New Lizard Projects: Crested and River Dragons.

[jmugleston]

Gonocephalus grandis:


Gonocephalus chamaeleontinus:

[dr del]

Dear Lord those are impressive,

I have never heard of either of them - are they easy to care for?



dr del

[BPelizabeth]

I have said it before and will say it again....you have THE coolest stuff. Tell me more about these? They are amazing

[Jyson]

Coolest lizards ever! Love to know more about them.

[mainbutter]

My bet is that chinese water dragon care is a great jumping off point for care for these guys.. would I be wrong?

They come from a similar part of the world, but belong to a different sub-family (and of course a different genus). Physiologically, they seem pretty similar.

I'd love to hear more about these guys and your experiences with them! Can I assume those are wild-caught specimens? Do you have multiples of each species?

Good luck with the project, keep us updated

[BPelizabeth]

Do I get to be your first customer???

[Boanerges]

Both are VERY cool looking!!!!!!!! Good luck with the projects

[jmugleston]

Okay. Lets see if I cover everything above without looking over it a second time.

First off, thanks for the compliments.

The care is similar to the green water dragons. They are supposed to be zoo bred, but they've passed through a few hands so take it for what its worth. They are notoriously fragile. Captive life spans are short due to impropoer husbandry, parasite loads, and general hobbyist/pet store stupidity. These came from a good source so they're already leaps and bounds ahead of the Gonocephalus that sometimes appear on wholesale lists.

As with most agamas, the males are nice and showy and the girls are more reclusive. The males are quite aggressive with the girls and even the short term co-habitation set-up previous to their arrival has resulted in females missing a couple toes and tail tips. They've settled in nicely and they're eating crickets quite well. I've recently tried some fruit to see if they'll take a varied diet like the water dragons, but so far nothing.

The G. chamaeleontinus were bought as a bonus for the dealer selling me both his females, but they for now seem to have the best potential for a pet species but it is too soon to be sure.