Serious problem

[instar]

Hi folk, recently we have discovered our ewd babys 'sleeping' in the waterbowl at night. The first time this happened we were freaked, thought it had drowned but it jumped up n scampered. So we figured it normal behaviour, but last night Netty discovered our male doing it, but instead of scampering, it was lifeless, limp and unresponsive. Its head had been beneath the surface.
Nett held it up by the base of the tail and water ran from its mouth, after a few more minutes it recovered. Its running around ok now but this is a major concern.
Has anyone found this happening? Any idea why it may have happened?
we will be removing the water bowl before lights out now, just in case.
If you can shed any light on this apparent near drowning/suicidal behaviour, we'd be pleased to hear it.
[please no useless smart#ss comments on this one, pretty please? ]

 

[NoOne]

They are water dragons inny, which means they will sleep in water.
I have seen this happen before and heard of plenty of other people who have had the same.
I think someone posted here a year or two ago saying the same thing but their ewd didn't wake up until it was put in a shoe box and about to be burried :lol:
If you are concerned about it cover the water bowl at night or take it out.

 

[instar]

Thanks Steve, I understand they will sleep in water but this lil guy was submerged and limp.
Even ewd cant breath underwater. What im itching to know is how they go from sleeping with nose above the surface to submerged and full of water, its freaky and a bit of a worry. We will def be removing the water before lights out.
has anyone lost ewd to this behaviour? If its normal behaviour and they do it in the wild, then obviously something went wrong here? If they had a habit of drowning in the wild you wouldnt see too many eh :lol:

 

[geckodan]

My mertens will also do that. They are outside and you don't see them come up for air for what seems to be days. You pull them out and they look dead and stiff but come good when you warm them. I think they just slow their metabolism down so breathing is "unnecessary". If in doubt, pull the water out.

 

[NCHERPS]

Instar,
Another thing you can do if your really concerned, is place some washed gravel or stones(Depending on the size of the water bowl) in the bowl, so it makes the bowl shallower, but the lizard can still drink from it, but it shouldn't be able to become submerged.

Neil

 

[SLACkra]

what is the temperature of the water. maybe its too cold for him and he just slows down to much and near drowns. maybe keeping the water around 26'C might help. a newbies personal thoughts

andrew

 

[Guest]

Most wild waterdragons are inactive and if they are kept active by heat they could be trying to cool themselves at night.They can sleep in water and usually it would be a cooling mechanism,i cant think of anything else instar appart from parisites maybe.

 

[Stevo]

My ewd adults occasionally did the same thing

 

[Guest]

I had one inny that did the same thing, but due to the water being a bit chilly i think it slowed down so far it went to the point of death. I reckon do what Neil suggested with the gravel, or just plain take the water out at sundown.

 

[instar]

Thankyou for the serious replys guys, its appreciated! Some intresting theory there, particularly water temp one, them being so small it might just be right, but id say the water wouldnt be getting much below about 18c, not sure if that would do it. Good [and so simple, I feel blonde] idea Neil, hadnt thought of that cause I assumed they enjoy swimming, they seem to.
Anyway another thought I had was that being a flat bowl, theres no depth gradient either, though its shallow enough to climb in and out, maybe when they nod off the head goes under? Perhaps they sit with just the back half in the water [on bank] in wild?
Will setup a paint roller for this reason or use pebble slope in a tray when they go in new bank.
Meanwhile, the water is gone now for the night. Think ill make it a habit, atleast till they're bigger!
Funny lil critters arnt they, you learn somethin new everyday! Thanks again friends.

 

[peterescue]

Friends who where abssieling in The Blue Mountains found an adult ewd in extremely cold water at the bottom of a gorge(middle of the year so no sun there). They pulled it out and it was limp. it was place on a rock and a few moments later it sped across the rock and back into the water.

Water from the mouth doesnt sound right though Inny. If they are small it might not be too bright??

 

[instar]

Water from the mouth doesnt sound right though Inny. If they are small it might not be too bright??

How would I test his IQ? :lol:
Yeah im a wee bit concerned about that myself, he is prancing round spritely enough now, no obvious sign of respitory distress, but ill keep a close eye on him, water in the lungs cant be good.

 

[demansia]

Iv been fishing for bass in kayaks at around 4:30am n have seen large water dragons sleeping in the water only with their head protuding from the surface. Iv also had small ewds sleep in their water bowls but never had this problem.

 

[serpenttongue]

Instar, my water dragons are outside and spend all there summer nights sleeping in their pond. At first their snouts are protruding but as they doze off they sink to the bottom (pond is 30cm deep). They stay this way all night and in the morning they are out and basking. Some mornings they may stay underwater longer than i feel they should, but i've never been concerned and have never felt the need to pull them out to check they're okay. Perhaps they're just waiting for the sun to heat the water up.

Is your enclosure heated overnight? If not maybe your dragons are just waiting for the dayheat to warm up their water so they inturn heat up enough to emerge.