Mountain Horned Dragon...?

[Rollis]

So, I've been thinking about getting one of these for quite a while now. However, I can't find any consistency between care sheets.

Does anyone have first hand experience with these and would be able to give me some info? They seem somewhat similar to water dragons, but smaller.

[TheWinWizard]

Seems they are all wild caught, carry parasites. Need to go to a good reptile vet to be treated. I had one, went to the vet and all and died 6 days later. Just my experience with one.

[Mike41793]

I was really seriously looking into one of these guys too until i found out that what WinWizard said is the general concensus...

[Rollis]

I've heard that as well, but LLLReptile has CB babies available at the moment, which is why I wanted to find out about care info. I'd like to think that CB ones won't be parasite ridden like WC ones are, at least

[Anatopism]

My limited experience with them has been that they stress easily and are on par with some chameleon species as far as importance of having husbandry spot on and leaving them the heck alone. Not a beginner lizard. I've also encountered a couple that would ride around on my head and didn't seem to mind being pet, but in general, they can be pretty difficult. As previously mentioned, I think a big part of this is that you'll be very hard pressed to find one that is not wild caught.

[Scubaf250]

I had one too. I don't know if it was just too much stress or if it was just too loaded with parasites but it died a couple days after I brought it home.

They are beautiful when kept correctly though


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[dpal666]

I don't know about the stress par tor the perfect husbandry thing, but we've had ours for 6+ months now, and he's a fairly easy going guy.

ambient temps of my critter room, UVB, and daily spraying for humidity. A bowl with the bug of the day ( which he never finishes). Not much more difficult than some of our other critters.

Ours is currently around 8" and getting thick in a 30g vert conversion partially planted tank (they can destroy most plants) with a full screen door.

I only have the one picture, because he's not the easiest for pics. http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...the-collection

As long as you can get a healthy specimin, these guys can be a good display, but for the most part don't enjoy the handling.

[LLLReptile]

They are actually not hard at all as long as you set them up correctly. I find that it's best to get them established and feeding before starting a heavy worming regime, as the stress of going to a new environment on top of being wormed can often be too much for them.

Set them up like a chinese water dragon, pretty much, with similar heat requirements. They do not need to be kept super warm, but benefit from a basking spot that reaches into the mid to high 80s. UVB is a must, as is night time heat - they seem to thrive best when kept in the mid 70s to high 80s at most.

Lots of foliage to hide in, and lots of humidity. Offer a variety of insects, and adults require insects dusted about every other feeding. Small babies should only be offered dusted prey items every 3rd or 4th feeding, and older juveniles can be offered dusted prey a little more frequently until they reach adult size.

CB babies, once well started, are actually really easy and are great beginner reptiles for someone who wants a smaller adult lizard than Chinese Water Dragons tend to be. The biggest trouble I find people having with them is humidity that is too low, or too much handling too soon. To the OP, start off a baby in a 20 gallon tank, lots of moss, lots of foliage, and when it gets larger expect to bump it up to a 3' long cage. Again, lots of humidity is important.

-Jen