 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Chinese Water DragonEnclosure Selection Health Feeding BreedingEnclosure Size Suitable Materials Substrates Décor Temperatures Hides Lighting Plants Maintenance Enclosure size The enclosure of a Chinese Water Dragon needs to be very large, and will almost certainly need to be custom built. You should aim for at least 16 square feet of floor space, and a good amount of height for a single dragon. Remember these lizards get very big and will need a lot of space to move about and climb. It may be possible to keep a male and female or two females in an enclosure of this size but it would not be the ideal. My single male has an enclosure which is 4 feet by 4 feet by 6 feet high, and he's doing very well. I would not expect to keep another lizard in there however I'm told this should be possible. Material Your enclosure can be of a variety of materials, personally I prefer wood. There is a tendency for temperatures to fluctuate quite quickly in glass tanks as there is such poor insulation. The problem arises not only from heat loss but also from heat gains, so it is preferable not to locate the enclosure in direct sunlight. The other problem with glass is that the dragon may try to get through it, and may end up with abrasions and sores on its snout from rubbing against the glass. Wood is far easier to work with than glass at these sizes, since large sheets of glass may be liable to breakages. Wood can cost a fair bit more but in my opinion is worth it. It looks nicer, and is better for the health of the animals. To create my enclosure, I built a frame out of 50mm x 50mm timber and clad it inside and out with tongue and groove sheets. This leaves a 50mm air gap to insulate against temperature fluctuations. The windows were made of Perspex to make them more resistant to breaking. It is also a lot cheaper and easier to work with! I wouldn't advise using melamine to build water dragon enclosures since this is not resistant to damp. The water dragons humidity needs to be about 70%, so this material will quickly degrade. Some sort of waterproofing will be required regardless of the type of wood used however, but make sure that it is a low VOC type and allow it to fully dry for at least a week before introducing animals. Substrate Substrate is a topic of much debate. The substrate in the wild would be forest floor, so bark or soil is suitable for a natural enclosure. Ensure that all barks and soils are bought sterile to reduce the chance of parasites entering the enclosure. If you don't want t take the risk then reptile carpets and paper towels/newspapers can be used as an alternative. Some keepers use orchid bark/soil mixtures, or two third soil/one third sand mixes. I personally use 100% soil, approximately one inch thick to allow heat through from the heat mats. As long as the substrate is sterile there should be few problems. Avoid using substrates which may lead to impaction in these lizards, or which do not represent their natural habitat. Décor You can create some quite beautiful vivariums for your water dragon, using some clean and dry branches and rocks. With a bit of patience and trial and error a safe, natural environment can be produced. Wood and rocks can, of course, be bought at rather extravagant prices. Depending on where you live this may be your only option but if you are lucky enough to have access to a public forest where you are allowed to remove one or two suitable branches this can be more economic. Various rocks and stones should also be collected and cleaned as described below. If you cannot source natural materials locally then a local aquarium specialist or reptile supplier will have dried and cleaned sections of wood in many interesting shapes which can be cleaned as below and used to furnish the enclosure. Recently there has been a significant rise in the availability of fake rocks and structures that you can purchase and place directly into the vivarium. These can look very realistic and are worth considering, since they are very lightweight compared to their natural counterparts. To clean items for use in a vivarium, use a stiff brush to remove all loose material, and in the case of wood strip it of its bark. Mix up a 5% bleach solution and thoroughly scrub the surface, making sure to get into all the nooks and crannies. Rinse well and allow to dry completely before use. When setting out, make sure branches cannot slip and that rocks and structures cannot topple over. Not all types of rock and wood will be suitable for your water dragons. Avoid any sappy woods such as evergreens (conifers etc) and rocks which appear porous. Any rocks which are especially smooth and shiny may contain high amounts of metal minerals so should also be avoided. Temperatures As with all lizards, Chinese Water Dragons are cold blooded, which means they take in the heat they require from the surroundings. They do this using a process known as thermoregulation, and they require a variety of temperatures within their enclosure to allow them to do this. By providing them with a warm area and a cool area, you can allow them to choose what temperature suits them best at any given time and promote good health and comfort. The temperatures should range from about 90-95F (32.2-35C) at the warm end where the beardie will bask to about 80-85F (26-29.4C) at the cool end. Night time temperatures should not be allowed to drop below 75F(23.8C). I believe water dragons, like bearded dragons, absorb heat from above, and are unable to detect heat from underneath. Therefore, all basking heat sources should be from above with the exception of a night time heat mat which will provide only a gentle background heat. With this being said, it is important that SOME heat is available from below to aid digestion, and a rock or branch should be placed under the heat source to allow the lizard to bask. In very large enclosures (such as those for adults) it will probably be necessary to include some form of ground heating to maintain the required temperatures unless you live in a warm climate. It is worth noting that a lot of lizards only sense a general heat, that is they only know an average heat over their whole body. They are unable to detect small areas of localised heat and are susceptible to burns. For this reason I strongly recommend avoiding hot rocks. They are unreliable and in some cases can cause serious burns to your new pet. There is a high instance of faults developing within them, resulting in hot spots in excess of 100F. Wire cages should be fitted around all incandescent bulbs and heat lamps to avoid the water dragons climbing on the fixtures. They are accomplished climbers and will surprise you what they can get onto, as they are able to jump considerable distances. At night a heat mat should be used on a thermostat to ensure temperatures do not creep too low. There are a few manufacturers of thermostats, and the heat mat manufacturer may recommend the one that works best with their product. To gauge the size of mat needed, aim to cover at the most about 25% of the floor of the vivarium. For glass tanks, the mat should be placed externally with a small amount of ventilation space underneath. This can be achieved using a small piece of cardboard or wood under each corner. Providing air movement reduces the risk of the glass overheating and cracking. If you have a wooden vivarium however the mat will have to be placed on the inside, preferably under the substrate. Care must be taken not to allow the dragons to come directly into contact with the mat, and I personally fix the thermal sensor for the thermostat directly to the surface of the mat to prevent it becoming too hot. To ensure adequate ventilation I use a large computer fan on top of one of the vents to provide air circulation, and blow some of the hot air back into the vivarium. This reduces waste heat and prevents the air inside the enclosure becoming stale. Hides Hides are not strictly necessary, as water dragons will conceal themselves in foliage or under branches to hide. A lot of the time they won't bother hiding at all. If you want to provide hides just in case they can be fashioned from anything, such as a broken plant pot or a small structure made from stones. There are also a number of artificial hides available which can look great. As long as there is room inside for a dragon and it is safe and clean the possibilities are endless! Why not make an elevated hide with something from them to climb for access? Lighting Lighting is very important to your water dragon. They require UVB wavelengths to ensure allow them to produce vitamin D3, which in turn allows them to break down calcium. Failure to provide a suitable UVB source will lead to metabolic bone disease which can be fatal if left untreated. A brightly lit vivarum will also encourage a lively and active water dragon. It is also imperative that the dragon be able to get to within 8" of the UVB source. Megaray and other combined heat/UVB sources should be used with care. They are only suitable for very large enclosures where they can be positioned the proper distance from the dragons. Using these bulbs in a smaller enclosure where there is insufficient distance will result in blindness, and possibly other medical conditions. They should be properly researched before being used in any enclosure. If in any doubt always contact the manufacturer for advice. Any vivarium with live plants will need at least two full length full spectrum tubes to provide enough light to allow the plants to thrive. Lights should be on for about 14 hours each day. Plants You can incorporate live plants into your setup to improve aesthetics, and create a more natural look. You can either use wide and shallow pots with a sandy compost mix, or use a sand/soil substrate and plant them directly into this. The following species of plants are well suited to Water Dragon enclosures: Dragon Plants (Dracaena) Cut-Leaf Philodendron (Monstera deliciosa) Staghorn Ferns (Platycerium) Pothos (Scindapsus aureus) Vivaria with live plants require suitable lighting. In order for your plants to thrive you will need to install at least two fluorescent strip lights, fitted with full spectrum tubes and running the full length of the tank. Plants will need watered one or two times a week. Maintenance Vivaria need regular cleaning and maintenance to ensure a long and healthy life for your dragons. There are a number of things that should be done routinely, either daily, weekly or monthly. Daily Scoop out any faecal matter lying around the enclosure Change the water in the water dish, clean thoroughly every 2 days Weekly Clean food dishes and hides in a 5% bleach solution Monthly Clean entire cage with a 5-10% bleach solution and rinse thoroughly Change the substrate yearly if soil is used, or change newspaper as it becomes soiled
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Contact us | References | Disclaimer |