Water dragons

Question
QUESTION: I was wondering if you could help me, my water dragon seems to have
mouth rot I think, but it hasn't affected he's eating habits or anything, but I
want to get rid of it, so how do I do that? His outside nose is like a brown
and scabby and he keeps hitting his nose on the glass so I keep taking
him out but I am just not sure what to do?

ANSWER: Hello Sydney,

Do you have a picture of his nose for me?  
Water dragons do not realize their perimeters of glass tanks.  Can you get some paper or colorful non adhesive decorative stick on vinyl things to put on the glass?  
He will continue to bang his nose if he doesn't realize that there is glass there, as they really can't see it very well.
Is there a lot of noise startling him which is causing him to bang his nose?  
What are his temperatures in the tank?  What type of thermometer do you use?
What type of lighting are you using for him?
So, getting it to heal up will take a few modifications in his tank so he will stop banging his nose up.  
Does it look like it is getting infected right now?  You can use some neosporin or polysporin antibiotic ointment on the affected areas to help keep the infection away.

Let me know how he is doing.

Tracie

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------


water dragon's nose   QUESTION: Ya I covered up like the sides of his tank about 6-7 inches up but when I put him in his enclosure he still kept hitting his nose on the sides. I normally keep my door closed in my room, and I do not think there really is any loud noises, but I will make sure it is quiet and calm inside my room and outside my room just in case. I have one of those stick on the glass thermometer things and it reads 75˚F. He gets normally natural sunlight, but I also have a fluorescent aquarium reflector, 120 volt, 20 watt, 60hz. I will put some neosporin on his nose, thanks for the help. Also he normally is out of his cage and on these two big sticks in my room or outside on these nice trees he likes to sun bathe on, so I am not sure if it is just because he wants to be out of his cage or what? Thanks again.
-Sydney
P.S. Sorry about the picture being blurry, I left my cord for my camera to hook up to the computer at my friends house so I had to use the computer camera

Answer
Hello Sydney,
Ok, that is good you have covered the sides with paper.  That should have worked.
The tank may be too hot.  The stick on types of thermometers are not very accurate.  They will measure the ambient temperatures & the humidity fairly well, but not the basking temperatures.
Does he get sunlight through the window?  If so, the sunlight does not penetrate through the window, so he wont be getting any UVB exposure, just the heat.
Are you using any UVB lighting for him?  
Well, don't make it "too" quiet for him, as he may get bored also.  Let's work on the temperatures first.  So, you will need to get either a digital probe or a temp gun to read the temperatures better.  He needs it around 98 or so for the basking temperatures but it might be much warmer in there than what the thermometer is telling you it is.
How often do you give calcium?
Keep on putting the neosporin on his nose for awhile.  It kind of looks like it might getting ready to shed pretty soon.

Let me know how he is doing.  He is a little cutie.  :-)

Tracie