Chinese Water Dragon Feeding

Question
Hello and thank you for taking the time to answer my question.  It is much appreciated! I have a baby Chinese Water Dragon that is approx. 3 months old.  He/she has been in my home for the past 2.5 weeks.  It is very active, enjoys swimming and sunning, but hasn't quite acclimated to the outdoors yet.  Unfortunately I haven't been able to find a small enough harness for it yet, but I do have an outdoor cage I use.  It just goes on what I call "lock down" when outside though.  Pancaking to the floor and not moving, no matter how long it's out there.  Kinna frustrating bcse I do it to keep it healthy and happy! Is there something I can do so it's not so frightened?  Also, I can't get it to eat from tongs.  I've resorted to putting it in a smaller cage w/just reptocarpet and crickets so it can find/eat all of them.  I don't want to have to do this forever!  How can I teach my CWD to eat off tongs?  Thank you so much!

Answer
You've only had the dragon for two and a half weeks...often, that's barely enough time for a reptile to get used to a new home.  It sometimes takes them a month or more to really settle in.

Give him a chance to get used to his surroundings, and get used to you.  He needs to learn that you aren't a threat, and reptiles aren't fast learners.  Go slowly, and be patient.

As for his outdoor enclosure--that is a great idea (I assume it is a mesh or screen cage--glass would overheat outdoors).  Natural sunlight is very beneficial.  However, a reptile's worst nightmare is to be fully exposed in an open area in broad daylight.  Any sort of predator can clearly see it, under those circumstances.  Make sure your dragon has a bush, or plants, or something that it can use to retreat from view, in its outdoor cage.  Also make sure that it has a shade area available at all times.