Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys...i'm putting some serious thought into purchasing a baby water dragon and was wondering if anybody can give me some advice on what kind of terrarium to build for him/her...i already have other lizards (2 leo geckos, 2 green anoles, 1 grass lizard, 1 house gecko and a tree frog.) but i know that the care for a water dragon's a little different than that of the lizards and such i just mentioned...any help anyone could give me would be greatly aprecieated ;D

-S1N

The biggest difference you are going to run into is size. A CWD is a LOT bigger than any of the other lizards you own. An adult CWD can easily be between 24-36inches. Thats a lotta lizard!

In my experience CWD's do best when they are not house in glass aquaria. They are nervous lizards and tend to develop rostral abrasions in a glass tank. This condition can lead to stomitis, which is no good either. I have heard that either painting or covering the sides and the back of glass aquaria works well in calming CWD's. As does filling the tank with lots of visual barriers. If you choose to use glass aquaria, the smallest size i would use for an adult would be a 75 or 90gallon, but a 125 would probably be even better. Of course you can start a baby off in something smaller, a 30 or 40gallon would work well.

I have had good luck with using Reptariums for CWD's as they have excellent ventalation, much better than glass aquaria. They are also much lighter and cheaper! They can be purchased up to 260gallons, i believe, for not much over $100. (www.lllreptile.com)

Then there is always building your own enclosure, and that i honestly know nothing about. Sorry

But keep in mind the adult size of a CWD, and try your best to get a CB individual!

Good luck!
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1.0 green iguana-Deitrich
1.1 Common Boa-Un-Named, Ursula
1.0 Ball Python-Anabell (go figure!)
1.0 Red Tegu-Uteg
1.0 Albino Cal King-Pig
0.1 Mexican Black King-Morticia
1.1 Bearded Dragons-Unnamed, Hanabil
1.0 Albino San Diego Gopher-Unnamed
0.1 Hermans tort-Esio
1.1 JCP-Milton, Medusa
1.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn-Unnamed
0.1 Snow Corn-Unnamed
1.0 Hypo Okeetee Corn-Unnamed
0.1 Motley Okeetee-Unnamed
1.0 Western Hoggie-Wyrm
0.0.1 Rose Hair Taruntla-Unnamed
2.0 Leopard Geckos-Reptar, Pogo
4.1 cats-Tucker,Poe,Abhib,Emerald, Felicity
0.1 Bullmastiff-Asha

hey thanks for the reply...do you know of any good sites i can look up some information on CWD's? As far as housing goes...I was going to get something along the lines of the below picture...I am going to take a look at the website you left me about a reptarium (have no clue what that is...what is it? lol) or what not...thanks!!!

-S1N

I dont know of any websites off the top of my head, but im sure some other posters will know.

That set up you showed looks perfect for CWDs....whose is it?
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1.0 green iguana-Deitrich
1.1 Common Boa-Un-Named, Ursula
1.0 Ball Python-Anabell (go figure!)
1.0 Red Tegu-Uteg
1.0 Albino Cal King-Pig
0.1 Mexican Black King-Morticia
1.1 Bearded Dragons-Unnamed, Hanabil
1.0 Albino San Diego Gopher-Unnamed
0.1 Hermans tort-Esio
1.1 JCP-Milton, Medusa
1.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn-Unnamed
0.1 Snow Corn-Unnamed
1.0 Hypo Okeetee Corn-Unnamed
0.1 Motley Okeetee-Unnamed
1.0 Western Hoggie-Wyrm
0.0.1 Rose Hair Taruntla-Unnamed
2.0 Leopard Geckos-Reptar, Pogo
4.1 cats-Tucker,Poe,Abhib,Emerald, Felicity
0.1 Bullmastiff-Asha

I found it on e-bay while looking for reptile habitats...it's selling for 400$ buy-it-now lol...I was just using it as an example to get an idea of what type of vivarium to get for a CWD...

I made the mistake of buying a bunch of lizards without researching proper housing first...I'm now working on getting proper housing for my anoles, grass lizard, tree frog house gecko...than moving on to the CWD as soon as I get the rest of my lizards happily housed...

Thanks!!!

-S1N

Thats a really good idea. Work on getting your older animals satisfied and happy first. As you are doing this, do some serious research on CWD to make sure they are the right pet for you. Spend time in this forum, look at websites, buy books...and when you are ready, you will have the perfect set up for your new pet!
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1.0 green iguana-Deitrich
1.1 Common Boa-Un-Named, Ursula
1.0 Ball Python-Anabell (go figure!)
1.0 Red Tegu-Uteg
1.0 Albino Cal King-Pig
0.1 Mexican Black King-Morticia
1.1 Bearded Dragons-Unnamed, Hanabil
1.0 Albino San Diego Gopher-Unnamed
0.1 Hermans tort-Esio
1.1 JCP-Milton, Medusa
1.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn-Unnamed
0.1 Snow Corn-Unnamed
1.0 Hypo Okeetee Corn-Unnamed
0.1 Motley Okeetee-Unnamed
1.0 Western Hoggie-Wyrm
0.0.1 Rose Hair Taruntla-Unnamed
2.0 Leopard Geckos-Reptar, Pogo
4.1 cats-Tucker,Poe,Abhib,Emerald, Felicity
0.1 Bullmastiff-Asha

I have been keeping reptiles for the past year or so and in the last 6 months aquired 2 CWD although I knew a little about them at the time I found this web site to be a great help . http://www.anapsid.org/waterdragons.html