Posted by:
rick gordon
at Thu Apr 14 11:44:21 2005 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by rick gordon ]
its not so much weight as it is fat, basically the standards for fat in waterdragons and lizards in general, is badly skewed and I'll tell you why. Years ago when very few lizard were being captive bred the pet industry sold mostly wild caught. I was working at a petstore durring those times and the standard was the more fat the better, if you couldn't see the hip bones then you had a healthy specimen. That standard was right for the times because wild caught lizards don't acclimate well and often go for extend periods of time without eating. For long term maintenance, however, any Vet who knows his stuff will tell you that fat kills. The standard stuck, even thought most lizards today are captive bred. I would suggest reversing the standard, and say that if you can't see the hip bones and muscular definition in the tail then your lizard needs to loose weight. This of course applies to vigorous, heathly animals. If your waterdragon has health issues, or is not eating or has other issues, you do not want to worry about weight.
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RE: How long do water dragons live? - rick gordon, Thu Apr 14 11:44:21 2005