Reptile & Amphibian Forums

1.What do I feed a small Waterdragon (Like 2-3 inches svt)? Zophobas are too big I guess, mealworms? Or just crickets?

2.If I have a big tank from the start, will it be harder for my Waterdragon to find it's food?

3.How do I feed him/her? Can I if I feed for example Zophobas, on a small plate or something, will they find it all the time? How do I feed crickets?

4.Should I use UV or UVB Light?

5.How long will a small (Same as above) last in a 20/12/12 Length/Hight/Width, or depth.

6.How often should I feed him/her?

Thanks In Advance
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CokeOfMan

www.icomm.ca/
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1.0.0 Ball Python
0.0.1 Crocodile Gecko
0.0.1 Mediterranean Gecko
2.0.0 African Fat tail Geckos
0.1.0 Leopard Gecko
1.0.0 Tokay Gecko
0.1.0 Crested Gecko
1.0.0 Madagascan Four Lined Plated Lizard
0.1.0 Western Painted Turtle
1.0.0 Veiled Chameleon
1.0.0 Chinese Water Dragon
0.1.0 Brown Basilisk
1.0.0 Green Iguana
1.1.0 Green Anole
1.0.0 Bizzard Leopard Gecko soon

www.freewebs.com/herper/

20/12/12 will not last you a single day, it is too small for even a hatchling. I started my babies in a 55 gallon tank, which is 12/48/24 and they outgrew that at about 8 months old. Superworms are probably to big for a baby under a years old, but they usually love crickets, waxworms and mealworms. I always hand-fed mine with a pair of tweezers, except for the crickets. The crickets I just dropped in a few at a time and let them hunt them. If you have a large cage, you can put the food in a clear container that is big enough for the dragon to hop into, and keeps the crickets trapped.

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N/P
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CokeOfMan

They eat every day until they are adults, and then they will eat less, but they should always be given as much food as they will eat. A UVB bulb is essential, they are prone to MBD if not given access to a UVB light.
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1. I agree, zoophopias are way to large yet. I have a austrailian water dragon just a little bigger than yours, but I have keep greens as well. Now with mine, I feed him mainly crickets, but also small red/leaf worms which he/she eats as readily as crickets.I also feed "bugger" wax worms and mealworms try going to a bait store for the worms much cheaper. Some may say waxworms are fatty but, It's my opinion they are just fine for a growing dragon.
2.I use food cups as well but, I let bugger track down a few crickets a day as well. Exercise/entertainment.
3.Buggers enclosure is 4lx2wx3h. Even at his small size he readily tracks his prey down.
4.uva/uvb is a necessity.
5.I would get him/her in a larger cage as soon as possible. they grow quick. The one I have is a converted cabinet not to hard to do but, should be a little taller. Mine temporary as bugger is so small yet will add on as needed.
6.At the size of your critter it needs to be feed every day. I alternate with crickets/redworms as a main food source. As well as provide bugger with a container of waxworms 6 at a time for his leisure. I also dust the items with a vit/min supplement. Feed a young reptile well they will grow well.As the animal reaches mature size less frequent feedings, and larger prey items should be offered. I'm no "expert" this has just been my experience over the years, they work for me. Hope it helps.

I read that crickets are mainly water That mealworms are more nutricious
I haven't bought my Waterdragon yet, but I plan to do in about a month or so.
How big cage should I go for at the start?
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CokeOfMan

I don't have actual nutritional analyst info as far as %of protien, fat,carbs., vit./min. content. Info i've read states crickets are the best food for herps currently mass produced,you gutload them prior to feeding. Meaning what your crickets have eaten, so does the herp upon consumption of prey animal. The thoughts on mealworms are they can be hard for small herps to digest due to their tough exo skeletons,but from what i've read this does not seem to be the case for the larger zoophobias. I still offer my dragon mealworms in a small cup just for variety in the herps diet, but he prefers his waxworms over mealworms. don't know why. This just a thought, one I may try in the future is feeding with tropical roaches as well. Supposedly easier to breed as well as much less odor, as a cricket enclosure smells pretty ripe. Go to the feeder forum and browse throuh the posts lots of info there. hope this helps a little.

sorry, let me answear your other question. For a baby dragon I would get a 29H aquarium to start. It gives up ground space for height, but a dragon prefers to be in the branchs and foliage as opposed to the substrate. I would think this will work for 6 to 9 months. Also this is just a suggestion, I would purchase a captive breed dragon. The animal will cost a little more, that is the only con. The rest are all pros such as a animal with no parasites, less stressed, calmer, the list goes on. There is a high death rate for wild caught baby dragons. Search arond for a breeder theres one listed under breeders/dealers, they specialize in green waters. I've got a austrailian water dragon from agama international. I will never buy wild caught again. Well thats it I guess, hope this to helps some. Good luck Clint.

This is what I found at www.icomm.ca/~dragon. It's a really good dragon careshet page, with LOTS of information. Look at this, what they ate during a week:

Female-Rogue- 5" svl 18.5 stl ate 14 large to medium crickets, 27.5 King mealworms and 1/2 a pinky.

Male-Knight- 5.25" svl, 20.5" stl ate 14 large to med. crickets, and 26.5 King mealworms.

My smallest dragon 2.75" svl, 9.75" stl ate 4 med. crickets, 25 mini mealworms, and 1 waxworm .

My larger small dragon 3 1/8" svl, 11 stl ate 6 med crickets, 37 mini mealworms, and 1 wax worm.

And this: FOOD %PROT úT Ê %Phos KCAL/gm
mealworm 22.3 14.9 .26 .23 2.74
cricket 55.3 30.2 .23 .74 unk
earthworms 10.39 7.2 1.18 .90 4.71
mouse (1-2 days old) unk unk 1.60 1.80 unk
mouse (7-10 days old) unk unk 1.40 1.30 unk
mouse (adult) 19.8 8.8 .84 .61 2.07
rat 7.6 1.9 .54 1.35 .69

Seems like the diet consists mainly of mealworms...Any thoughts?
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CokeOfMan

FOOD %PROT úT Ê %Phos KCAL/gm
mealworm 22.3 14.9 .26 .23 2.74
cricket 55.3 30.2 .23 .74 unk
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CokeOfMan

allright here it goes, this my opinin and speculative at best. Mealworms are convenient and readily available. Will they suffice, i'm sure they will. My thought is in the wild they are consuming a vast variety of prey items. If it moves and fits in their mouth, generaly they'll eat it, although there are exceptions i'm sure. Now the problem with feeding only one or two prey items is the ratio of nutrients is always the same. Is this good or bad I couldn't say with certainty, I just believe in offering as many different items as possible on a regular basis as is feasible. The first two dragons referenced are pretty good sized, obviously feed well. But why feed feed such small prey item to such a large dragon. By way of economics alone
I would think one could same money buy offering say zoophobas in place of mealworms. Maybe that is all that is available to this individual (speculation). Maybe they never thought to try waxworms, redworms, when the animals were smaller. At their size I wold be offering lg.crickets, zoophobas, nightcrawlers, pinky/ fuzzy mice. This is just me though, some people won't try other prey items some dragons won't try other prey items either. Alot
of variables with this question. Theres alot of info out there some good some bad, take what makes sense, try it and discard the rest. Theres a certain amount of trial and error in herping thats a fact. There is no better teacher than experience. I don't think there is a set answear for this question only two prey items and the animals are just fine in sure. I have given you my thoughts on the subject, two sides of the same coin you decide what works for you. I know this one or two nightcrawlers v. 24 mealworms by weight is got to be about the same. Now 50 mealworms and a dozen nightcrawlers cost about the same. I have read that nightcrawlers have a good ratio of nutrients my dragons eat them readily. Feeding all those mealworms just doesn't make sense. What I wrote yesterday about digestability of mealworms is referenced towards small herps, I sure a med. or lg. dragon has no problems digesting them I'm not saying there
unhealthy. I just wouldn't feed them exclusivly, there are larger and better prey items available in my opinion. Thats it hope you can take a little something from this. take it easy.

N/P
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CokeOfMan