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Care Sheet

Caging

The size of your cage all depends on the number of lizards that you have. If it is just one
lizard, a 60 gallon should be fine for it. If you have 2, I would recommend that you get
anything from 80 to 100 gallon. They are climbers so be sure that it has enough height in
the cage as well as length. You should put some plants (fake or real) in the cage for it to
rest on or hide behind if the cage gets too warm. Just make sure that your lizard will have
enough room and can be comfortable in its cage. Try to make it a tropical enviroment.

Substrate

There are many differant types of substrate that you can use:

WOOD - This isn't very good for them though. It can hurt their stomach sometimes and they
can accidentally eat it which can make them constipated, also, they can accidentally chew it and
hurt their teeth. The crickets can even hide under the wood and can make it hard for your lizard
to find food. If your lizard does good with it though, it could be fine to use.

GREEN MOSS - This would be good to buy to put around the branches and fill the holes in the
wood so the crickets cant hide in it and makes it look more tropical at the same time. If you
place big peace's around the wood it can help keep moisture but I wouldn't use it as the actual
bedding. You can find some cheap at a local garden store.

GRAVEL - This isn't good on your lizards stomach. I don't recomend this.

ASTROTURF/PET CARPET - This would be the best item to buy for your lizards bedding. It's
not rough on their stomach's and if water spills it will soak it up and wont smell as much.

Using live plants

Using live plants for your lizards enclosure would be a very good idea. The plants help
keep the cage's humidity up and theyre also good hiding spots from the light if it gets
too warm. There are some drawbacks, such as, if there is a spare cricket in the cage
it could find its way to the soil and lay eggs, then you would have baby crickets all over
your cage. Also, you have to make sure which plants are not poisonous to Water Dragons.
You can find a list of some of the toxic plants at this site:

· Cornell University Poisonous Plants Web Page
· Checklist of Vascular Plants Reported to be Toxic
· Important WWW Poisonous Plants site

Or you can ask your local pet store about a plant that you have that you would like to add.

Lighting/Temperatures

Your cage should be between 84 and 88F (28.9C - 31.1.C) during the day. During the
night the cage should be at least 75 to 80F (23.9 - 26.7C). The cage should have a
basking spot for your lizard to get warm if it needs to. it should be no further than 10
inches from the light. The type of lights you should use is UVB fluorescent lighting. Using
natural unfiltered sunlight would be the best option, but for those who cant, use the UVB
ighting. Make sure it is UVB and not UVA. UVB provides vitamin D3, which is important
for the lizards to have. Some people have made a mistake thinking that sunlight through
the glass is ok. That would make in unfiltered. So just remember to use UVB if not actual
contact with the sun.

Humidity

Your cages humidity level should be about 80%, try getting a gage that measures the
humidity to help control it. Live plants also help out with this. Spray the cage at least 2
times a day, and if you still have trouble with the humidity, try putting a towel over half of
the screen to help keep in the moisture, but don't cover the whole screen. If you are still
having problems with it, try putting a humidifier on the other side of the room and leave it
on for a while during the day and that should work.

What and what not to feed

There are many things that you can offer your Water Dragon but there are also things that
you shouldn't offer. Here are things that you should and shouldn't feed:

Things you should
Things you shouldn't

· Crickets
· Wax worms
· Earthworms
· Pinkies (baby hairless mice)
· Small feeder fish (such as goldfish)
· Lettuce (but has no nutritional value)
· Carrot
· Kail (alot of the dark leaved foods) · Broccoli
· Tomatos
· Oranges
· Tofu
or anything acidic

Watering ideas

Most Water Dragons love to swim and sit in the water so be sure that you have a large
enough water bowl for your lizard. It should be cleaned at least every other day. Your
lizard will probably use the water bowl as its bathroom. So if you do wait a couple days
to change it, you might want a filter or pump to keep it cleaner longer. Room temp. should
be fine for it. When you clean the water container, be sure to use soap and rinse well. If
you want you can even put multiple water bowls throughout the cage. Just a thought.

Sorces of calcium

A good way to give your lizard the calcium it needs is to buy a calcium powder at your local
pet store. Make sure it is Phophorous free and that it has Vitamin D3.
There are also multivitamin powders you can buy to help with your lizards groth and health.
The Herptivite you can put a pinch in a water bottle and spray the lizard and the vitamins will
soak in its skin and help with shedding and also just for good skin. You can also put a little
in its water bowl. Well, thats all i know about powders so, if you have any other information,
please share.

Respiratory infections

Under Construction

Parasites

If you are worried that your lizard have a parasite infection or want to know what to look
for, When they have parasites, they tend to be less active. Their eyes don't seem to be
too much open. Their stool could be less formed and could smell really bad. If you see
those in your lizard(s), take them to a vet to get the right medicines for your lizard. Before
you go to get him check out, you'll need a fresh stool sample to take it. If you get it the
night before you go, it can be stored in the fridge over night. Not in the freezer. Try not get
the white clumps. That is their urine.

Eye infections

If your lizard eye has puss in it and is closed alot, it probably has an eye infection. What
you can do is buy a turtle eye rinse at a local pet store and put it in its eye a couple
times a day. This might be caused by the bedding you use. If you use wood chips as
bedding you should probably change it if this happends more than once. If keeps happening
and doesn't go ahead after using the eye rinse, i suggest you take it to a vet to see if
there is any serious eye damage.

Stomatitis (mouth rot)

Stomatitis is a bacterial infection that settles into the lizards gum tissue, palate or tongue.
If you don't do anything right away it can reach its way to the jaw bone. This can be caused
by snout damage. You can tell if your lizard has it by looking in its mouth and seeing it has
yellowish whitish plaque on its gums. You will probably even see blotches on its gums.
This is a serious matter, so be sure to take your lizard to a vet if this occurs.

Shedding problems

Shedding problems can be caused bu the humidity level being down. The moisture is what
gets the shedding off. If you need help witht he humidity, click here.

Snout damage

Under Construction

Constipation/Diarrhea

It isn't that hard to tell if your lizard is constipated. They usually do their business in or near
the water. To help your lizard get back to what it needs to do, put a drop or two of mineral
oil in its mouth (make sure it swallows it) and even rubbing some on the rectum helps. If
nothing happens in a day or so, repeat the process untill something happens. If still nothing,
take it to the vet. If your lizard does do its business, but its diarrhea, it's most likely it has a
parasite infection. To read more about that, go back to the index and click Parasite Infection.

Sexing your Dragon

When dragons are young they all have the female characteristics. When they get older you
should be able to notice if it's a boy or girl. Here is a list of the characteristics a male and
female will begin to obtain:

A Male A Female

· will have a larger and more triangular head
· the crest on the neck will get higher
· its spikes will grow longer
more info comming soon · will have a pear shaped body
more info comming soon

Breeding/incubation

In the winter months when the photoperioud has lessened your male water dragon should
become more sexually active. It will chase the female(s) and will bite their necks and hold
them down. This is normal so don't worry about it if you see it but moniter the female well.
She could start to get open wounds on her neck. If you see an open wound you should
seperate them untill her neck heals, then put them back together. Also make sure that
she doesn't start to hide and that she still gets food. You won't be able to know if she is
pregnant untill after a month or so. Her stomach will start to get bigger if she is. Some
time after January she should be due. Make sure that she has a spot to lay her eggs. You
should make the substrate a mixture of sand, soil and peat moss and make it about 8 - 12
inchs deep. After she lays her egg's, make sure that you get to them before the other
female(s) does (if you have another female). When you handle the eggs, be sure to wear
sterilized gloves. That should be it. Scroll down for Incubation help.

Incubation

There's two things that you can do to incubate the eggs. You can either go to your local
pet store and buy a "Hovabater", or make your own. If you wish to make your own, here's
what you need:

· 20 gallon aquairium
· 75 watt submersible aquairium heater
· small plastic container
· thermostat to control the heater
· 1 or 2 bricks
· styrofoam for the lid
· electronic thermometer

Now how to make it. Take the 20 gallon aquairium and fill it with 3 inchs of water. Place
the bricks down in the water and set the plastic container on the bricks. Put some vermiculite
in the container along with the electric thermometer's sensor and put the actual thermometer
outside the tank. Place the styrofoam on the on the tank and let the water heat up for a day
or so. Adjust the thermostat untill it reachs 85F exactly. After the cage is set, place the eggs
into the container (using sterilised gloves) on the vermiculite and cover the eggs with some
sphagnum moss. Monitor the temperature everyday and make sure it's at 85F. Take a look at
the eggs too. If you seeone that has becomed discolored or rotten, remove it because it will
make the other eggs go bad too. If you take care of them well they should hatch around
60 - 70 days. Good luck!