Behaviour, Taming and
Handling
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There are very few books in print that have information about water dragons and their care, and of those books or articles, very little is said about the behaviour and personality of these beautiful lizards. This page is an attempt to correct the lack of information that is available to new, and experienced owners alike. Hopefully I will be able to provide some interesting information to those of you reading this page. :)
Water Dragons are quite docile and can be handled without stressing. They have wonderful personalities, and can be quite entertaining and interactive. I love to watch mine roam about their vivariums - climbing from branches to shelves, or diving into the water for a quick swim; or exploring the living room during their time out. Sometimes they chase each other and this is quite amusing at times, worrisome at other times.
They occasionally express aggressive behaviour toward each other in the form of arm waving, puffing up of the throat, head bobbing and sometimes the chasing is aggressive. Both males and females will perform arm waving, head bobbing, throat puffing, tail flicking and chasing.
My dragons have rarely expressed aggressive behaviour towards my husband or myself. Night and my two younger dragons will occasionally puff their throats at us but have never carried forward and bit us. Rogue bit me once when I'd had her about two weeks. I was holding her and examining her belly (she had some odd spots on her skin that I was medicating- probably a fungal infection) and I think she just had had enough and wanted down to explore. I didn't notice her puffing up at me she just struck out and bit my thumb. It didn't hurt at all, just startled me. I think it was just a warning bite as they do have sharp teeth and strong jaws, she could have broken the skin if she had bite harder. She has never tried to bite me again.
I receive many letters asking if water dragons bite, and while I must admit that on occasion they will snap at their owner, in my own experiences it has usually only happened when the dragon was ill and undergoing treatment of one kind or another. Wouldn't you feel like biting someone if they were hurting you? A bite from a water dragon is far more likely to cause a bruise- if anything at all- rather than break the skin. I must also state, that in the almost 4 years that I have been talking with dragon owners (literally 1000's of dragon owners!) I have only heard of a few dragons that have either bitten or acted aggressively towards their owners.
Night is my tail whipper. When I pick her up, and she really doesn't want to be held, she will whip her tail and I swear that she aims! She usually hits me in the throat or the eyes! Her whipping tail stings, luckily she is only 24 inches in length . :) She doesn't whip her tail all of the time, only when she knows I'm going to put her in the vivarium or do something with her that she doesn't like. :)
My two males, Cupid and a recent adoptee (might be only temporary. :( ), are also tail whippers on occasion ... but what I really wanted to tell you about them is that males are fiestier. When you pick up a male and he doesn't want you to hold him he'll start whipping his tail, wiggling his whole body, and doing alligator rolls- but I call them dragon rolls of course! Literally rolling in your hands, and if you aren't prepared to handle a living tornado, well, he's going to worm his way out of your hands and likely fall to the ground! Females will do this too, but I find that males do this much more frequently. Males also seem to have much stronger back legs and much sharper nails- so when they happen to struggle and do dragon rolls in your hands you tend to end up covered in scratches. Owwwwwww!
When a dragon knows you, and you are handling it properly it likely won't struggle at all when you pick it up, but frightened or stressed dragons tend to struggle much more and you should be prepared for this. If you are prepared their struggles are generally ineffective. I've mentioned tail whipping, but as a lizard ... water dragons are not really very effective tail whippers, not when compared to master tail whippers such as iguanas!
I think water dragons are fairly intelligent (for lizards)- Night is definitely the smartest, if she sees another dragon do something that she hasn't done before, she tries it and the next thing you know she's doing it all the time. Just like kids they are! :)
Night also exhibits a behaviour that I can only think of as playing. Sometimes when she is out she will run up to the couch, climb up, jump from the couch onto a counter between the living room and the kitchen, onto a table (don't worry, it's not the kitchen table- it's my computer desk!), jump down from the table onto the kitchen floor, run around into the hallway and back into the living room only to do it all again. I call this the dragon circuit. :) She will do this repeatedly for at least one hour or longer. If we happen to be on the couch she will also jump on us and sit on us for a short while before jumping to the counter and continuing her circuit.
Night also loves plastic! If we leave a plastic bag on the floor, or if we empty a plastic covered box of pop Night can always be found jumping back and forth on the plastic- I think she must like the sound of it. She also does this with newspapers!
Now what do you think? Is she playing or not? None of my other 4 dragons do anything like this.
Speaking with limited experience, as I have had an iguana now for 3 years, and 6 months- There is no comparing iguana's to water dragons. Iguana's can get very aggressive during breeding season and they like to be the dominant member of the household. :) A lot of training and taming must be done for an iguana. I'm not saying that iguana's don't make a wonderful addition to any household, just that they require quite a bit of constant work to have a nice tame one. :) I worked with my iguana two hours a day to tame him, and he is extremely tame and handlable, on the other hand, the dragons needed much less daily handling for them to become calm. Water dragon personalities don't seem to change much during breeding season, at least not toward the owner, perhaps to the poor female dragon that is being relentlessly pursued by the male.
A short period of training and taming may be in order when you get your dragon. Dragons are often wild caught, and are usually skittish and stressed when they are first brought home, and may run into the glass in an effort to get away from the huge human that they think is going to eat them. :)
Even once they are used to their home and caregiver they may continue to bang into their glass simply because they do not understand that glass is a barrier- perhaps they think it is hard air that they can somehow find a way through? Please read my Enclosure page for more information about water dragons and glass tanks and how to keep them from damaging their snouts while housed in glass tanks.
When you first bring your dragon home, the best thing to do is to set up the tank or Large enclosure in a quite area. Give the dragon a few days to adjust before stressing it out by trying to handle it right away, and then, after it is less skittish at the sight of you, you may gradually begin to hold it for short periods of time during the day. Perhaps as little as 15 minutes once or twice a day for the first couple of weeks, gradually increasing the amount of time spent handling the dragon each day as it begins to trust you.
If your dragon is particularly skittish it might be best to just pet it, or handle it in it's enclosure at first. When you first attempt this please try to remember to put your hand in to the side of the tank or enclosure, away from the dragon, and then slowly move your hand at eye level with the dragon closer to him. If you just swoop your hand in from above and attempt to pick up the dragon the dragon is likely to stress and either run away or struggle when being held. This is likely because one of the dragons predators in the wild are birds, and birds swoop down from above ... so if you do the same type of action with your hand, the dragon is likely to think it's about to be attacked. So slip your hand into the cage away from the dragon and slowly bring it closer to the dragon. Then pet the dragon gently or carefully scoop the dragon onto your hand and pet it while it's still in it's enclosure or territory. Make contact with your dragon in this manner for a while, until it seems relaxed or less stressed with you doing this, before you attempt to take it out of the cage and handle it in a room as described above.
Eventually, as the dragon begins to realize that you are not going to eat it and realizes that you are actually the source of its food etc., then you can start to bring it out into a small room (den or washroom) that is well heated and escape proof and let it roam around while you are in the room with it. This will eventually build up trust and bonding. At first the dragon may hide under furniture but if you just gently get him out from under the furniture and put him back in the centre of the room (not the tank right away) he or she will eventually realize that it is safe to roam and that hiding and finding does not mean going back to the cage immediately.
It may take a month or longer to build up this trust with your dragon but if you do it everyday and always treat the dragon well then it should calm down quite nicely. I believe most herps need this period of adjustment, and, if they are handlable herps, period of gradual handling.
**Note that in the first couple of weeks that you have your dragon home with you he or she may not eat much, may not eat for up to a week in fact, and may be quite skittish when you approach the enclosure. Talk softly to your new dragon and do not rush into handling the dragon daily if he or she is not eating. Moving into a new environment is very stressful and the dragon should be allowed a period of time to adjust. Keep in mind that your new dragon could be ill, very stressed or improperly set up. Please read my Problems with water dragons FAQ. This FAQ will inform you of common problems that occur with water dragons - especially in the first few weeks in a new home, and offers suggestions on how to solve these problems. **
As long as the dragon is active in the cage as opposed to lethargic, and appears to be using it's water area all should be well. If the new dragon is lethargic, doesn't eat, doesn't bath or drink then he or she may be ill and should be taken to a qualified reptile vet right away. I always recommend a visit to the vet when someone purchases a new dragon anyway.
Reptiles are very good at hiding illness and usually do not act ill until they are almost too sick to help. If your dragon shows any signs of illness do not hesitate to take it to a qualified reptile vet- you may not have much time to help your dragon!
Some water dragons like being held more than others. Most do not enjoy the two hand hold, they much prefer to rest on your hand, arm, shoulder, head, lap.... whatever, just so long as it's not being restrained by two hands! My dragons will sit with me on occasion for an hour or so, but mine seem friskier than most of the other dragon owner's. Most of the time mine will only last about ten minutes before jumping down to go explore! :) Several dragon owners have mentioned that their dragons sit on there shoulders etc. for hours at a time, and are quite docile and handlable. My younger dragons and Rogue will climb up on my arm when it is offered, Night must be picked up most of the time- hence the tail whipping.
Talk to your dragon softly before attempting to pick him up- this is very important in the beginning. Gently place one hand over his body, placing one index finger over the shoulder, and have your thumb wrap around the underside of the opposite arm- this is hard to put into words so I hope you understand my meaning. By placing your index finger and thumb in such a manner you will effectively be able to restrain your dragon if he struggles as you will be blocking both of his arms with your fingers. Place your other hand under the dragons belly to give him a sense of support and slowly lift the dragon out of the enclosure or from where ever he happens to be at the time. If the dragon struggles restrain him gently- do not squeeze him in order to stop the struggling as you will likely injure him. By holding your dragon in this manner you will be giving him support when being lifted, and if the dragon does decide to struggle you already have one hand ready to restrain his upper body and the the hand supporting his underside can be used to gently restrain his lower body.
Once you have picked up your dragon and he or she appears calm you can remove the hand that is holding his upper body. The dragon will still be resting on your other hand or arm by this time and if the dragon is calm he will likely stay there for you or climb up to a more desirable perch such as your shoulder.
Never pick your dragon, or any other lizard, up by the tail. :( Most lizards have tails that will simply break off when frightened or threatened by a predator, and picking up a struggling lizard by the tail is one sure way to have it either drop it's tail or to have the tail break off. :( Note- dragons tails do not drop off easily. When their tails do break off it is usually the result of being caught in something and struggling (crook of a branch?).
I don't even want to mention this here because I can see a lot of you going over and picking up your dragon and trying it just to see if it's true....... Do not hold your dragon upside down or turn it over so that it is on it's back! Many people have written to me and told me about the cute thing their dragon would do when they turned it over on it's back or held it upside down- it would go to sleep.
I hate to tell you folks but your dragon is not going to sleep. It's having difficulty breathing and could suffocate if kept in that position for a period of time. :( Lizards do not have diaphragms to help them breath. Their ribs moving in and out actually cause their lungs to inflate and deflate. When a dragon is held upside down or on their back their stomach pushes on their lungs making it difficult for them to breath and will eventually result in suffocation. Please do not do this to your dragon.
Dragon proofing a room is quite easy to do.
It is preferable that the room have a door that can be closed to keep other pets and people out of the room, and to prevent the animal from escaping into other areas of the house. If the door has a gape under it that might be large enough for your dragon to slip through please place a towel or blanket at the foot of the door.
If the room contains heavy furniture that may be difficult to move should the dragon crawl under it- or if the furniture is so heavy that it might injure the dragon when you move it to retrieve him or her, please block off access to that piece of furniture as well by placing a towel at the foot of it. If you happen to have any holes or cracks in the walls, radiators or water heaters that can possibly be climbed into- please block off access to those areas as well. It might be a wise idea to place tape over the openings of power outlets and cords with unused sockets.
Take a good look around the room and try to think of where your dragon might hide if it got loose or were to run away from you. Is that area a place that you can easily rescue your dragon from? Look both high and low as frightened dragons will take off fast and may seek out a low refuge under some furniture, usually where it is dark and cool for some reason, or it may climb a curtain or something and try to go to the highest area in the room.
Make sure their are no toxic plants, or objects that could easily fall over and hurt your dragon if he or she were to run into them. Likewise make sure that you don't have valuable irreplaceable items in an area that a dragon may knock them over and damage them.
If you plan to take your dragon out and let it roam around one room on a regular basis you might think about purchasing a tree for your dragon to climb on. I have two hibiscus trees in my living room that my dragons just love to climb after spending some time exploring the room.
If your dragon is going to be out for several hours at a time then you must make sure that the room temperature is more than adequate. If you need to, please purchase a portable room heater (electric or oil) and use it to heat the room to at least 80F while the dragon(s) is out and about.
My dragons are basically out when ever we are home. So I have placed two heating pads, set on low, in different areas of the room for them to use to heat themselves. I also heat the room using a portable electric heater.
In addition, you might think of placing some basking lights and one or two UVB fluorescent tube lights in the areas that the dragons like to be in most often. Remember- if you are letting them out for several hours they are not getting the UVB lighting that they would be getting inside their home, and they really need this, so please think about setting up some special lighting for them.
No. Water dragons are diurnal, meaning that they are only active during the day. My dragons are generally up between the hours of 8:00 am and 8:00 pm (I have their lights on a timer to go on and off at those times) When it is dark they sleep- well sometimes there is rustling around when the lights first go off as they find a suitable place to sleep but within 15 minutes max. of lights out they are sound asleep, and don't wake until either light begins to creep into the room or until their lights go on in the morning.
There is very little literature regarding their life-style in natural settings. However quite a few of the people who own water dragons have two or more, and house them together. Gathering from my own experience and from what others have reported I believe they are social animals.
My dragons are allowed free roam of the apartment when we are home and often wherever Night goes Rogue is sure to follow, and like wise. They are often found sleeping together, or nestled head to tail on the same branch. In most case I don't know if this is true socialization or if it is just competition for territory- i.e. who gets to be the highest on this branch today?
Several people have been quite successful keeping one male and one to four females together in large enclosures. The enclosure would have to be very large if it were to be inhabited by two males and some females, as males tend to not get along and will fight viciously.
Water dragons seem to develop a hierarchy, that is, there is often an alpha male, and an alpha female, the other dragons are all subordinates whether they are male or female.
Superiority is achieved by arm waving, head bobbing, and chasing in each sex. The alpha dragon will often wave one arm, then bob it's head, and if the subordinate dragon has not appeased the alpha dragon by either running away, or lying down, head and body touching the ground in a submissive position, then the alpha dragon will often charge the subordinate and culminate the attack by resting it's head on the subordinate or beta dragons back. If there is only a male and female dragon in the enclosure the male is often alpha and the female is beta, but there are cases where the hierarchy has been reversed. If two females are kept, one would be the alpha and the other would be the subordinate beta dragon. There is always a boss!
Sometimes water dragons will bob and wave at their human keepers, and they will also puff up their throats, and stand so that their body is off the ground in a defensive posture. For the most part this is just for show, I have never heard of anyone having a serious problem with an aggressive dragon. :) However, if you do think your dragon is becoming aggressive towards you, you may bob and arm wave right back at it to show it that you are in fact the alpha creature! :) I know this sounds strange, and it does look funny, but I have heard of people doing it with their Iguana's and they have reported that it works quite well. :)
As well as the arm waving, bobbing and chasing I have observed aggressive licking! :) My female Rogue got her name, which means mischievous and scoundrel, because of this behaviour. Night had very bad snout damage and was sickly when I first got her- so Rogue was the boss! She would run up to Night and head butt her and then give her a quick lick with her tongue. She would move away, or assume a submissive pose and Rogue would charge her again and do the head butt and lick once more. This went on for a few weeks until Night recovered from her infection. Then she started waving, bobbing, chasing and licking her back for the first time.
It has been mentioned to me that this licking behaviour may actually be part of the mating behaviour, but at this point I'm not sure, after three years of observation I don't think it is- I think it's aggression. . It is known that licking in this manner is considered aggressive behaviour whatever the cause. (It is quite amusing to watch this behaviour)
One correspondent has told me that her females will occasionally chase each other and tumble around together. I would assume that her females are fighting over territory, or the beta is fighting the alpha in order to achieve superiority.
In general Rogue and Night do not fight- they will head bob, head butt each other, arm wave and lick each other but they do not "officially fight".
On the other hand when my two younger female dragons Puff and Forrest were juveniles, and were put in the large vivarium together, or got too close to each others territory on the couch or tree, they would puff up their throats, open their mouths, hiss, and run at each other. While they were doing this they would circle each other, head butting one an other with their open mouths (note they did not bite each other- they just threatened to). I have observed Puff and Forrest also tucking one of their back legs under their bodies while they fought. The fight would generally end when one of the dragons ran away from the other. Other people that I have spoken with have also observed similar behaviour.
I don't know if my youngest dragons were fighting over territory, or fighting to become the alpha dragon, or perhaps they were fighting because they are the same sex? What I do know is that they never fought like this when they were in their own enclosure or when they were in familiar territory. When the younger dragons did fight or compete in this manner it is was aggressive and almost scary to watch- I had to stop myself many times from breaking up their fights. I would break up their fights if one dragon appeared to be getting hurt, but if no one is getting hurt I feel it is best to let them work out what ever they are fighting over. :)
Puff and Forrest stopped this ritualized fighting behaviour for a long time. Unfortunately Forrest had a bad fall and broke two vertebrae in her tail (June 97) and the broken vertebrae must have pinched a nerve. Her tail was painful to the touch, and because of the pinched nerve she had partial paralysis of her intestinal tract. We had to help her defecate by gently palpating and applying pressure to her lower belly each day. :( I think because of the pain from her injury she became grouchy and mean tempered. When she was first injured she lived in the same vivarium as the other females and Cupid. Unfortunately she started really fighting with them and biting them. :( She damaged Puffs jaw with one of her bites. We moved her to a large tank enclosure and she lived on her own for about a year. Forrest died Dec. 18th, 1998. She had a lot of health problems as a result of her injury and was under medical care but we are greatly saddened by her loss. :( Forrest showed us the aggressive side of the water dragon. She was aggressive and had a tendency towards fighting with her sister Puff from the time they were quite young. So we learned a lot from her. She was generally a sweet lizard though. :(
All of the above behaviours lead me to believe that water dragons are in fact social animals with a well developed hierarchical system. It appears that ritualized mating, breeding, fighting/ aggressive behaviour have developed as well.
Green Water Dragons,
Sailfin Lizards and Basilisks (General Care and Maintenance of Series) by
Philippe De Vosjoli
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Basic but detailed information about the care, diet, and health of green water dragons, sailfin lizards and basilisks.
Anoles, Basilisks and
Water Dragons : A Complete Pet Care Manual (More Complete Pet Owner's Manuals)
by Richard D. Bartlett, Patricia P. Bartlett (Contributor)
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Discussion of the general care of many species of anole, basilisks and water dragons. Excellent information regarding enclosures, cage building, and insect care and breeding.
Eat This Bug : A Guide to Invertebrate Live Foods for Reptiles and Amphibians
by Lynn Davis
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This book is a guide for owners of reptiles and amphibians who feed insects and other live foods to their pets. Advice is offered for selecting , ordering and raising your own supply of live invertebrate foods. More than a dozen species of live foods are discussed. The book includes instructions on keeping cultures of insects, and recipes & diets for insects.
Feeding Insect Eating
Lizards by Zoffer, David Zoffer
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The proper feeding of lizards is important to their survival in captivity. Diet is one aspect of lizard keeping that many new lizard owners know little about, and their pets suffer as a result. This book provides lizard owners with plenty of information on the diets of insect-eating lizards, including the right feeding techniques for making sure that their pets get the right nutrients.
The Guide to Plants for
the Reptile Terrarium by Jerry G. Walls, Maleta M. Walls
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If you are thinking of adding plants to your reptile or amphibians terrarium this book might be of interest to you!
Terrarium and
Cage Construction and Care by Richard D. Bartlett, Patricia Bartlett, Fredric
L. Frye
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Reptile and amphibian owners add a new dimension to their hobby when they design and build terraria that simulate the natural habitats of their companion animals. This book gives directions for a variety of terrarium options. You can build enclosures in spare rooms, glass tanks, greenhouses, outdoor pools, or virtually any other available space. With this book's help, you can also transform your terrarium into a scaled-down replica of desert, rain forest, semiaquatic, or woodland environment.
The Terrarium: With
Full-Color Photographs (Complete Pet Owner's Manual) by Harald Jes, Johann
Brandstetter
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Here are detailed instructions for constructing both indoor and outdoor terrariums in different sizes to fit different needs. Books in the Complete Pet Owner's Manuals series present basic information for new or soon-to-be owners. Advice and instruction covers feeding, housing, health care, training, grooming, and much more. Texts emphasize pet care basics and are easy for all readers to understand. All books in this series are filled with high quality full-color photos and instructive line drawings.
Reptile & Amphibian Parasites by Eric M. Rundquist
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Loaded with good information and practical, sensible, easy-to-apply advice. Great for beginners, but even the pros can learn a lot from them.
Understanding Reptile Parasites : A Basic Manual for Herpetoculturists &
Veterinarians by Roger Klingenberg
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An important manual for the reptile breeder. This manual takes the reptile owner beyond the simple task of care into the subject of why to prevent and how to treat parasites in our reptiles. The manual explains in simple terms the complexities of reptile parasites. It goes into the how-to of fecal floats, parasite identification and treatments. It takes the mystery out of the vet's back room. One of the shortest yet most useful chapters is "Hygiene and the Herpetoculturist". An important read for all reptile keepers and breeders.
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Care from A to Z by Richard D. Bartlett, Patricia P. Bartlett (Contributor)
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Which lizard might be right for you? Find out with this overview by the Bartletts, two of herpetology's most respected figures. This is a great book for beginner-intermediate lizard keepers; illustrations and diagrams on how to actually set up the terrarium for the lizards.
Loco for Lizards by Jim
Cherry, James Cherry
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This is a real find. Even if they have zero interest in reptiles, anyone who has curiosity and a sense of humor would enjoy this little book. The writing style is a combination of Dennis Miller's sarcasm, Bill Nye the Science Guy's mix of facts and fun, Monty Python's surrealism, and a pinch of David Sedaris's self-deprecation. A great airplane or lazy day read. Makes a great stocking stuffer gift for the readers on my list. Most amazing is this book's artful blend of solid information, interestingly presented and wacky fun. Great colorful graphics, too, including paintings by Hieronymous Bosch, Ed Mell, Maynard Dixon and others. Godzilla makes a couple appearances, as well.
Lizard Social Behavior by Stanley F. Fox
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This is an original, substantial, and long-needed contribution. The introduction places the subject in context and shows how lizards can provide unique information not readily available through study of other organisms. The book is logically organized, beginning with a focus on individual variation, moving to comparisons between populations, and finishing with species comparisons. Readers with a general interest in social behavior will be drawn to peruse other sections where they will find an abundance of additional interesting and informative material.
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