Hi Darren86, I have been keeping dragons for over 30 years IFor the last 15 years I have not kept anything else but dragons. I currently have 9 species from the Ctenophorus group in my collection and have kept a further 3 species (not included in the 9) that I no longer have. As has already been said they are not long lived animals. Most will survive between 3 to 5 years with some exceptional instances of 7 or 8 eight year life spans being achieved for animals in optimum captive conditions. Even the smaller species such as pictus, isolepis, fordi that are considered to be annuals in the wild wil survive 3-4 years in the right captive environment.
Most Ctenophorus species (23 currently recognised) are either rock dragons or sand dragons. That is they come from those types of environments and therefore do best in captive conditions that simulate their home environment. They generally require hot and dry conditions, but care needs to be taken not to overheat them as they can quite easily succumb to excessive heat.
I would agree that one of the more difficult species to keep is cristatus, cage size being one of many special requirements for these guys. Even though they are apectacular looking animals they are very demanding of your husbandry skills. Expect to loose a few before you get keeping this species right.
If you are relatively new to keeping dragons may I suggest that there are several species in other genera that are far easier to keep that can and will give great satisfaction because husbandry requirements are not as demanding and you will have success at breeding fairly quickly. Species include Amphibolurus muricatus,and Amphibolurus burnsii. Some of the smaller bearded dragon species are also worth a look at too, such as P. minor and P. henrylawsoni.
If you are really keen on Ctenophorus species then nuchalis is a good one but you need to make sure they are fed constantly particularly as youngsters as they have the same tendancy as bearded dragons in that they may chew at each other's toes and tails. Best to keep them seperately until sub adult stage if possible. Also ensures you don't get one or two that gets left behind in the feeding process and end up as runts.
You will need to consider husbandry issues such as cage sizes substrates, hides lighting requirements, how much UVA and UVB, heating diet, calcium and vitamin supplements if you choose to use these, some people don't
There will be many people who will advise you that Tawny dragons are easy to keep or Ring Tailed dragons are easy to keep or Painted dragons are easy to keep. It is my experience that once you know how, everything is easy to keep. It is the process of learning how that causes the problems. As I said earlier I have been keeping dragons for over 30 years and only dragons for the last 15 years and I learn new things about my animals every day.
Good luck with your choice.
