Asian water dragon behavior

Question
We have just purchased a juvenile water dragon. We have two bearded dragons and a nile monitor as well. However, when we had the Asian water dragon in the tub this morning he puzzeled us with his behavior. He basically played dead. He swam for a little while and when we were going to pick him up to move him onto a towel he just closed his eyes and went stiff. This lasted several minutes. During this he would periodically raise his head high and get a breath of air but would remain stiff and dead like. we could handle him and his condition would not change. if we put him back into the water he would just float. We kinda tested this out to see if it would happen again and yes in fact it did.
Is this normal and one of his defense mechanisms? everything I have read is that he just escapes and it does not mention this "playing dead" technique.
Anything you could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

Answer
Hi Julie,
It is normal..they do this when stressed, scared, etc. Since you just got him, he is still both stressed and scared. It is probably best to not tub him til he settles in a bit.  Even with his "pond" in his cage, be sure to keep an eye on him so he doesn't try to "hide" under the water there. To many reptiles, water is safety and they will lay under water to protect their self. from birds, etc.
Many reptiles will just freeze in a position/place..to them, when they do this, they cannot be seen.  The closing of one eye ..you can't see them..lol.  Their other eye is open, keeping an eye on everything going on.
If he continues to stay under water, hide, etc when in his cage, time to check out what else is in the room that may be causing him to be scared.  Other reptiles in the room? Birds?  Lots of human activity? Noise? Windows that he can see out of that may have lots of visible outside activity?
A good site on water dragon care is at the link below.  I'm giving you the direct link to the "hiding in water" link but be sure to go to the main page and read all the info there.
http://www.triciaswaterdragon.com/dragontips.htm#under