Lizards like EWDs and Bluetongues are suburban adaptors. They are naturally broad opportunistic feeders that adapt to eating whatever is suitable and available in a suburban environment. I know of people who have tried keeping blueys in bird aviaries and lost finches lizards as a result. They also develop a tolerance of human presence over time. Lace monitors at BBQs in parks adjoining bush are a good example of this. However, this is not the key issue.
The question is do Eastern Water Dragons forage/hunt food underwater? At the moment we have one observation of them doing so. This may be atypical given it is has not been noted where EWDs have been kept with fish. We don’t know. However the observation is significant and warrants further investigation.
Well, this sums it up nicely...
The reason I asked questions of this post (refer Post #12) is because I wondered why you thought it relevant to put up a video of a foreign species, with NO indication of that. This thread is very specifically about an Australian species. In a serious discussion this nature, that sort of contribution is at best unhelpful, and at worst misleading.
It's a chinese water dragon, so most likely not australia Asia or America is where i'm guessing. …
For your future reference… There are no naturally occurring water dragons in America, only the Chinese Water Dragon as a pet/captive display animal. There are some iguanids from Central and South America with similar habits. Although commonly called the Chinese Water Dragon,
Physignathus cocincinus are much more prevalent throughout SE Asia than in southern China. There are currently photo of this species available for sale on the net and labelled “Indian Water Dragon”, even though their natural range does extend that far.
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@Jackson26. Given the information the information provided in this thread it is probably best to adopt a ‘wait and see’ attitude. If you spot something like White-faced Heron then you can guarantee that any fish disappearances are down to it. Providing hiding places for fish, like emergent vegetation and substantial sized over-hanging rock shelfs makes it a lot more difficult for these birds to get a meal. The only 100% guaranteed protect I now of is to put some form of mesh over the pond. My preference wold be the nylon bird netting they put over fruit trees and to allow it sink just under the water line so it is not so obvious. Others here may have equally effective ideas that are less obvious.