Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've had my pair of Water Dragons for about 3 months now and they settled in wonderfully in their first enclosure which was fairly small. Eating well, active and inquisitive. They loved their shallow water dish and would be in and out all day.

This week I moved them to their new enclosure which is huge and, unfortunately, due to it's size, has to be in my living room and not the "reptile room". This means a lot of traffic, including cats and dogs (it is has a lock). It also has a glass front which is unlike the mesh they have previously been in.

Both dragons seem a bit traumatised - I'm not surprised and not too worried about that but this morning when I got up I discovered my male dragon in the water - which is now a much larger container than before - totally submerged underneath the rock I had put in there. I quickly pulled him out thinking he had drowned but he was fine. He wasn't stuck under the rock.

Has anyone got any explanations or advice please. I've removed the water bowl for now.

Colleen

Thats a common defensive behavor. The best thing you can do is nothing. Removing him just increases his sense of insecurity. he will adjust and hide less often as he becomes comfortable with his new environment. I am not sure if anyone has recorded the max amount of time they can stay under, but I would expect it is several hours. they can actually lower their metabolism and greatly reduce their need for oxygen. If the water is cool or cold they can stay under for even longer.

What a relief to know. It's something I've never heard about before now. I've covered the bottom half of their glass door to give them some extra privacy til they feel more at home.

Best wishes.

Colleen

a chinese water dragon can hold its breath under water for aprox. 25 to 30 min w/o having to come up for air. when it comes up you might not even notice becuase it will just stick out its nose and take a breath and go back under. it might seem like you dragon is under for a long time, and its fine. just make sure to keep un eye on your dragon and keep and eye on you temperature. my first water dragon i had drowned becuase it got to cold(the breaker blew and the water got to cooled the cage was still at 72 or so). i came home and found him dead. but remember to keep un eye on your dragon. if you get to worried its all right to pull it out of the water, better safe then sorry.

ps dont buy animals from petland in iowa city. my water dragon drowned, my room mates king snake tied itself in a knot around his fingers, and my friends rat would cock its head to the side and run in sercles for a half hour at a time. they sell retarted animals, if im in there to long i start to think im james brown. it must just be the place.