Chinese Water Dragons..?

Johelian · Retired Mod Joined: Nov 22, 2004 Posts: 848

Hello all,
I was thinking about getting a green water dragon when I move out of here, and was just wondering if anyone has ever had any experience of them? At the moment I have my teg and my beardie, and the thing thats concerning me the most is how much maintenance this kind of lizard needs; as it is, Im worried I wont have enough time, so Id like to hear some opinions.

What goes into cage maintenance? Misting? Substrate? Size? Temps? Water sources?

How much do they eat? What is it that they eat?

How do they cope with handling? Are they delicate?

Theyre pretty precise questions, and I have ideas on them from the books I have read, but I would like to hear experienced opinions if I can.

Many thanks.

Rick · Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2004 12:10 am Post subject:

I am afraid I know nothing about the chinese water dragon, but they sure do look 'cute'. Or at least the young ones I have seen.

Rick

nogard · Member Joined: Dec 11, 2004 Posts: 33 Location: Mesa, AZ

I would not get a chinese water dragon. The two I have had were terrible, not to mention virtually all of them are wild caught, if your looking for a awesome new lizard, check out the frilled dragons, or the australian water dragons, they are so awesome. think of a chinese water dragon as a nile monitor, they are cheap, very attractive, covered inside and out with parasites, and almost always wild caught. on a brighter note my friend has a cwd that is very healthy, alert and almost four years old but he has paid alot of money with vet bills. agama international has awesome australian water dragons by the way. Of course the only way to find out is to try it yourself, This is just my experience and others may have better ones.

FutureVet · Valued Member Joined: Dec 11, 2004 Posts: 109 Location: CA

Hey there, I dont really know that much about water dragons, but I considered getting one before I came upon a tegu! I know someone who has like 15 water dragons and will be selling some juveniles soon, he had them as eggs so they are captive born. Anyways, here is a great site to get info from http://www.icomm.ca/dragon good luck! ~Christie

labl3d · Member Joined: Dec 27, 2004 Posts: 14 Location: Cali

I have to agree with nogard, just about all are wild caught and gutloaded with parasites. Most also can be finiky as well, rubbing their noses raw and developing degenerative mouth diseases as a result. They need large enclosures and a large amount of water and moisture present in the environment as well. My advice is to go with the australian waterdragon. Just a much better pet all the way around IMO.

Just my 2 cents.
Troy
_________________
"Sometimes you have a hobby, sometimes your hobby has you..."

charlene · Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2005 4:52 pm Post subject:

I have one green water dragon and wouldn't get another unless I knew all it's history. He has been sick since day one. Like others mentioned riddled with parasites that I have been unable to get rid of (even after many vet visits and tons of treatments). I have to force feed him twice a day just to keep him going. He has been close to death so many times and I feel terrible keeping him going the way he is but I just can't bring myself to getting him put down because he's just a baby. Only recently has he started gaining weight and starting to feed on his own but that is after hours of work.

Now to the questions

What goes into cage maintenance? Misting? Substrate? Size? Temps? Water sources?
Lots of misting they like it really humid
Substrate similar to tegus, something that holds the humidity but won't mold
Cage has to be really big because they are notorious for nose rubbing. Need lots of branches to climb on. Need a big bowel to soak in. Some people use a drip system but regular misting will suffice.

How much do they eat? What is it that they eat?
I feed mine like my tegu and will give them as much as they will eat. Mine doesn't eat nearly as much as monty my tegu but he is also sick. They eat rodents and insects you would be extremely lucky to get them to eat any fruits and veggies.

How do they cope with handling? Are they delicate?
They are very handleable if you put the time into taming them but when young they are VERY quick and hard to keep still, can get very frustrating chasing them around the room and up the curtains lol.

Hope this helped

Johelian · Retired Mod Joined: Nov 22, 2004 Posts: 848

That was very helpful Charlene - thanks!

Many thanks to everyone else as well who contributed to this thread

I think I would struggle to find the time to keep one for the immediate future, so maybe its something for another day - though they have got some pretty australian WDs in my local store...

James_James · Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 11:48 am Post subject: chinese water dragons

I've also heard of them not eating, and needed to be forced fed. I've also heard of their uneasy temperaments, not fond of being handled. They infact are cheap. I 'd go with an Austrailian W.D. They have a much more strikeing appearence! i'm unaware or their temperaments though. Aussie W.D.'s are awesome looking, as adults!

herpguy2001 · Member Joined: Feb 11, 2005 Posts: 11

hmm sad to here all the probs withthe WC ones. i have a CB and shes awsome! ive had her for a year now without a problem. if ud like some info PM me. i know of some breeders and a awsome mailing list.

maddogg · Member Joined: Feb 17, 2005 Posts: 60

actually chinese water dragons are quite docile. especially if they are captive bred. they need about a 6ft long, 4ft. tall and 3 ft wide for 1.2 dragons. so it's not too difficult to house a pair or 1.2. just go to the classifieds section and ask people if the dragons are captive bred. I like the austrailians better because they are more commonly captive bred than wc. they need about the same size cages and they tame more easily. so I would probably get an austrailian.

John · Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 2:30 pm Post subject:

maddogg · Member Joined: Feb 17, 2005 Posts: 60

o yeah i forgot that they wont export any more animals. thanks for reminding me john.

reptilian · Member Joined: Mar 03, 2005 Posts: 11 Location: Louisiana

I had a chinese water dragon for over 10 years, she was the best pet I ever had before my Blue tegu. She was so calm and sweet, only had a couple of health problems which the vet fixed (make sure to use suppliments!). She never had problems eating and I fed her about 1 mouse a week, some oranges in between. She free-roamed my room, but they would need a large cage - males get 3 feet, females 2 feet. The only thing is compared to tegus, they are kind of boring. They sit still a lot, and don't walk around (like most agamas). If you are looking for something different, they are awesome but not as entertaining as tegus (IMO). They are very calm though and are great "lap lizards". Definitely go for a CB and try and get as a baby. I would not house it near your tegu. If you can take care of a tegu, I would say that chinese water dragons are even easier to take care of.