Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, the last few weeks have been pretty tough, and sometime last night one of my Chinese Water Dragons passed away. She was about 3 years old, and up until about a month ago, I thought she was a he. She had a large crest, big jaw, and large spikes, so I didnt take much precation about her getting egg bound. Well about 5 weeks ago, I noticed he/she started getting very picky about eating, which was way out of the norm. About 3 weeks ago, she stopped eating almost entirely. About the same time I found 3 very foul looking eggs in their pond.

So I concluded that he was a she, and she was in trouble with these eggs. I took her to the local vet, (he said he knew lizards, I think not) he agreed that she was probably egg bound, but seemed lost as to what to do next. He told me there was nothing that could be done, and that she would either pass them, or die soon. I took her home and seperated her from my other dragon.

Within the next week she dropped about 10 more eggs around her viv, some brown, hard and misshaped, some white and smooth. She still wouldnt eat, and was getting very lethargic. About a week of this went on and she was really losing a lot of weight, so I started feeding her mashed nightcrawlers through syringe. This seemed to help for awhile, and she even started eating some on her own, but then about 3 days ago took a turn for the worse. She wouldnt open her eyes at all, even when walking around, and was always leaning back and forth. After 3 days of these she stopped moving all together, then this morning I found her in their pond deceased.

Pretty bummed out now, she was a rescue, and I worked so hard to get her healthy. After having her for 2 years, she was doing great, and then went bad so fast. Now for the questions. I have my other dragon now, that I know is a female. I've had her for about 8 months, I would guess her age at a bit under a year.

What can I do to avoid this happening to her. I have always used a calcium powder 3 times a week with feedings, huge viv and plenty of water for her. When and how should I set up a place for her to lay eggs, how old will she be when I need to start having her checked, ect ect. Any info you guys can give me about egg laying, gravid dragons, and precations to take would be much appreciated. I dont think I can go through that again.

It's a shame your vet didn't know a little more. It's hard to say without having seen her, but from your description of events, I'd say she became septic. A simple course of antibiotics would probably have saved her. The off-color eggs had obviously been held for a while and if one of them burst or began leaking during ovipositing they could have resulted in infection. The fact that she oviposited white, formed eggs at the end means that she had managed to work through the difficulty and successfully oviposit. The feeding that you did and the subsequent eating on her own were positive signs, but she just evidently couldn't overcome the infection without help. I'm sorry for your loss. I just find it amazing that people cannot differentiate between a fullgrown male and female water dragon. There really is no comparison once they reach about age: 2. Re: Your other female. Introduce a lay-box with about 6-8 inches of damp soil/substrate into her enclosure. Keep the substrate moist but not wet. It will help with the humidity in your enlcosure as well as provide a place for ovipositing. Introduce extra calcium into your females diet. Liquid calcium (neo glucagon or calcium glubionate) is easy to drop into their mouths and they LIKE IT. You may notice her spending a lot of extra time her water osurce before she lays. Good luck. Diane

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dianedfisher@yahoo.com

My 3 CWD-Avanyu, Tripod and Drago
Valentino, Veiled Chameleon
Chyam, Nosy Be Panther Chameleon

Females can start laying anywhere after they reach 18inches long. My female is at 21 inches and still hasnt laid. I already have a laybox set up, and as previously answered 6-8 inches of, what i believe to be best is a soil and peat moss mixture, kept damp. Very sorry for your loss, im sure its been tough. It isnt abnormal for them to lay in other places besides the laybox. I've heard of alot of peoples laying in the pond. And since they were infertile it wasnt a bad thing on the eggs. The last reply explained the rest.