water dragon questions

Question

Water Dragon   QUESTION: Hi, I have a babe chinese water dragon and i have a few questions that i could not find online on care sheets and other sites.
My water dragon dose not eat as much as i think he should. He is about 7in snout to tail and about 3in snout to vent. i feed him a meal worm a day, he wont eat crickets, i tried giving him them without dust and he still wont eat them, so ive been giving him dusted meal worms, but i  know a mealworm diet is not good for him. Also for some reason i offered him a pice of lettuce and he ate it!! in fact he ate 2 slices of it, witch i thought was weird. anything you can tell me about this? and what other things i can feed the little guy?
My water dragon has a sore on him snout that he got from running into the glass door of his cage wen i was trying to pick him up. anything that is safe to put around his mouth to help it heal? the sore is not bad but i dont want it to get infected. it also dosnt seen to effect him any but i still worry about it.
He alos shows aggression towards me, think he was miss handled before i got him. He is getting better with me but he dose this thing were he holds his breath wen i hold him and then exhales and inhales very deep and makes clicking sounds. am i stressing him out to much and is this not good for him to be doing? or is this just him talking to me and telling me off and will quit once i have him tamed down?
P.S i have sent a pic of his cage and sorry for such a long question. Thanks.
Luke

ANSWER: Hi Luke,
No problem on the questions..thats what I am here for!!

He isn't showing aggression actually..he is showing fear.  When they are stressed or scared they can do what your guy is doing. Just keep talking to him and getting him used to you and your movements.  The clicking is him showing his displeasure.  BUT!!!!!!!  if he is making that sound when you aren't bothering him, and his breathing is distressed or he has a mucous discharge from his nose, then he may have a respiratory infection and needs to see a vet. From what you say, I'm guessing its just when you are holding him though. Limit handling him to a few times a day for about 10 minutes each time.  They can take months or even years to get really comfortable with us silly humans.

Your cage looks nice!! Your CWD should be enjoying it. Be prepared to build a larger one in less than a year though!!  Recommended size is 5-6 ft long 3 ft deep and about 5 ft high!!
You don't mention temperatures, humidity, source of uvb, etc that your WD gets.  Many times the reason they don't  eat is simply a problem in their care.  Temperatures may be too low, humidity may be low or there may be no good source of uvb. He may also not have the needed temperature zones. Other reasons can be that he just doesn't like the insects you are offering. Try breaking the hind legs off on the crickets. Make sure that the insects are of proper size for your new pet.  You don't want them wider than the space between his eyes or 2/3 the length of his head. That will stop them from being able to hop.  And of course there are health reasons such as internal parasites.  Lack of uvb can be put in that category also. Without proper uvb they are unable to process the calcium in the foods they eat and can develop metabolic bone disease. A good site for WD care is at http://www.triciaswaterdragon.com/dragoncr.htm (although a bit outdated on uvb which I will give you current info on)
Do you turn off all the white lights at night?  They need to have darkness during the night.  Some don't even like the red lights at night so you may have to switch to a ceramic heat emitter for night time heat.

My suggestions for you to do/try are:check your temperatures, especially basking area.  If the temperatures are not correct, they cannot digest their foods properly and the process is slowed causing them not to be hungry. Basking temperatures should be about 85-90F degrees.  Cool end and night time should be in the 75-80F degree range.

They need a high humidity level of near 80%. Mist him and his cage often. He may have eaten the lettuce (more on greens below) because he is thirsty.  Be sure he knows where his water is.  You might want to add an air stone to his water.  The bubbles will attract his attention and he may drink.
On the not eating.... if, after making any changes in care, try different insects and try offering some dark leafy greens, fruits and vegetables.  Some WD will eat the greens, etc. Lettuce has no nutrition...you can offer a variety of dark leafy greens.  The best ones are collard greens, turnip greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens.  You can offer finely chopped veggies and grated winter squash. You can offer small amounts of various fruits also.

Do you turn off all the white lights at night?  They need to have darkness during the night.  Some don't even like the red lights at night so you may have to switch to a ceramic heat emitter for night time heat.

On the sore on his nose.... you can apply a small amount of Neosporin Ointment to the sore.  Be sure to not get it in his nostrils.  If he licks at it, its fine.
On the UVB,

Supplying uvb can be done in a few ways. By special lights that come in fluorescent tubes or special screw in bulbs (mercury vapor)that are designed to produce uvb and heat. The tubes do not produce heat. UVB is needed by the reptiles to be able to absorb the calcium in the foods they eat. With out the uvb, they will develop metabolic bone disease. There are tubes that say ''full spectrum'' but they do not produce any uvb.With the correct tubes, they must say that they produce BOTH uvb and uva. The uvb needs to be 5% or higher. Repti Sun 10.0 and the Repti Glo 8.0's are a great source for uvb. The old "favorites" are the repti sun 5.0 or the Iguana light..which are the same tube, just different package. These need to be positioned 6-8 inches over the reptile for the 5% and 8% and 8-10 inches for the 10% so that they get the uvb that is needed.  The tubes need to be replaced every 6-9 months as that they stop producing UVB long before they stop producing light.Using a fixture that is 2-3 feet in length will provide adequate uvb for your CWD. You do not want to use compact uvb lights, both the spiral/coil type and the ones that look like long "U's" laying on their side and a few other brands are causing what basically amounts to snow blindness in reptiles and some do not provide the UVB in a direction that is needed for your lizard.  To read more on this, you can go to http://www.uvguide.co.uk/index.htm  

The companies have been working to correct the problem with the lighting so its important to know if the light you have MAY be the old version.

This link will take you to my discussion group and to a post that tells how to tell the new compacts from the old ones.   http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/UVB_Meter_Owners/message/6721

On the mercury vapor , they also produce heat. They also produce the uvb and uva. The best on the market now are the Mega Rays.(http://www.reptileuv.com) The distance from these are greater than the uvb tubes and the directions must be followed that are listed for the light. When using the mercury vapor lights, you don't need to have one light for uvb and one for heat. The Mercury vapor lights provide both.

For daytime heat, if using the tube uvb, regular household incandescent light bulbs produce heat. I like the halogen bulbs as they produce a nice bright light for your CWD. The wattage will
depend on the size of your reptiles enclosure. and the room temperature.Of course, the best uvb is from the sun and if you are in an area that you are able to take your CWD outside in a proper enclosure, (Never a tank or enclosed, solid cage)



If he still does not want to eat, I suggest a vet visit so that she can be tested for internal parasite overload.  Generally, if there are internal parasites, the poop will be smelly and looser than what is normal. To find a vet that can treat reptiles:
http://www.herpvetconnection.com

http://www.arav.org/ECOMARAV/timssnet/amm/tnt_mdsearch.cfm

http://www.anapsid.org/vets/




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

QUESTION: Thanks for the great info. I am using a UV tube from exo terra, my humidity is around 70 to 50%. my temps are around 90 at the highest basking spot and 75 on the bottom of the cage, his cage drops to about 80 to 70F at night to give him a good sleeping temp. His water dish is 4 gal of water and has a water tank heater and a water filter/water fall in it, so he can see the moving water (and he also poops in all the time and i have to clean out). He dosent seem to be sick, very active and no mucus in his mouth or nose. All of the lighting is the UVB tube from exo terra, a night time 75 watt red glow and 2 50 watt day time basking bulbs, all from exo terra. know any more bugs out there that is safe and small enough to feed my CWD? Do you recommend any other supplements that i can give to him for better health. I heard of a spray that i can get to spray him with that gives the same vitamins as the UVB.....really anything that would be good or better for him.

Answer
Hi Luke,
I was looking at your cage again and I really do like it..a lot!!
With the temperatures, you want to measure the basking temperature right under the basking light, where your CWD lays..and at his level.  You want to make sure that the basking area is level.  The reason for this is so that his whole body can be in the same temperature.  When they are on an incline, his head and part of his body may be at the 90 degrees, but the rest of him is in the cooler area and can't warm up to the needed temperature.
Do continue to offer him the greens that I mentioned.
Don't waste your money on the spray.  There is nothing other than the sun (unfiltered) that can replace uvb.
I recommend RepCal Calcium with added vitamin D3 and also the RepCal Multi vitamins.  You can dust his insects in both of them or if he decides to eat the greens or fruit,you can sprinkle it on there.  You can do the calcium about 3 times a week and the vitamins 3 times a week. You don't want to use too much as too much is as bad as none...  I like using salt shakers for putting it on their food.  You mist the greens sprinkle some on and if you see it, (dry white) then you used too much.  Of course if you are "shaking" the insects in it, you will see it on them and only so much will stick to them.
With your little monster, he is pretty small.  I would try smaller crickets, you can try to get some wax worms but you don't want to allow him to eat them all the time as they are too high in fat and can cause liver problems.  They are a treat to use on occasion.
Try offering him some babyfood.  The chicken or the chicken and vegetable. There are also superworms,which, if you are able to find the small size of them, they are fine.
Here is a link to more things you can offer:
http://www.triciaswaterdragon.com/diet.htm#food%20items
If you read that page and scroll down it, you will find lots of ideas on food and feeding.
You sound like you have a really nice set up for your CWD.  It can take a while for them to settle in but he really does need to start eating more.  Offer the greens as I mentioned before and of course insects that are listed on the link above.  Hopefully you are able to get some of them or are in an area that its warm enough to order on line.
I do want to stress how important it is to know the temperature, especially in the basking area.
Using a temperature gun or a thermometer that has the probe on the end of a wire is the best and going to give you the truest reading.  You hang the probe under the basing light, at your CWD's level.  Also, if you don't already, do make a level or nearly level basking shelf. In looking at the picture, its hard to really tell, but I am thinking that your uvb light and a heat light aren't over a level area that is long enough to hold all of him.  If I am wrong, sorry but I did want to mention that.
Also, make sure to double check your uvb tube to be sure its stamped on the tube that it is a uvb and uva producing light.  Since you say he is pooping in the water all the time, at least that means he is eating something. Sometimes we worry too much about some things.  Temperatures, uvb and humidity are what is important to get perfect for them.  Usually once those things are where they need to be, they will start eating.  Everything is new to him right now. Be patient with him. Many times its because we are just bugging them all the time and they don't have a chance to settle in.