Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just got my newest issue of REPTILES in the mail today, with a bright green water dragon gracing the cover. It was a nice surprise...and it helped re-spark my interest in my own male.

The article seems decent, though it has a few points I've not found to be true or that seemed off. For one, my dragon shows no interest in eating chicken cat food, certain vegetables or fruits, etc....

....it also suggests you use a small-ish water tray. Regarding enclosures, it mentions a 55 gallon aquarium will do ( uh..not really...? ) or a tank that is 36-48" long.

Another thing is that it mentioned water dragons try to avoid the sunlight. Well, they may not be heavy baskers...but my male hangs out in the open, in direct sunlight, all the time.

Anyways, worth checking out...

-Zeb

Hopefully I will get mine tomorrow!
I really enjoyed last months artical on gators and crocks! Would love to have one...But don't have a zoo!
Diana

I agree with you...I would love to have a crocodillian but no space and no money for supporting such an awesome creature. I found the article to be informative, but as reading it I realized that this was just one hobbiests experience.

I was very excited when i got my Reptiles mag today and saw a wd on the front.. until i read the article. It did have some good info.. but like you i found his ideas on diet and cage size to be a little off.. he seemed to contradict himself in the caging. At first he said you should have a min of 3ftx2ftx4ft and then turned around and said if you have a 55 gallon that should be fine. I haven't heard that advice given out since the mid 90's. He never once mentioned any kind of whole prey (except for canned chicken), but then again i think a few people on this forum have had great success with cooked chicken. Overall i think it was a good read.. and had a lil bit of info for anyone wanting a dragon... i just hope that isn't their only resource when researching care.

Alissa

Just as I was seemingly getting bored and frustrated with my male....the article made me look at it in a different light.

About the caging....I'm not sure. Of course, bigger is always better. But, noticing my male in a 5 1/2 foot X 3 X 5 1/2 foot cage...he never moves. He goes into the 2 foot water pool for one second to defecate, afterwards he basks to warm up, the goes right back to his tree. He never hangs out on the ground, on the other climbing spots, etc.

So, with his somewhat sedentary life....really, he only uses 3-4 feet of the space. It's just that long, long tail that makes it seem so small.

I have had semi-adults in a 55 gallon tank before, and all they do is rub their faces raw. In a big cage they may never go on the ground or seem to do much, but at least they don't try to rub their faces off all the time. The only person I know that fed cooked chicken as a staple had all of his dragons develop severe MBD. I did have one that would take cooked chicken from my fingers, but that was just as a treat.
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When mine was a hatchling, he lived in a 30 gallon long until the new house aired out from the paint. He had plenty room room to turn around & climb, but he still rubbed his nose off a bit. Not too much...I was able to move him before it got bad.

Likewise, a friend of mine who owned an adult male kept him in a 75, then up to a 100 gallon terrarium...all glass. He never did rub.

As for chicken, well, it would be nice to get a varied diet....seems all I can get mine to eat is earthworms & super worms. I would think that if you fed chicken, dusted, as a portion of the diet...it could be OK.

I thought bryanr (sp) fed his dragon chicken and it seemed to be working out.. but i haven't been around much or reading as many posts as i used to....

I'v never had a problem with nose rub.. but i believe i have just been lucky ....and i have never really housed a full grown dragon in a 55 before so that probably helped out a bit

and frog uses every inch of her cage.. she is on the floor digging around one minute and up at the top the next.. and when she swims she is in that pool for like an hour.. i think it just depends on the dragon.

alissa