Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have posted a picture of what my Chinese water dragon is doing. My other lizards do this when they are hot but he dose it all the time hot or cold, wet or dry, day or night. Should I be woried? Is this normal? He mouth looks ok and he is eating and drinking fine and all in all looks to be in great health. By the picture can anyone tell me how old he is? Behind him is a AAA battery for comparison. Thanks for the help.

water dragon

He looks pretty young, but I can't really tell how big he is. He does look like a boy tho. The gaping can be a sign of a resp. infection, but if he is eating and seems ok, he is probably doing it because he is scared, or his humidity may be too low. If he seems to do it more when he sees you, or when he is out of the tank it is probably that he is just scared.
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I had one doing that as well. This one was eating and seemed fine I had him 36 hrs. Then he dropped dead I suspect respritory
infection. I'm unfamiliar with the treatment of said ailment. This is common in freshly imported animals. Goodluck wish I could be more help. If things don't work out look into c.b.

He looks about 3 months old. Im only judging this based on the fact that he looks exactly like my wd. Hope it's nothing serious. Good luck.

Well I have had him almost a week and he still seems just as livly and happy as the day I got him. I will be taking him to the vet tomorow if they have an opening. He dose this all the time so I have no idea what it can be

My Green Basilisk did this for awhile. he was eating and drinking and had more than plenty energy. But when I got him his nose was badly injured from rubbing his nose (I'm ussuming) on a screen or something, in whatever his previous owner had him in. So when I started treating it he scabbed over his nostrils and the only way to breath was through his mouth. So I would check on resperatory problem, see if it looks like theres any mucas or anything in his nostrils. And make sure your humidity is high enough.
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http://photos.yahoo.com/gwas79
"The Critters"

Thinking about it and actually my Water Dragon DOES do this quite abit after I feed him! He is such a pig. He will eat so much, well he eats TOO much, then sits around with his mouth open. He's such a fatty.

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http://photos.yahoo.com/gwas79
"The Critters"

LOL I can only hope thats what the problem would be. Unfortunatly he has not taken any food for 4 days. He is sheding so maybe he just needs to get rid of that skin before he eats.

I know I have a humidity5 problem. He is maintained in a screen enclosure. About 30G Squar. His nostrles look fine. I had him in a 20G long tank and he started rubing and did minor damage to the scales on his lower jaw this is why I moved him to the other encloser and so far no more rubing. I have a humidifyer aimed directly at the tank with and air stone in the water to help in humidity. He also gets misted several times a day. I guess I will have to wait and see what the vet comes up with.

Hello,

I agree with dsgngrl. If you put your ear to his mouth when he does this can you hear a weasing? If he does this when you are around him he is scared. Do you have pets?dog or cat that is scaring him. If so take black or green garbage bags and tape them on them outside of his cage. I had to do this with a female that flew at the glass when she seen you out of fear.

If you think he/she may have a respritory problem, get a black night light for him/her. When one of my rescued females had a resp infection she loved the night light. At that small you don't want them to get really cold if you suspect an infection. Don't make it as warm as the day just warm enough to keep the temp a little higher at night.

wd lady

The only other inside pets I have are 2 Parakeets, A bunch of fish and an Iguana all of wich are in another room.