i think my chinese water dragon is sick

Question
i have had this water dragon for about 3 weeks it is quite small and she eats well however i have noticed she is fairly brown she has bright green stripes and underside but her back is light brown shes been going to the bathroom normally and as i said she eats alot also ive noticed a small area of the foot that appears to be slightly swollen but she walks fine and doesnt seem to feel pain when it is touched can u pleaseee help:(

Answer
Hi Katelynn,
If her foot is swollen, she really needs to see a vet.  The darkened color can be due to being in pain from her foot or it can be due to stress or incorrecct temperatures. It can also be caused by lack of proper UVB.
A very good site for water dragon care can be found at: http://www.triciaswaterdragon.com/dragoncr.htm

Water dragons need to have large cages.On the length they do recommend 6 ft.   If you are able to,  For the height  nothing less than 4 ft and for the width, 3 feet is a good width.  With a baby WD, using a 55 gallon tank or larger will last them about a year.
With the water dragon, you will need to provide an area of uvb for him/her.  They need to have the uvb to be able to process the calcium in the foods they eat.  Without it, they will develop metabolic bone disease. There is more on this in the care sheet.  The uvb info there is a bit out dated so here is some more information on proper uvb. Please don't let it confuse you!!

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 Iguanas 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 t
hat 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  




For daytime heat, if using the tube uvb, I like the halogen bulbs as they produce a nice bright light for your CWD. The wattage willdepend on the size of your iguanas enclosure. and the room temperature. Using the outdoor flood or spot lights work well due to the humidity in the cage.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)

The dragon will also need a basking area which has the uvb lighting and a temperature gradient of  84-88F.(Never above 90 degrees in the basking area)  This temperature range in one area of the cage is needed so that they are able to properly digest their foods. Basically, with the heat light and uvb, we are recreating what the sun does for them in the wild. If your cage is getting too warm overall, you may be able to just use the uvb tubes or possibly the uvb tubes and a low wattage light bulb. Of course if it gets too hot overall, you will have to use a fan to move the air around, especially if it is a solid structure and not a mesh type cage.  If a solid structure, be sure to add at least two areas of vents...one up high and another down low on the opposite end for air circulation.  

Be sure to provide a pool of water for your dragon.

With gut loading the insects, be sure to use healthy foods to gut load them.  Dark leafy greens, non sugar coated cereals, or even chicken feed works well. Of course there are products out there to gut load insects BUT those that are the gel form do nothing to add nutrition to the insects. If the insects aren't well fed, they have no nutrition for your dragon.

As to adding a Calcium supplement and vitamin supplement.... It doesn't hurt to add these a few times a week.  You want to use a calcium that has no added Phosphorus. The better fed your insects are, the less your dragon will need supplemented, of course it will depend on your dragons health. I also want to mention again that even though many dragons want nothing to eat other than insects, do offer dark leafy greens, various chopped vegetables and once he is back to eating well,adding small amounts of fruits. Some enjoy eating those foods, even if on occasion.
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/