Chinese Water Dragon

[Ulindi en Robert]

Hi Guys


So im thinking of getting a chinese waterdragon, can any one give some advise on them?

I did some general bakground on them and they seem very intresting...... but its to convince my hubby.

** PS do i need a permit for them?


Regards
Ulindi

[mgiddings]

Here is a bit of info.

Qoute by Bushviper

Good quality powdered calcium with every meal and sunlight whenever you can will go a long way to helping her live a happy life.

Stay away from glass and wire fronts where she can rub her nose or run into them. Block the bottom few centimetres of the cage so she does not see it as an escape route.

If you have her in an outside cage make the cage with shade cloth and give her place to climb in the middle where it does not touch the sides. Use planks for the bottom 30 cm of the cage so she does not stand on the ground and rub her nose.

Good luck.

Qoute by isaniac

They need fresh water, and a lot of it, as they like to deficate in their water.

Then some care sheets

These are international but try do the conversions where necessary.

A. http://www.ajanimalfarm.com/water_dragon.htm
B. http://www.the-lizard-lounge.com/conten ... dragon.asp
C. http://www.lizard-landscapes.com/water-Dragon.html

Read all the caresheets in detail and work from there. They will differ a bit, but extract common facts out of them and use those as a base. Make sure your cage is of ample size and make sure you purchase good quality animals.

Feel free to ask for any finer detail you require. If you tell us which province you live I can help on the permit situation. In KZN there will be no permit requirements, In Gauteng no permit as well. I am not sure about the other provinces though. Some one else should be able to help with that.

Good luck and enjoy.

[Urucone]

Chinese water dragons is a very nice reptile to keep, they get so docile you can walk around with it as if it's a bearded dragon.

Quick crash course:

Lighting, as for almost all lizards is the most important factor, next to food and water, a 5 % UVB light, and I would suggest a Heat emitter, water dragons like water so getting small splashes of water on a bask or infra red light is not uncommon.
Substrate can be anything from carpet, peat moss, bark chips, mulch even sand
Calcium is a must around every second day (Opinions can differ)

Like most of the reptiles in the pet trade the main diet consists of crickets.
I've found that it's easier to keep a water dragon in a fish tank "aquarium" or a glass enclosure than in normal enclosure.
Enclosure size approx 600 x 450 x 450 for a start from there it's a 1.2 x 450 x 450.

[CarlaSmit87]

What do they go for?

[Urucone]

Depend where you get them from, if you’re looking at a retail price and only pay for one the price would be around R1200.

If you move through channels and a friend knows, a friend knows a friend, then you’re going to look around R800.

Strangely enough, this year I haven’t seen much so expect to pay anything around 800 - 1200

[Ulindi en Robert]

Hey guys


Thank you all for the advise