HELP on info on water dragons

[Mellie.V]

Hi im looking at getting a gippsland water dragon and i wanted to know about lighting and what was the main requirments on keeping them and also temps and food and all that. I've read heaps of different things and somethings are the same and then others arent and its all to damn confusing. Hahah itd be much appereciated if you were able to help me out thanks everyone

 

[dihsmaj]

Just to let you know, they grow to about a metre and need gigantic enclosures, most likely an outdoor aviary.

 

[KaotikJezta]

I have mine under UVB 2.0 with a 60 watt heat lamp. No night heating. They handle the cold really well, mine are tiny juvies, they grow very slowly, much slower than Easterns. They need water to submerge in and they like height as well. They eat only insects for the first 6-12 months dusted every third feed and then they should be introduced to veges and fruit. My adult Eastern eats anything vegetable, fruit or insect and the occasional pinky mouse as a treat. As snakeluvver3 says though, they end up huge and need a considerable sized enclosure as adults.

 

[Mellie.V]

Thank you snakeluvver3 and kaotikjezta
Well how quickly do they need to be in their big enclosure i have an old but new bird enclosure thats large would that be good for them?
The UVB 2.0 is that like a long tube or does it come in like a normal light? and the heat lamp what sort of lamp is it like a dome reflector?
And are the eastern and the gippsland around growing the same length and how are they with handling if bought young?

 

[KaotikJezta]

Handling is dependent on the individual but younger the better. They are both around the same size although Gippslands may be a little smaller. The UVB 2.0 is best as a tube. I use a normal halogen light bulb for my adult at the moment but she will be moving to a larger enclosure with a mercury vapor soon and I have a normal reflector globe on my babies. They wont need to move to the final enclosure until they are about 3 or 4 but will need and upgrade to a largish indoor one in between. My girl is 4 and she will be moving to a 4x2x3 enclosure next month, girls are a lot smaller. I will be getting her a boy and am aiming at a 1-2 year old and he would probably out grow that by the time he was three. My Gippslands are about 7 months old now and they are still tiny and they get fed every day so like I said, they grow slowly. Having said that, I chose the smallest ones from both clutches, first one just happened to be the one I liked and the second one I chose so it wasn't too big for the first.