The Chinese Water Dragon

Physignathus cocincinus

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The Chinese Water Dragons, or Green Water Dragons, are well known and appreciated for their appealing personalities. Chinese Water Dragons are by far a hardy and magnificent creature.

These Dragons develop calm, amiable personalities with handling and will grow to be very rewarding pets with proper treatment. With patience and kind and gentle treatment the Chinese Water Dragon will usually become very easy to handle. The average Chinese Water Dragon can live up to fifteen years.

In the wild, Chinese Water Dragons live in the tropical, wet forests of Thailand, Southern China, Cambodia, and Vietnam, loving especially areas near a water source. Unfortunately, because they are so valued as pets, they are stolen from the wild. To prevent their extinction, keep only captive bred animals as pets. Captive-bred Water Dragons generally have more calm and docile personalities than wild-caught animals.

Should you care to have more than one, a male and female or several females will get along nicely. Please be sure not to put two male Water Dragons in an enclosure, as they will fight.

Water Dragons should be misted every day because they need the humidity to be above 80% all the time. Chinese Water Dragons need a large enclosure; four feet by two feet by two feet should provide the proper space needed to house one adult, though the larger the enclosure the better. Multiple dragons will require more space. Provide them with a water bath for drinking and bathing and a basking spot of about 85 to 90 degrees. Water should be cleaned daily, as they tend to defecate in their water. The rest of the enclosure should remain about 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. At night the temperature should be in the lower seventies. Provide full-spectrum UV light or sunlight for 12 to 14 hours a day. They also seem to like a good misting every few days. Chinese Water Dragons also need plants and branches to climb on. Water Dragons can jump, so it is important to make sure their enclosure is covered with a ventilated screen to prevent escapes.

Most Water Dragons love to swim and sit in the water so be sure that you have a large enough water bowl for your lizard. It should be cleaned at least every other day. Your lizard will probably use the water bowl as its bathroom. Be sure to handle your Water Dragon for only a few minutes each day until it has become used to you.

Hatchlings and Juveniles:
2-3 week old crickets, which have been previously gut-loaded (e.g., not right from pet store!) Also offer finely chopped vegetables and fruits. As the dragons grow, offer only slightly bigger crickets, and add in some mealworms and baby ('pink') mice, and occasionally a wax worm for a treat. Smaller food items are more nutritious and more efficiently digested than fewer bigger items. Feed every 2 days - or oftener if they look hungry.

Adults:
Small mice, 4-week-old crickets, kingworms (Zoophoba) as well as plant matter. Feed every 2-3 days - or oftener if they look hungry. Also feed plant matter, such as greens and fruits. A hatchling or juvenile should be fed every day; an adult gets fed about every 2 to 3 days. There are many things that you can offer your Water Dragon but there are also things that you shouldn't offer. Here are things that you should and shouldn't feed:

Things you should; Crickets, Wax worms, Earthworms, Pinkies (baby hairless mice), Small feeder fish (such as goldfish), Lettuce (not iceberg – has no nutritional value), Carrots, Kale (allot of the dark leaved foods)