Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am new to the site and have read some of the helpful posts. I was wondering if narcolepsy! is a normal action for a young water dragon. Maybe they are just very sleepy, maybe my thermometers are inaccurate and it is a little cold for him? He will fall asleep in your hand and then you can flip him over and sometimes he will not wake. He even took a nap in the middle of eating a cricket. Anyway maybe some one can shed some light on this. Also do dragons often open their mouths while basking or hanging out? Could this be aggression? Don’t think so, maybe a sign of repertory disease? Or another ailment? Thanks

They open their mouths when they are basking to let some of the heat go, it is their way of sweating.

They shouldn't fall asleep all the time. They will pretend to be asleep if you are handling them and they get scared. Never flip them upside-down, they seem to sleep then because they can't breath. Reptiles don't have diaphrams like mammals do, they need gravity to expand their lungs. They see you as a preditor so they pretend to sleep and hope you will go away.
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Very good things to know, Thank you. Also, he tends to open his mouth even if I hold him. What are the signs of repertory infection? My Python once became a little puffy in the throat when she was afflicted. I watch this little guy breath and sometimes he breathes a few times in a row, then pauses for a bit. His throat can be seen to enlarge with breathing sometimes too. Probably just reptile things, but wanted to make sure. Thank you.

Mine does the same thing, but I am a first time Water Dragon owner so I don't know if it is normal.
It's almost as he is playing dead sometimes rather than napping. He does seem pretty lethargic most of the time as well.
I wonder if all water dragons are this way?

good to know! How long have you had yours? This one is quite young. I don’t think much more than 12 inches. And I just got it the other day. Not sure if it is male or female yet. Anyway I will let you know how things progress. Maybe we can help each other out and find out what is normal.
Things are a little unsettled now as mine is only in a Pyrex Glass tank not more than 25 gallons. I am to construct a bigger one soon!, i guess 4 by 2 by 3 or something. I hope he can cope with a bit of inconsistency because I need new Thermometers as I believe the ones i have are not accurate.

The one I have is about 3 years old and I got him from someone that was not taking care of him.
He "plays dead" when I am doing something to him that he does not like as in: giving him his antibiotics, taking him out of the windowsill when he is basking, ect. He very rarely will open his mouth to me, but that may be because he is so lethargic. My concern is that maybe not all water dragons are lethargic by nature and this "playing dead" and not moving much is a sign of something else.

Anyone have any thoughts?