Reptile & Amphibian Forums

when you soak your dragon in a tub of water, How long should they soak? Also, should you use Hot tap water or room temperature water?

The age of the dragon plays a big factor in the soaking process. When the dragons are very young some breeders soak them because they will quickly loose their plump full looks and will appear shriveled or dehydrated. They seem to absorb moisture and will often drink while soaking etc.

Older dragons I never soak. They get quick very warm almost toward hot baths with a tooth brush during the heat of the day and put back in the heat after being towel dried thoroughly.

Too much of a chance with upper respiratory problems and catching colds etc. If your feeding your dragon properly and giving it the occasional bath there should be no reason to "soak" a dragon IMPO. This is a bad practice.

You must be careful not to go from their enclosure 100 degree body temperature to anything less than what they were exposed to. Temperature shock.

You would need to allow the dragon to cool and before you expose the dragon to cooler water, then the dragon will most likely still get cold. This is BAD.

I was in my pool today. True story. The temperature in the pool was 90 degrees. It still felt cool to me. Then my hottub water said 120 degrees. After awhile this did not feel hot to me once I acclimated.

They need to be soaked in very warm water that will not cool at over 100 degrees.

Personally I wouldnt mess with the soaks. Not sure who is a big dragon soaking advocate. My dragon are loved too much to put them at such a needless risk.

They say they absorb water through their vents. This is a crack of shizz. It would be like us sitting in a tub and taking water in through our colon. Not going to happen.

If they are looking dehydrated offer them water through a syringe or lots of greens. Mine devour greens and wont take water often.

They also get moisture through the insects they eat.

good luck

The answer to your question is 80-85 degrees. I measure the temp. of the water before I put them in to be sure. Hotter than 85 and the dragon will fight like crazy to get out. 85 feels a little cool to your touch.

I never been big on soaking dragons of any age. I only put dragons in a warm bath when they get dirty and only long enough to gently wash off the dirt/feces with a soft tooth brush and a bit of mild unscented soap (like Ivory).

for hydration, misting with warm water is fine, and providing plenty of fresh misted greens keeps them well hydrated.

When I do soak, I don't do it for more than 10 minutes and I use water about 80F or just a little cook to touch (human body temp is about 98F so you don't want the water to feel warm otherwise its way too hot). Once the soaking is done, I put the dragon right back under the basking light to allow her to warm up. Never bathe near lights out...best to do it when there is at least two hours before the lights go out. Also dont' bath right after feeding either...
-----
PHLdyPayne

Well the thing is that the dragons are cold blooded. They dont produce any internal heat.

When I take my dragons out of their enclosure they are hot. Their body temperature is over 100 degrees. They need that elevated heat to digest.

My hot tub gets to be over 125 degrees at times. It is hot... when I climb in... it seems pretty hot... once I acclimate to it it does not seem nearly as hot any more.

If your in a temperature over 100 degrees and then put into water that drops temp by 20 degrees you will feel a cool drop shock.

This is not good for the dragon.

Same thing applies to fish as they are cold blooded and will often contract ich when stressed by the shock of the temperature change.

If you're determined to do a cooler soak then:

I would let the dragon cool quite awhile outside the heat if your going to put it into cooler water. You would be surprised what the body temps of the dragons rise to being cold blooded for digestion purposes. I would say well into the 110-115 region.

Not only that, but you would be surprised at what heat temperatures are not essentially as hot as you would think.

For example:

I was just in my pool yesterday it is heated and it is set at 90 degrees. This is a relatively cool temperature.

110 is very cool for the hot tub.

125 is a decent temp mos-ttimes even hotter.

If you had a pool and hot-tub you would understand where Im coming from with this.

To each his own. But personally taking a dragon from a 100 degree plus enclosure to a 80 degree cool to the touch soaking bath dip is just not good to do IMPO. Temp Shock

I use water that is warm almost toward the hot side with my hand as a guide. It is certainly not cool and I wouldn't leave them in cool water either.

Just my personal .2s on it.

To each his/her own however. I think novice keepers get into trouble with the baths and soaks.

On rare occasions... I leave a really big bowl of water in the enclosure and watch the dragons. Some will soak themselves but once again I feel this could be potentially bad and they should be dried afterwords.

Think Im near overprotective. But rather be that way then deal with a sick dragon.

dragon soaker:

You have way too much time on your hands and most of the time yyou don't make any sense. I don't need 1000 words to explain the right temperature. It comes from years of experience. A dragon will be happy to go right from their enclosure into 80-85 degree water. As I said before if it is hotter than that they won't go into it.

In general most dragons like a bath although some do not. I only bath mine to clean them also. I think there is minimal risk if any that any harm can come from occaisional bathing.

I hydrate mine when necessary (sick or egg laying) by dripping water on their noses with an eyedropper.