# some unusual captives?



## contos (Jun 9, 2010)

i keep seeing people posting photos of their new beardie or water dragon but does anyone keep any "unusual" captives like chameleon dragons or ornate dragons?
pics would be mad


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## jamesbecker (Jun 9, 2010)

no one will post pics cause its illegal... so your not meant to keep exotics which is what your referring to, but people still do but wont publicly display it


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## Kenshin (Jun 9, 2010)

jamesbecker said:


> no one will post pics cause its illegal... so your not meant to keep exotics which is what your referring to, but people still do but wont publicly display it



ornate dragons and chameleon geckos are native mate ..... iv caught heaps of ornates always wanted chameleon gex but iv never even seen them for sale


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## redbellybite (Jun 9, 2010)

never mind james...I think you got a little confused when you read the word 'chameleon'


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## contos (Jun 9, 2010)

yeh both native mate
id love to keep an ornate dragon
best looking things ive seen in australia


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## Kenshin (Jun 9, 2010)

iv kept and bred tata dragons in the past think theyre latin name off the top of my head is longirostris lophognathas could be slightly wrong, these guys were fantastic little dragons i will look at getting more when i start getting back into lizards

also had ring tailed gecko's, scrub pythons a small eyed snake and goulds hooded snake, varanus tristis, varanus scalaris hrmmm also kept afew different birds of prey when i worked for a raptor rehabilitation place oh and a wife........


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## Kenshin (Jun 9, 2010)

lol i think the tata name is back to front


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## Kenshin (Jun 9, 2010)

oh and a one eyed stimpsons names popeye!


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## GeneticProject (Jun 9, 2010)

i have a painted dragon and penisula but there to quick for me to get a photo lol


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## Bushfire (Jun 9, 2010)

chameleon dragons are also native


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## contos (Jun 9, 2010)

tata dragons? i shall look into those
oh and bicycle lizards i think their called
anything from that genus are pretty darn awesome


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## jacorin (Jun 10, 2010)

i got 5 kids...they're pretty exotic and unusual......at mine are anyway hahahahahahaha


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## Scleropages (Jun 10, 2010)

chameleon dragons are quite awesome I would love to keep some , but apparently they are not on the books to buy and sell


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## naledge (Jun 10, 2010)

Crested Dragons and Peninsular Dragons are my favorites. I've seen photos of Rick Walker's ones, they're gorgeous. Haven't heard of anyone else with them though.


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## jinin (Jun 10, 2010)

I've got some painted dragons.


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## girdheinz (Jun 10, 2010)

Allegedly chameleon geckoes will be flooded into the market soon.


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## Scleropages (Jun 10, 2010)

Hes asking about chameleon dragons not chameleon geckos.


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## giglamesh (Jun 10, 2010)

those tata dragons are awesome when they run in the wild waving goodbye with there little feet


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## contos (Jun 10, 2010)

we have chameleon geckos as well? 
question, why arent painted dragons or ring tailed dragons reguarly for sale? are they hard to keep in captivity or am i just not looking hard enough?


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## Bushfire (Jun 10, 2010)

contos said:


> we have chameleon geckos as well?
> question, why arent painted dragons or ring tailed dragons reguarly for sale? are they hard to keep in captivity or am i just not looking hard enough?



You will find that those species and a number of other small dragons are very short lived species meaning that if a breeder misses a breeding season their breeding stocks may will be wiped out. There is only a very small number of breeders breeding ring tails so more than likely these breeders are keeping their young to replace aged specimens and build a more stable colony. In Painted dragons there are more breeders but still have to keep some young back because of the above reason.


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## jinin (Jun 10, 2010)

Painteds are quite short lived, however most live until 6. The major problem is that they are know to easily die, once they show signs of getting sick it wipes them out in a few days.


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## contos (Jun 10, 2010)

oh thats not coool
itd be great keeping a few


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## reptilerob (Jun 12, 2010)

I have often wondered the same thing!!! I keep seeing photos of these awesome snakes and lizards on here, and wondered why i never see them as pets. Especially the brown and green tree snakes!! I think people keep them, but i dont think its overly common.


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## Kenshin (Jun 12, 2010)

girdheinz said:


> Allegedly chameleon geckoes will be flooded into the market soon.


 
any idea on prices?


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## levis04 (Jun 12, 2010)

i have heard they will go for around 800 to 1k each gecko.


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## longirostris (Jun 13, 2010)

Dragons generally as a group are the hardest reptiles to keep successfully in captivity. Their husbandry requirements usually far exceed most other families of reptiles. 

Bushfire is pretty much right on the money regarding dragon keepers holding back youngsters. Most serious dragon keepers know that their animals can go from good health to death in the space of just a few days, sometimes less. It can be very frustrating when you try to understand what the trigger might be and you cannot seem to find it. 

No doubt it is one of the reasons why a lot of people give up working with them and move on to monitors, skinks and other reptiles. I guess the other problem with them is that there is no money to be made in breeding them. The reality is they cost bucket loads more to keep and breed then what you can sell the progeny for. 

I am always amused by the number of times I have heard or read people saying that such and such species is dead easy to keep or breed. My experience is that as a group, they are not easy to keep or breed with the notable exception of funnily enough the easy to get species such as bearded dragons and water dragons. Any dragon species that needs to be kept in an artificial environment in order for it to survive becomes a real challenge to keep and breed. The critical component in dragon husbandry is constant and diligent attention and monitoring. This will enable the keeper to spot irregularities and potential problems before they manifest into big problems. Even then there are no gaurantees.

I kept ornate dragons well over 25 years ago, before the advent of licensing laws in most states. They are wonderful dragons as indeed all dragons are. Chameleon dragons are kept in captivity currently, their original collection conditions precluded the sale of any progeny to private hobbyists and keepers. They can be seen at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, at the Territory Wildlife park at Berry Springs in the NT and until recently Crocosaurus Cove in Darwin had them on display. 

I wish more people would keep and work with dragon lizards, particularly the hard to get species. We need to make sure that species that are currently in private keepers hands are continuing to be bred successfully so that more and more can be released to genuine hobbyists that will ensure that these species do not die out in captivity.

I think most people would be surprised to know that of the 70 odd species of dragon lizards recognised in Australia today at least half of those species are held in private collections and probably another 4 or 5 that I can think of that are held in public institutions such as zoos, parks etc.

As I say we just need to get a bit more interest in dragons happening and more importantly a willingness to stick with them when they start dropping off the perch. Believe me it can take real commitment and dedication to keep going sometimes.


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## mjb.2010 (Jun 13, 2010)

naledge said:


> Crested Dragons and Peninsular Dragons are my favorites. I've seen photos of Rick Walker's ones, they're gorgeous. Haven't heard of anyone else with them though.


 
branca from this site has two of them, dixilizards has some. lots of people have them


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## Wally (Jun 13, 2010)

I agree wholeheartedly longirostris. I see threads like Moloch05 and remember why I started keeping Dragons. They never cease to fascinate me.


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## -Matt- (Jun 13, 2010)

reptilerob said:


> I have often wondered the same thing!!! I keep seeing photos of these awesome snakes and lizards on here, and wondered why i never see them as pets. Especially the brown and green tree snakes!! I think people keep them, but i dont think its overly common.


 
They are not all that uncommon, just not overly easy to breed.


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## branca (Jun 14, 2010)

ive got two peninsula dragons breeding pair. just have a look on my profile in my pics.


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