Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a juvi water dragon that up to a couple of days ago was awesome. Now he is a pain in the arse. He is almost un grabbable, tears all over the cage when we try to get him out. Now he snaps at me when I try to get him. He is too small to hurt, but I dont want this to continue. Also he was eating between 5-10 3/4-full size crickets, now we have to force him one or two a day. He is getting skinny, and i dont want him to die! Help out

Sounds like your dragon is stressed out. First of all think of juvie waterdragons as human teenagers, they are go through a phase were they are rebelious and easily stressed. If he has the energy to run away from you force feeding is probably not necessary. The best thing you can do is leave him along for a week or two and let him calm down. Post a picture and we'll let you know if he looks too thin. At this age, some event can occur that freaks them out, someone handled them badly or startled him.