small is a little cruel as they are very fast and love to get around. As for just feeding them crickets, I wouldn't suggest just crickets as they eat a fair bit specially when adult size, I've gone through over 100medium one's in a week and there not cheap. They do love pinki mice though, just thought I would add that in. As for the water they certainly do poo in it all the time so use something that is easy to get in and out that's your best bet. I use recycled cat litter for there substrate as it hides a fair bit of the smell (they do get smelly in a indoor enclosure).

Keep in mind though if you do want to breed them and don't have sand as a flooring you will have to provide a container of some sort with sand or something simular in it for them to dig and lay there eggs. I have my guys just under a U.V at the moment, I found with the weather here it's so hot anyway and my fluro seem's to produce a fair bit of heat. The dragons I have are gippsland so they like a lot of humidity so I've been told and the higher temps. Anyway I think that's about it, hope it helps

[jamesr]

Thanks can I use a 4 footer and then handle him/her for about 1 hour a day for exercise.