Chinese Water Dragon Questions

OK, so my girlfriend's birthday is coming up and I have been thinking about getting her a Chinese Water Dragon.

I have a few questions:

1. where is the best place to get one, are there any good breeders or is a reptile shop my best bet?

2. I plan on getting a similar cage to the one pictured below eventually but for now what size enclosure would be best for a baby?

http://www.jworlds.net/George350.jpg

3. how quickly do they grow?

Anyone?

I can't answer all of your questions, but I can offer a little help from the few I had and the hundreds of imports I dealt with.

I don't know any breeders off the top of my head and all the ones in pet shops will be imports. The imports are pretty darn hardy, not picky eaters, no fighting. I would do a fecal on one and treat whatever parasites are present. They are VERY prone to nose rubs on the glass. You may need to black out about 5 inches tall of glass where it can be on the substrate and pace.

True babies are TINY, but I would put one in a 20 gallon long to allow a water area and a land area. If spooked, they can pick up and run. Blacking out the glass is beneficial again. I am not sure about growth rate.

That enclosure looks pretty good. I would increase the depth and slightly the length of the water area. They like to dive from the branches into the water when frightened. You are going to need an extremely good filtration system. You need to make it easy to drain the tank entirely, and it needs to be easily disinfected. These guys are very messy and love to poop in their water.

I hope that helped. I am by far an expert but just thought I would offer my experience with them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aldebono

I can't answer all of your questions, but I can offer a little help from the few I had and the hundreds of imports I dealt with.

I don't know any breeders off the top of my head and all the ones in pet shops will be imports. The imports are pretty darn hardy, not picky eaters, no fighting. I would do a fecal on one and treat whatever parasites are present. They are VERY prone to nose rubs on the glass. You may need to black out about 5 inches tall of glass where it can be on the substrate and pace.

True babies are TINY, but I would put one in a 20 gallon long to allow a water area and a land area. If spooked, they can pick up and run. Blacking out the glass is beneficial again. I am not sure about growth rate.

That enclosure looks pretty good. I would increase the depth and slightly the length of the water area. They like to dive from the branches into the water when frightened. You are going to need an extremely good filtration system. You need to make it easy to drain the tank entirely, and it needs to be easily disinfected. These guys are very messy and love to poop in their water.

I hope that helped. I am by far an expert but just thought I would offer my experience with them.

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Thanks for the post it was very helpful.

I own a Chinese water dragon and "Camo" is in a 50 gal tank (will upgrade eventually) and 1/2 his tank is coconut fiber with lots of branches for climbing and the other side is his pool.. these guys are fairly easy to keep as long as you keep his substrate moist to maintain humidity which should be in the 80% range.. they can be picky eaters to say the least, my guy only eats dusted gutloaded crickets ..

I got my guy from Pet Smart but now I wish I would have gone through a breeder..

good luck.. :)