My Chinese Water Dragons fingers are breaking..!!! what is causing this.. and more..?
I have a few theories. It could be metabolic bone disease (MBD), which is caused by lack of calcium in the diet. Are you dusting the food with calcium powder? Do you have a UVB source for your dragon? UVB lights provide vitamin D3, which is neccessary for reptiles to absorb calcium. MBD causes brittle bones that often become deformed and break easily. Does your dragon have an underbite? A kink in its tail? A crooked spine? All are signs of MBD. If you think your dragon does have MBD, fix the problem and take him to a vet. MBD is extremely serious and fatal if left untreated. Do you have any other dragons in the same enclosure? A hungry dragon may try to eat fingers of a cagemate. Another possibility is a stuck shed. If a bit of shed skin doesn't come off of the fingers or tail tip, it can cut off circulation and cause the finger or tail tip to break off. Similar to the last hypothesis, it could be lack of humidity. Water dragons require high humidity and a large, clean bowl of water to swim in. If you can't solve the problem and this continues to occur, a trip to the vet is a great idea. Good luck! I hope he gets better.
I think my Chinese water Dragon broke something? :'(?
A little over a week ago, My Chinese Water Dragon jumped off of my mom's shoulder to the ground, roughly 5"5' off the ground. At first, his mouth bubbled very slightly for an hour, then he seemed fine. As of 2 days ago, he Won't eat anything I give him and hardly even moves around. I've only had him for about 2 months now and when I got him, he was just a juvenile. Today, I got home from work and he hardly opens his right eye. I picked him up to hold him and he had a tiny bubble coming out of his right eye, just like the ones that came out of his mouth. I thought maybe it was too cold for him even with the heat rock and lamp so I filled my bathroom sink up with semi warm water, just deep enough to cover his legs and half his body. As soon as I put him in it, he dropped his head under the water and it almost looked like he was drinking the water. I gently pushed him from his back legs to try and get him to move and he started trying to swim as he couldn't grip the sink to climb up the sides. If I put him up on the side, he'd just slide right down into the water, completely submerged again and wouldn't move. He's just starting his 2nd shedding process since I bought him from the pet store. If I hold him in my hand, palm up, and tilt my hand side-ways, he doesn't even try to move. He just rolls over then 3 out of 5 times, he'll move to turn himself back over. I placed him on his heat rock over an hour and a half ago and he has not moved from the EXACT spot I put him in and is just sitting there with his mouth open. I tried to hold food in front of him, I tried to set him down and place it in front of him, I've even tried to put the end of a cricket in his mouth while he had it open and he wont eat at all. He hasn't eaten in the past 3 days now and he just lays under this fake plastic rock with his head poking out all the time. He doesn't even try to get away from me if I go to pick him up. I don't know what to do, nor anybody to take him to in my area plus I don't have the money for it. I really feel bad and it's not about the money to get a new one, It's not fair to him and I want to make sure he lives but I don't know what to do or check. :(
More of my Chinese water dragon's tail fell off?
He broke the tip of his tail (about an inch) a few months ago, and it fell off and was healing ok, I thought. Today about two-three inches just randomly fell off, though. I don't think he had any more breaks. I'm confused and rather worried, can anyone tell me why this might be happening and what I can do to help keep his tail from falling apart any further? He's about a year old, if that matters any.
My Chinese Water Dragon?
Please take the poor little guy to the vet immediately! Reptiles are very good about hiding thier illnesses (its a natural defense against predators) and often times it is too late when the owner realizes that something is wrong. While there are number of things that could be wrong with your dragon, the symptoms you listed above are signs of MBD (metabolic bone disease)... an extremely fatal condition if not treated. Although there are a number of reasons why your dragon could have developed this disease (some researchers are now saying that MBD is actaully a grouing of many nutrient deficiencies), the most common is not enough calcium due to improper lighting. Proper light is crucial because without it, the dragon cannot create D3... without D3 they cannot absorb calcium into thier system... therefore, other common signs include broken bones or abnormal bone structure. To help prevent MBD remember that flourescent lights should be placed no more than 18 inches from the bottom of the tank (maybe even less). If the main light source is higher than 18 inches the rays will not be strong enough by the time they reach your dragon. Keep in mind, the best spectrum range for water dragons is 280-315 nm (the best brands of lights have this listed on thier box). Also, you can't beat mother nature: the best light is natural sunlight. So when it is warm, place the dragon in an outdoor screen type enclosure for a few hours a day if possible. Keep in mind, simply setting the tank by the window will not work because glass also reduces the power of the light rays. I went in depth on MBD because many newer owners do not know about it and because it is thought be the most common nutrient deficiency in reptiles. It is unsettling to me that no other answers even mentioned MBD. But still, the best thing to do is take him to the vet. I hope this helps and I hope your dragon gets back to good health.
Will my Chinese Water Dragons tail grow back?
If it falls it will grow back to an extent but it will never be the full length it would have been. If it is red or looks like on open sore put non pain reiving anti-biotic ointment on it to help prevent infection. keep the cage clean. Raise the temperatures slightly, Remove whatever it was his tail got stuck on, review care sheets to be sure that it isn't MBD caused by lack of UVB rays. Hope that helps Here is a great forum to ask and answer water dragon questions and compete in a wd photo contest and much more. http://repticzone.com/forums/WaterDragons/index.html Water dragon care: http://reptilianyex.tripod.com/id17.html
How long does it take for a chinese water dragon tail to recover after it is broken???
Only an experienced vet could tell you this by examining and X-raying the tail. Your guess is as good as anyone elses.
My water dragons tail broke off?
If it falls it will grow back to an extent but it will never be the full length it would have been. If it is red or looks like on open sore put non pain reiving anti-biotic ointment on it to help prevent infection. keep the cage clean. Raise the temperatures slightly, Remove whatever it was his tail got stuck on, review care sheets to be sure that it isn't MBD caused by lack of UVB rays. Hope that helps Here is a great forum to ask and answer water dragon questions and compete in a wd photo contest and much more. http://repticzone.com/forums/WaterDragon... Water dragon care: http://reptilianyex.tripod.com/id17.html I have over eight years of experience owning and researching reptiles Specializing in Water Dragons and currently owning two http://www.allexperts.com/ep/704-100165/... http://reptilianyex.tripod.com
Help! My water Dragon's Arm Is Broken!?
considering animals in the wild dont have vets to save them, you can do nothing and hope for the best. He will experience pain but it will eventually heal and it might cause him to walk wierd forever, or have a permanent buldge. But he will be able to do everything nessecary to live. In the wild, when an aanimal breaks a bone, he will either be eaten because he is weak and cant easily escape preditors, or it will heal, and it will either heal to the point of full recovery, or it will heal with minor movement impairrments, which could also cause a wild animal to fall pray to another animal. Since your animal is safely housed in a cage, he has no preditors, therfore he does not have to avoid being killed. But he will have to have time to heal.
My Chinese Water Dragon keeps its mouth open alot?
I have a young Chinese Water Dragon, and it just started doing this....It sits with its mouth hung open a lot. It never use to. I pick it up and kind of notice it has a small red sore on the very front of his bottom lip and when he opens his mouth it almost looks like a little is on his tongue too. I watch him sometimes when he closes his mouth then he looks as if hes going to vomit so he reopens his mouth and then just stays like that. I have NO idea what is wrong or what to even think of this. Maybe it's nothing but I just want to be sure. Any help?
How long can Chinese Water dragons survive without their heat lamp?
if you replace the heat lamp today you are in no danger of loosing your pet. just replace with the same type bulb at the same wattage. for future reference you can use a regular house hold light bulb as long as the wattage is close to the same wattage you were using for a few days with no danger until you can replace your reptile light. hope this helps