new water dragon,

[Riley]

hey guys,

I recently bought an eastern water dragon, (he's about 4cm not including his tail). He occasionally eats small crickets but very rarely, (once a week?) and he can't eat mealworms beacuse their shell is too hard for him. I was told to give him white mealworms except these are very hard to find in the petshop.

Any Ideas what I can feed him?

cheers.
Riley

 

[bluereptile]

small woodies?

 

[Riley]

ah, didnt think of that. ill try them, thanks.

 

[bluereptile]

or maybe finely chopped veges/ fruit. and how long have you had your ewd

 

[Adele]

Hi Riley

I've raised two EWDs from 5wks old -they are almost two now.

I have always stayed away from using mealworms for any of my reptiles.

Both of my EWDs will eat vegs/greens/fruit - they especially love mushrooms, broccoli leaves, spinach leaves and fruit (not banana) like grapes, apples, strawberries, raspberries too. They love to chase dusted woodies around their enclosure too. Try a mix of dog food (I use My Dog - beef and liver - they just love it) you could mix that through the vege/fruit/salad mix to encourgae him to eat. I often mix through liquid calcium too.

Make sure you cut their food up into little diced pieces - about 1/3 of thier head size.

Make sure too that your little guy is warm enough (mine love thier hotspot around 30/32 degrees)
If he's only five weeks old - he's only going a eat a little at a time - you could try every second/third day for feeding - they are pretty slow growing lizards.

Good Luck Riley

 

[Riley]

hey,

ive had the little guy for about 3-4 weeks now, but he was eating fairly well up until almost 2 weeks ago. thanks bluereptile

thanks adele! yeah ive generally tried not to feed mealworms to the beardies too. ill try him with a bit of vegies and fruit now and maybe my dog's food later.
At the moment, he's under a heat fan light, which has a controlled heat with uva and uvb. Also, he doesnt really like going in the water much, is that normal for when theyre young?

Thanks again!
Riley

 

[Adele]

Ewd

Hey Riley

My EWDs have always enjoyed the water - make sure your little guy has a rock in his water feature - somewhere he can sit in the water but not necessarliy submerged in there - mine always pooh in their water-never anywhere else. Make sure he can climb in and out of the water easily. If he's not using the water perhaps you could give him a fine misting every couple of days to keep him hydrated.

Give him time to settle in with you - you haven't had him very long. Make sure he's not around lots of traffic/busyness in your house, watch out for loud music/noise too - this can be unsettling for new reptiles. I would try not to handle him to much too, give him a nice quite spot and see if he settles and starts feeding more for you.

Again...Good Luck - they are great lizards - with big personalities

 

[Riley]

Oh ok. Will do.
Haha he loves being held, whenever I put my hand in his tank to clean the water etc he jumps on my hand and runs up my arm

 

[beney_boy]

adele, how long total are your 2yo easterns?

 

[Mr.James]

White mealworms..They are just your average mealworm after they have shed, they look much lighter then the rest & are much softer.

 

[152Boy]

Hi Riley

I've raised two EWDs from 5wks old -they are almost two now.

I have always stayed away from using mealworms for any of my reptiles.

Both of my EWDs will eat vegs/greens/fruit - they especially love mushrooms, broccoli leaves, spinach leaves and fruit (not banana) like grapes, apples, strawberries, raspberries too. They love to chase dusted woodies around their enclosure too. Try a mix of dog food (I use My Dog - beef and liver - they just love it) you could mix that through the vege/fruit/salad mix to encourgae him to eat. I often mix through liquid calcium too.

Make sure you cut their food up into little diced pieces - about 1/3 of thier head size.

Make sure too that your little guy is warm enough (mine love thier hotspot around 30/32 degrees)
If he's only five weeks old - he's only going a eat a little at a time - you could try every second/third day for feeding - they are pretty slow growing lizards.

Good Luck Riley

How big are you easterns at 2 years??? Just curious as a mate has 1 but doens't know how old it is. Thanks.

 

[sexgod]

enlosure???

my enclosure is 3m by 1.5m is that big enough for a full grown also 1.8m high