So as some of you know, I bought a chinese water dragon a while ago. He was underweight. I feel him 20 large crickets ever other week. Then wax worms 9-12 what ever he eats in one sitting before he refuses. Or a couple super worms. He isn't gaining any weight. What should I try next? He is pretty tame and will sit around on my shoulder. He sleeps quite a bit though. He doesn't seam to be getting worse or better. Still underweight. I will try and post some picks soon. Just kind of worried about this guy. He does have a 5watt UV strip light, and constant supply of clean water. I dust the crickets with calcium with d3. I tried apple sauce but he doesn't like it. I will try anything to get this guys weight up.
An update on CWD
- Thread starter Silvertears
- Start date
Sleepy water dragons are sick water dragons in my experience... they are not actually calm relaxed lizards without putting some work into them.... Actually they can be more difficult that iguanas to tame down.
He definitely needs to be fed MUCH more often... this is a lizard... not a snake. He should be offered crickets and meal worms EVERY DAY, wax worms maybe once a week till he's a proper weight and then only as treats every few months after that. He should always have access to fresh dark leafy greens such as collard and turnip greens. Not all young water dragons will eat their greens but they should be provided none the less.
Also, you mentioned UVB which is good. but what are his basking and ambient temps at?
He definitely needs to be fed MUCH more often... this is a lizard... not a snake. He should be offered crickets and meal worms EVERY DAY, wax worms maybe once a week till he's a proper weight and then only as treats every few months after that. He should always have access to fresh dark leafy greens such as collard and turnip greens. Not all young water dragons will eat their greens but they should be provided none the less.
Also, you mentioned UVB which is good. but what are his basking and ambient temps at?
He eats when he wants to I offer food everyday. Crickets are every other week because I don't have a place near by that has them and I only go up once a week and don't want to keep them in my house longer then need be. I feed the waxworms more because he likes them the most. He doesn't like greens. Idk the temps right now the thing I use to use isn't working and I just found the thermometer. I will tell you when I set that up. My room is normally 80-83 and drops to about 75 at night. I have a constant supply of super worms and waxworms so he eats those as they want. He does not normally eat everyday and I am not forcing him to eat it so it is not my fault he doesn't get them daily.
I got picture I don't think we will survive though sadly. I won't give up though. He wasn't this bad in till recently. He started going down hill fast. It really is sad. Oh and if there are any random things in this post that shouldn't be there, my bird thinks he needs to help me type. He refused super worms and waxworms when offered. I took all the substrate out of his tank and put only paper towels. He still has a rock, a vine(To get closer to the UV), and a log in there though.
(I noticed he wouldn't open that eye much)
(For size reference the tile is 12")
I don't have a ride there. The only place that does reptiles is over an hour away. Dad is always busy and my friend who usually gives me a ride to the pet store won't take me that far. I can't wait to get my license. He isn't happy about the change in the enclosure and is moving around more then normal. He is on paper towels so I can see if it is worms. If it is what should I give him?
You will need a vet to test for most internal parasites.. there are very few that you can actually see with the naked eye. then you will need to get a wormer. Panacur takes care of most common parasites but there are others that you would need different medications for. You can get some wormers through reptile websites and such but you need to be VERY precise about the weight of your animals and measurement of the dosage. It is not something you should do alone if you have never done anything of the sort before.....
Well he is gaining weight. Also is more active. What should I do about his left eye? He never opens it, my guess is it is infected.
Get some eye drops. Even turtle eye drops work. I would also suggest giving him 30min of natural unfiltered sunlight everyday. You would be surprised what effect the sun has over lizards. Search around you for a local herp.club they can give you way more help than MFK, and can give you a cheap checkup and treatment route. My local group has quite a few members with microscopes so checking stool for parasites and tracking down medication is pretty easy. Plus you can live vicariously through the other members collections. I love large monitors and snakes but don't have the space to keep as many anymore, but a guy down the road breeds croc monitors so I get to play with his and not have to worry about housing or feeding.