# Outdoor water dragon enclosure?



## Trouta (May 14, 2016)

Hi guys n gals

i live in south Australia and looking at setting up a nice enclosure for a water dragon 

just looking for info, re, SA weather to cold for a dragon to live outside permanently?

apart from a nice pond to swim in is there anything else I might need, maybe a shelter?

looking for info, but first off more concerned about our weather first and would that be suitable for a water dragon?

cheers people


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## Sheldoncooper (May 14, 2016)

All good to keep them outside there.


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## pinefamily (May 14, 2016)

A lot of people keep outside in Adelaide, usually in aviary type setups. You just need to make sure they are old enough to go outside, and provide them with some heated area if possible during winter.


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## princessparrot (May 14, 2016)

pinefamily said:


> A lot of people keep outside in Adelaide, usually in aviary type setups. You just need to make sure they are old enough to go outside, and provide them with some heated area if possible during winter.


How old/big is old enough?


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## pinefamily (May 14, 2016)

Personally, I wouldn't want to be putting juveniles outsde, if only because I'd never find the little buggers, lol. At least a year to a year and a half, a decent size and eating well.

If I remember, you were talking about housing one outside a while back, weren't you, PP?


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## princessparrot (May 15, 2016)

pinefamily said:


> Personally, I wouldn't want to be putting juveniles outsde, if only because I'd never find the little buggers, lol. At least a year to a year and a half, a decent size and eating well.
> 
> If I remember, you were talking about housing one outside a while back, weren't you, PP?


I'm not sure if I said anything about a water dragon but I was asking about housing my shinglebacks outside which I didn't end up doing but I had been wanting/planning to get some water dragons for awhile and ended getting three babies in April last year and they're about 50cm long including their tail. 
i am planning on moving my blue tongue out with them when I finally set it up


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## Leroybrown (May 15, 2016)

You shouldn't have any issues with the weather as long as you give them some hides,I have 2 ewd's that have been housed outside in Geelong ,vic since they were 12mths old and it gets bloody cold here in winter! I do have photos that I will post up soon.


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## Bluetongue1 (May 16, 2016)

If you to ensure your dragons are really cold hardy, then get Gippsland Water Dragons. They are common as around Canberra and Tumut and those places get really cold in winter. They like an elevated perch (rock or solid branch) in full sun, and preferably above or next to water, on which to bask. Supply at least one for each animal. They should be given a reasonable size body of water in which they can fully submerge. An old bath tub (from the tip recycling or salvage yard) is excellent as the depth helps keep the water cool – they use it to thermoregulate in summer. If placed at ground level, the plug can be removed for periodic flushing and cleaning. You can add a bit of piping to direct the waste water where you want it. The sides of the tub can be covered up with rocks and soil or logs and branches, to allow the lizards access. Because bath tubs have a smooth surface, the lizards will something they can climb up to get out of the water – preferably at each end.  Adding some potted emergent reeds or rushes to the bath tub will help maintain water quality and providing hiding places for dragons while in the water. Freshwater shrimp, crayfish or tadpoles will help breakdown the food wastes deposited in the water. To avoid mozzies breeding, you can add a cold hardy native fish or two (e.g. Murray Rainbow, Southern Pygmy Perch) or an exotic such a Goldfish or some White Cloud Mountain Minnows.  Water dragons require a non-wet retreat. A sheltered area with hollow logs, artificial burrows made using agricultural (terracotta) drainage pipes or low black plastic hide boxes with cut-out entry. For brumation hides should be protected from rain and elevated (to prevent water entry) covered with a thick layer of soil, hay or whatever to insulate them from temperature extremes.


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## GBWhite (May 16, 2016)

EWD will do fine in an outside enclosure in Adelaide. I kept them in an above ground pit without any artificial heating along with BTS, SB's and EBD's in Inverell in the New England Ranges, where outdoor winter temps get down to around -11deg over night and rarely raise above 8 or 10 deg during the day, for years and they lived, bred & thrived without any ill effects.

I had sheets of colorbond covering a thick layer of mulch for all the lizards but the water dragons (both juveniles and adults alike) preferred to burrow below ground level and occasionally find refuge under the colorbond. They would basically disappear during the colder months (from about mid May) and resurface at the start of spring.

These guys will eat just about anything and I think you'll find that if you stock the pond with shrimp, crayfish, tadpoles or fish as suggested above they'll just end up as meals for the water dragons. You can add potted reeds or rushes if you wish but I have always found them more of a hinderance than of any value. It's easier just to drain and clean the pond on a regular basis. Provided the lizards have plenty of places to hide, ground cover for shade and areas to bask within the enclosure they will be fine.

Cheers,

George.


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## BredliFreak (May 16, 2016)

Hey George how would you manage to keep Shingles outside in New England, would the conditions be suitable with the humidity and all that?


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## GBWhite (May 16, 2016)

Hi Bredli,

Humidity wasn't an issue. I gave mine away to a friend who lives in Gilgai which is about 10klms east of Inverell before I moved back to the coast and he rang me the other day to tell me that they bred for him this year.

All the best,

George.


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