# injured wild eastern water dragon



## chris peiro (Dec 12, 2019)

so as the title suggests ,I have a large male eastern water dragon with permanent injuries.

he was a resident in the back yard before we moved in . I found him perched on a log in a very poor state . so I looked him over and found not only was he very thin ,but the crown about his right eye has been crushed causing blindness in that eye and his jaw is broken. 

so I cleaned the area up with water and peroxide and made an enclosure for him. it looks like its an old wound but he is slowly starving to death ,due to been blind in one eye and his jaws doesn't close all the way ,so he has trouble grabbing his food he is currently feeding and I hope to fatten him up over the next few weeks, with live meal worms and I hope to get him onto fruits, veg and meats soon. 

but the real problem is he wont survive in the wild. so he will have to be permanently homed and cared for. 

so living in qld ,on the sunshine coast I am looking for any info on how to find a carer and what the legal avenues are in this situation.

regards chris


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## nuttylizardguy (Dec 13, 2019)

I suggest you take it to the local reptile vet ( explain he's wild and you want to help him , very likely the vet will assist free of charge and supervise you while you are helping the dragon heal , recover and rehabilitate < I am told they are obligated morally and will simply charge national parks or ware the costs > . It likely needs some antibiotics and a good look over to check for other hidden injuries.
Since it's got a broken jaw and is blind in one eye , it's got zero chance of surviving if left to it's own devices , so make a pet of it. Leaving it to it's own devices is a death sentence.

Just don't bother notifying your state's regulator, so this one will be off the books. You don't need to involve RSPCA or WIRES , both are useless when it comes to injured reptiles. Nor do you need to be a member of WIRES to rescue & help an injured / sick reptile.


I've had a rescue who also had similar injuries who I helped recover and rehabilitate who became a wonderful uber tame pet for the rest of it's life , was hard work handfeeding it sloppy foods as pastes and giving it liquid vitamins and liquid calcium but worth it.
My vet was very helpful , I told him upfront I'd like to try to save it and rehabilitate it in the hope it might be released , but if it'll never be fit to be released I was fully prepared to keep it as part of my pet lizard collection , he gave me great guidance on how to feed it .

I'm not the only here who has done this , one chap had a rescued wild frilled neck dragon that had it's entire lower jaw ripped off in a dog attack , he was very successful too and probably still has this dragon as a pampered pet.

I know the puritanical types here will jump up and down and have a hissy fit , but I don't give a toss what they think .
[doublepost=1576233490,1576231702][/doublepost]Feeding it.

Since it's got a broken jaw, it wont be able to chew hard foods. So the key to success is soft foods , he might manage large white black soldier fly lavae , blow fly gents , silkworms , Repashi GrubPie , Repashi VeggieBurger , some HerpaBoost given by syringe will help build him back up ( you'll need syringe with needle bore about 2mm to 3mm - very thick and viscous slurry wont flow otherwise ), Oxbow Critical Care Carnivore ( another paste ).

You might have to resort to "crop feeding" using this kind of feeding needle






The 8 Gauge needle is good for drawing the Herpaboost from the bottle into the needle , the 14 Gauge needle is very good for giving sups like CalciVet and oral meds.
Very good way to avoid getting munched on my a scared wild dragon when feeding , orally medicating it. The needles are made of stainless steel so are indestructible ( wont be damaged by the lizard ) and they are long enough to keep fingers out of harms way.

Needle guide






Feeding procedure





You might not need to go to this extreme , I found this kind of kit worked for me




to get HerpaBoost , VetaFarm Reptile Critta Care and viscous liquid meds into the mouths of lizards, got to get the mouth enough to get the nozzle into the mouth , a two person job unless the lizard is prepared to lick the paste off it's nose and lips , works well.

Best of luck , don't forget to post some pictures of the dragon and to keep us updated on how things go. Is very rewarding helping a sick and injured wild animal recover and recouperate , even if very time consuming especially if you are giving it intensive care.


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## chris peiro (Dec 14, 2019)

thanks for the feed back. I would like to keep him , but with my line of work I can be away for up to a year with work. he is feeding well on giant meal worms and I will get him to eat other foods soon. I will look at finding him a permanent carer. I will look into the local vets as you suggest .

kind regards chris 

p.s . not a big fan of the puritanical types either....


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## nuttylizardguy (Dec 14, 2019)

If he's able to handle superworms , his jaw much not be as bad as the rescue I had, who was never able to handle anything as hard a mealworm lava ( even a soft white one ) .

Local wild life / reptile park might take him on if you need to leave for a stint away from home.

Too bad you are Qld, if you were nearby I'd be offering to rehome him if rehoming became necessary.


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