new water dragon wont eat

Question
I just got a young water dragon two days ago and he hasn't eaten any of the crickets I offer him. Do you know of a way I might get him interested in his food?  

Answer
Hi Erin,

I'm assuming you have a Chinese(green) Water Dragon...if not, please let me know.
There are a few reasons why he may not be eating yet.  One of the biggest reasons with reptiles is stress. Being taken into a new home causes a great deal of stress with them and they may not eat for a few days. If the area he is in has a high activity level, try blocking him from seeing all the activity with a towel on the side of his cage. Activity such as humans and other pets can strss him out.  
Also, when the insects are not correctly sized for them, they may refuse to eat.  The insects should not be any wider than the space between their eyes.  When insects are too large, the WD may refuse to eat them..which is better than the other problem that can happen...the too large of insect causing a blockage or choking.
Incorrect temperatures and lighting can also cause them to not want to eat.  Their bodies depend on specific temperatures to properly digest their foods.  When they don't have access to an area with those temperatures, their food can't digest at the proper rate and they won't be hungry.
Its a good idea to take your new friend to a qualified reptile vet to be sure there are no internal parasites that can be causing the not wanting to eat...especially if all your temperatures and care is correct and he still doesn't start to eat in another day or so. At the bottom of this are links to finding a vet.
If your cage is too big right now, or you have a lot of things in the cage, the crickets might have too much space to hide and your WD isn't seeing them. You may want to try feeding him in a smaller tank if you have a big cage right now.

I've included a very basic care sheet on the water dragon for you.
BASKING AREA TEMPERATURES:
Water Dragons must have  a basking light...they digest their
food by the heat. (be sure to read the UVB section below)
This light/heat can be provided by a regular household light bulb that
produces heat.(or if using a mercury Vapor light as mentioned above)
Depending on the size of the cage, you may need
anywhere from a 60 watt to a 100 watt bulb.
The basking area temps must be maintained at about 88 to 92 gradient  range..
they need the heat to digest their food. If the temperatures are too low,
digestion is slowed, too high and the food digests too fast and nutrition is
not utilized as it should be.
This is for 12 hours of daylight (the same time your UVB lights are on).
You can place this bulb in a silver dome fixture(be sure it has the ceramic
socket) and it MUST be placed
so that your WD cannot climb on it..or touch it. On top of your screen
cage is safe but..if your WD likes to hang from the top of the
cage..you will have to raise it up some how to prevent burns.
Remember..if you must move it, monitor the temps again.
This cannot be stressed enough. In order to maintain those temps,
it is VERY important to use thermometers. Using a GOOD digital is a
necessity!!
A THERMOMETER IS A MUST!!  It needs to be at the water dragons level....where he lays in
the basking
area to see what the temp is there...if your thermometer is not where he
lays,
you will get an improper reading for his basking area and you will burn
your WD (watch for panting or mouth gaping open - signs of overheating)or
the temperatures
in the basking area will not be in the correct range. The best are the digital
ones that have the probe.  Some also give the humidity reading along with
the temperature in two different areas.
You will need a basking shelf or branch. The placement of this depends
on what height you need to maintain the temps mentioned above and keep
your WD within the recommended
distance of the uvb source. Be sure to make it at least twice the width of the
water dragon. Keep in mind the distance
the UVB light needs to be from the WD also. This is almost the hardest
area of the cage to get correct..it requires a lot of monitoring of
the temps until YOU ARE SURE they are correct.
OVERALL TEMPERATURES in the mid 80's(84-86) daytime and a cooler area and night time temperatures in the 75-80 degree range.
NEVER use heat rocks for your WD!!  They are deadly.... they can severely burn your dragon.
NIGHT..... LIGHTS OUT!!!!!! At night, if
the temperatures drop below 75-80 degrees
you need to provide a heat source in the form of a ceramic
heat emitter(which can also be used during the day) or a
special nighttime bulb(red or deep purple) that does not
produce any bright white light.Some Water Dragons do not like the colored lights
and do try to hide from them. Its up to you to see this and switch to a
ceramic heat emitter to prevent your WD from stressing out.
UVB/LIGHTING:
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 WD
to be able to absorb the calcium in the foods they eat.
With out the uvb, they will develop metabolic bone disease.
With the 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.
There are tubes
that say ''full spectrum'' but they do not produce any uvb.
These need to be positioned 6-8 inches over the water dragon 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 holds two uvb tubes of at least 3 feet in length will
provide adequate uvb for your WD. Do not use coil lights that are sold as
that they do not produce the uvb in the fashion needed for WD's. Also, be sure the tubes or the fixture does not have a plastic shield as that it will block out ALL the uvb.

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.megaray.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. The wattage will
depend on the size of your water dragons 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 water dragon outside in
a proper enclosure, (Never a tank or enclosed, solid cage)

DIET:
Crickets, mealworms, wax worms,silkworms, earthworms, trevo(butterworms) and some even enjoy feeder fish such as gold fish. Adults may take a pinkie mouse(newborn mouse). Its also a good idea to offer fruits, veggies and greens to your dragon.  They must be finely shredded for him.  For a good list of what to offer, www.iguanaden.org has a wonderful list of what can be fed to a water dragon.... Waxworms are only to be used on occasion as treats due to their high fat content.   ALL insects must be properly gutloaded (fed)for at least 48 hours prior to feeding to the  water dragon.  For crickets and superworms, this can be done with vegetables, plain cereals and commercial foods for the species.  Silkworms and the other insects have their own diet needs.  If the insects aren't healthy, and full of nutrition, your WD doesn't get the proper nutrition from them. Be sure to always have a cut potato in the cage so that any missed insects will eat the potato and not nibble on your WD. Be sure to provide a dish of fresh drinking water also.
Be sure to dust your insects with a good calcium supplement before feeding them to your dragon also.  You want to use a calcium that does not have any added Phosphorus to it.
HOUSING:
Water Dragons need  space to live happy and healthy... at least 2 x their total length which means you will need to provide an enclosure that is a min. of 6 ft long (side to side), 2-3 feet deep and 4-6 feet high  for an adult. To start out with a baby WD, nothing less than a 50-75 gallon tank and even this will only last about a year before they need more space....and tanks are high enough to allow room for climbing, which they love and need to do.
Best is to have about 1/3 the space a water area.  The water can be in a pan...just be sure of easy in/out access for your WD.  Water should not be deeper than his elbow.  Room temperature is fine for the water.
HUMIDITY:  Water Dragons need to have a humid environment in the area of 70-80%.  Misting often with a spray bottle helps.  Many times  we need to also use
humidifiers to keep the humidity levels up where needed during the day.
SUBSTRATES:
This is what you use on the floor of your Water Dragon enclosure.
DO NOT USE anything that is bark, litter,chips...no loose substrates!!...Many
are toxic
and more so, your WD will ingest these items and it will KILL them.
You can use paper bags, newspaper, paper towels, no pile carpeting or towels
(wash first,and be sure there are no loose strings )


One of the best sites for water dragon care can be found at
http://www.triciaswaterdragon.com/dragoncr.htm

A vet check up is recommended and a fecal sample taken in to be tested for any internal parasites.... To find a qualified vet in your area you can go to http://www.anapsid.org/vets/
http://www.arav.org/Directory.htm

If you have any more questions, or don't understand something, please be sure to ask.  Please keep me updated as to how your WD is doing.