Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I have three young australian water dragons and would like to add fish to their diet, just for variety. I know the pet shops sell feeder fish but are those the ones we can give to our wds, and is it safe to keep a regular aquarium of them for feeders, considering the water conditioners? Also, I would love to know if anyone else has tried to feed fish and how the dragons took to them. Thanks in advance

This is a subject im not too keen on, but I will throw in my two cents. Feeder fish are overstocked in aquariums at most petstores.. Heres what I would do if I did feed my waterdragons fish..I think really this is a safe way of doing things IMO...
First of all I used to breed guppies, which is a common feeder fish.. other feeder fish include goldfish and rosy red minnows. The chances of parasites are there, but Ive really only known one person to have problems with that. If you are planning on doing the aquarium idea, is this IN the enclosure, or just outside the enclosure to keep them in? In actuality if you were to have an aquarium soley for the purpose of keeping feeder fish in there to feed the dragons, dont even use a water conditioner.. just let the tank do a fishless cycle for a week, make sure there is a filter running though as this will hold beneficial bacteria for the fish to survive. I would buy some fish and put them in the tank, if they last a few days to a week, they are good to feed, because my theory is, if they had parasites, they will most likely not be able to fight off the stress of moving from petstore to home and will die within the next 24 hours or alittle longer.
I have heard a couple people comment that their waterdragons vomited shortly after eating a fish, but only guess is that the fish was too large, im really not sure.
Since your aussies are young, I would go with feeder guppies as they tend to be smaller, or maybe even some small rosy reds, but the goldfish are usually pretty large. This is just my opinion on fish, as I dont feed mine fish and probably never will, easier things to feed I guess, just my two cents.

Thanks! I was thinking of the guppies, since they are easier and fast breeders. If I did this, I would put them in an aquarium of their own. I know they have water conditioners out there for reptiles, but have never tried any of them. I use bottled water in my water dragon enclosure so I don't really need to condition that water. I figure, in the wild these guys would have access to fish, so having one every now and again might be interesting.
It's still up in the air for me, but I thought I might ask. Thanks for your opinion, it is truly valued.

Definately let us know how it goes! I want to try feeding my Chinese Water Dragons some feeder fish but I've been hesitant since I'm not sure about how healthy the fish would actually be. I've seen those feeder goldfish and minnows at most petstores and they definately aren't in that great of shape.

Good luck and don't forget to tell us if your dragons eat them!

~jenny
-----
1.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons (Yoni and Linga)
0.0.1 Mountain Horned Lizard
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 mice (Cute Girl Mousy)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
3.0 horses (Buddy, Sam, and Scout)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
1.25 chickens (Ugly the rooster and his harem)

jenny.thegreenes.org

yes, it 's fine to feed fish. just a suggestion, sometimes it's hard for the dragons to catch them if they're in the water, putting them in cold water/freezer for a little while helps. good luck!