CWD Behavior

[CoolioTiffany]

The Chinese Water Dragon I purchased yesterday is a lot more calmer than all of the others. He doesn't look in too bad of shape though, the eyes are clear, nostrils are clear, doesn't make any noise, and the only thing is he is a bit on the skinny side, but I can see why because he was apart of the Texas seizure.

He ate a couple crickets today when I threw them in, and that was probably the only actual time I saw him move. I fell asleep over an hour ago, and he remained laying down on my chest. I do know CWDs are skittish, but maybe I got a pretty tame one? He is less active than my Beardie, and the Beardie even loves to run around at times. The CWD does have proper temps, I checked it over and looked at a few care sheets to make sure I'm in the right range. His setup is a tid bit smaller than the one he was in, but he was in with a lot of other dragons of his own and it was a little over crouded.

I'm not really saying anything is wrong with my CWD, but I'm a bit confused because I know how jumpy CWDs can be.

[Kuba]

It might be just the dragon, i would allow him to settle in first, how big is his cage, and where are the adoptions at?

[CoolioTiffany]

It might be just the dragon, i would allow him to settle in first, how big is his cage, and where are the adoptions at?

He is only in a 20g long temporarily, but at my dads I have a 20g tall I plan on using for him this week. He'll have a lot more climbing space, and he'll be a lot happier. He isn't too big, not even a foot long from nose to vent (my guess).

[CoolioTiffany]

Oh and the adoptions are at the Phoenix Herpetological Society, it's on Scottsdale Rd. and Dynamine. It's like 20mins away from my house, but still a bit far. We have a lot more Water Dragons too.

To add in, even at the place my Dragon was pretty damn calm, so I'm thinking it just may be him.

[wafisherman]

I have 2 dragons and one is very calm and will tolerate being held and pet (not head shy). The other is crazy and tail whacks me when i first pick it up. Both can be skittish (jump off me for no reason). But they are definately different in personality.

But crammed with that many other dragons, I'd begin to wonder about parasites....

[wilomn]

Get a fecal. While they are on occasion calm, it's generally not the ones right out of the wild. Is his nose beat up at all?

I've seen some very tame ones and yours may well be one of those, but I've seen many who were said to be super calm simply because they were not healthy on the inside.

[CoolioTiffany]

Get a fecal. While they are on occasion calm, it's generally not the ones right out of the wild. Is his nose beat up at all?

I've seen some very tame ones and yours may well be one of those, but I've seen many who were said to be super calm simply because they were not healthy on the inside.

His nose has no damage at all, it's perfectly fine. I've noticed he seems to not move too much when he is outside of the enclosure (he's sitting on my shoulder right now) but I've noticed when I come home from school it seems he has been very active while I was at school. I saw tons of dig spots and cypress all in the water and I've noticed he is eating the crickets and superworms I put in the enclosure so I'm glad he's eating. Tonight I'm switching him to a 20g tall enclosure so he can climb more and having higher spaces to climb. I'm waiting for him to defecate, so hopefully he'll go in a couple of days.

[CoolioTiffany]

Wow, I just realized I was using a 100w bulb. Definitely too hot, so now he has a 75w. Do you think he wasn't as active because it could've been too warm in the enclosure?

[Kuba]

Oh and the adoptions are at the Phoenix Herpetological Society, it's on Scottsdale Rd. and Dynamine. It's like 20mins away from my house, but still a bit far. We have a lot more Water Dragons too.

To add in, even at the place my Dragon was pretty damn calm, so I'm thinking it just may be him.

Scottsdale and Dynamite, thats close to my school, haha, i might have to check out the adoptions, i have a spare 55 gallon....

[wafisherman]

Wow, I just realized I was using a 100w bulb. Definitely too hot, so now he has a 75w. Do you think he wasn't as active because it could've been too warm in the enclosure?

Have you read this site yet?
http://www.triciaswaterdragon.com/enclosur.htm#Humidity

100w could be too hot to not hot enough. Totally depends... Do you have a way to measure the warm and cool sides? You need to provide a temp gradient. Hot side to the upper 80's, cool side to the mid to upper 70s if possible. Then a basking spot in the mid-90s. With a small tank, a good 100w MVB, like a MegaRay, would do the trick - supplying a hot basking area, a warm end, and a cool end. But you first have to have a way to reliabley measure the temps and then start tweaking things until you have the right combo. For example, if the basking spot is too warm, you raise the bulb (or lower the basking spot). But then you need to see what happens to the ambient warm and cool side temps. Sometimes you need a MVB and perhaps a CHE. But you need to start with understanding what is needed, then measuring temps,and making adustments until things are right.