# My 4 month old, baby chinese water dragon??



## Rango7 (Aug 9, 2011)

Hi :smile:

Im new to this website as well as owning a Chinese Water Dragon.  


About a month ago I went and brought myself a baby Chinese Water Dragon, and I love him/her to bits! 
I have done a lot of reseach about Water Dragons, and still do because I worry all the time that i am not looking after him correctly. 

I just wanted some help/advice from people that have or had a Chinese Water Dragon.. 

Basically..

he loves coming out of the Vivarium and is always straching at the window to come out and rubbing his nose up at the glass, and im just a bit worried that he is trying to get out because he is too hot or too cold in the tank. 

During the day the heat temp is, always 29 to 30 Digrees C
And At night the heat temp is, always 25 to 26 Digrees C

He is currently in a 2 and a half ft long tank (i only plan to keep him in this size tank for around a year) that is wood at the back, the sides, top and bottom and sliding glass at the front of the tank. he loves playing in the water and climbing about on the branches. I give Him/her 3 locusts a day, and on mondays and fridays i sprinkle Nutrobal calcium dust on the locusts. I change his water on a daily basis and i check too see if he has eaten all of his food, but on the odd occasion i have found dead locusts in his tank that he hasnt eaten. 

Just wanted to know weather there is anything else i need to do or weather there is anything i am doing wrong, and if so what.

you very much for your time, and i look forward to hearing your comments and opinions!


----------



## vicky.beach (Oct 27, 2010)

Rango7 said:


> Hi :smile:
> 
> Im new to this website as well as owning a Chinese Water Dragon.
> 
> ...


How old is your water dragon? mine is about 10 months and i give him as much crickets as he can eat in 10-15 mins but babies tend tend t eat more. Also what is the humidity level like? and what do you use to raise it?


----------



## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

Great Reply Vicky:no1:


----------



## vicky.beach (Oct 27, 2010)

Salazare Slytherin said:


> Great Reply Vicky:no1:


Thank you:lol2: probably left loads of stuff out but its too late to be thinking hard:whistling2:


----------



## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

vicky.beach said:


> Thank you:lol2: probably left loads of stuff out but its too late to be thinking hard:whistling2:


 
Yeah their is a bit left out but thats the more important stuff coverd, as soon as I read the first paragraph I was like oh noooooo! I can't be botherd and then I read your reply.

Big well done!

I havent seen you give advice in ages.:lol2:


----------



## vicky.beach (Oct 27, 2010)

Salazare Slytherin said:


> Yeah their is a bit left out but thats the more important stuff coverd, as soon as I read the first paragraph I was like oh noooooo! I can't be botherd and then I read your reply.
> 
> Big well done!
> 
> I havent seen you give advice in ages.:lol2:


Haha thanks, i don't tend to post very often:lol2: and plus i got a corn snake so being spending a bit of quality reading time on the snake section:whistling2: Do you have any pictures of your CWD's?


----------



## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

vicky.beach said:


> Haha thanks, i don't tend to post very often:lol2: and plus i got a corn snake so being spending a bit of quality reading time on the snake section:whistling2: Do you have any pictures of your CWD's?


 
yes  send me a friend request and you can view them on my profile


----------



## burbidgetodd (Aug 19, 2011)

the damage nose rub can cause


----------



## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

: victory:


burbidgetodd said:


> the damage nose rub can causeimageimage


 
good example but isnt that water dragon still lovely.:flrt:: victory:


----------



## burbidgetodd (Aug 19, 2011)

she is sadly she is at the vets on friday as she has a few lump that look like tumors


----------



## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

burbidgetodd said:


> she is sadly she is at the vets on friday as she has a few lump that look like tumors


 
ahhhhh no  hope everything is okay buddy.
is she eating her veg at the moment? if so drop me a message.
I know a thing or two about home remedies which work good along side vet treatments.


----------



## burbidgetodd (Aug 19, 2011)

she is eating live food ok but wont entertain fruit or veg sadly but i think thats down to the previous owner so im still trying its just slow going


----------



## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

burbidgetodd said:


> she is eating live food ok but wont entertain fruit or veg sadly but i think thats down to the previous owner so im still trying its just slow going


 
pming. I have an idea. : victory:


----------



## Rango7 (Aug 9, 2011)

vicky.beach said:


> How old is your water dragon? mine is about 10 months and i give him as much crickets as he can eat in 10-15 mins but babies tend tend t eat more. Also what is the humidity level like? and what do you use to raise it?



Thanks for the reply  

He/she is just over 4 months old, and i normaly put 3 Locusts a day in his tank, but sometimes he will leave one but eat the other two. 
The humidity level is always inbetween 60 and 80, and I do spray the tank twice a day. 

Also what do you mean when you say, what do I use to raise it?

Thank you!


----------



## Rango7 (Aug 9, 2011)

vicky.beach said:


> Haha thanks, i don't tend to post very often:lol2: and plus i got a corn snake so being spending a bit of quality reading time on the snake section:whistling2: Do you have any pictures of your CWD's?


 

Yeah I have some pictures of my water dragon  what do I need to do too upload them. (sorry im a newbie to the website)


----------



## VickieMay (Aug 29, 2011)

thank you so much!!!

Sorry, had to shout that, it just confirms the reason why I want a CWD! They are just sooooo :flrt:, I can't wait to get one and this advise is so extremely usefull :notworthy:


----------



## NicolasB (Jul 11, 2009)

Rango7 said:


> Yeah I have some pictures of my water dragon  what do I need to do too upload them. (sorry im a newbie to the website)


you need to create a photobucket account (Its free), upload your pics to there and then paste the IMG code into your post on here. there is a thread somewhere on here which goes into more detail, but thats how you do it in a nushell... : victory:


----------



## Rango7 (Aug 9, 2011)

NicolasB said:


> you need to create a photobucket account (Its free), upload your pics to there and then paste the IMG code into your post on here. there is a thread somewhere on here which goes into more detail, but thats how you do it in a nushell... : victory:


 
Ohh right, Thank you! :2thumb:


----------



## Rango7 (Aug 9, 2011)

burbidgetodd said:


> the damage nose rub can causeimageimage



Ahh man, i didnt realise about the nose rub thing. 
Do you know what else as well as newspaper i could put on the inside of the tank to aviod my water dragon nose rubbing the glass?? 

And by the way Your water dragon is gorgeous!  how old is he/she?


----------



## NicolasB (Jul 11, 2009)

Rango7 said:


> Ahh man, i didnt realise about the nose rub thing.
> Do you know what else as well as newspaper i could put on the inside of the tank to aviod my water dragon nose rubbing the glass??
> 
> And by the way Your water dragon is gorgeous!  how old is he/she?


you could look into the adhesive plastic stuff you used to use to cover your school books? I bought some wood effect one from the pound store, cost me a fiver to recover my entire viv! cant remember what its called though! :bash:


----------



## Rango7 (Aug 9, 2011)

Here is my baby Water Dragon...


----------



## G.R/Trooper (Feb 20, 2011)

NicolasB said:


> you could look into the adhesive plastic stuff you used to use to cover your school books? I bought some wood effect one from the pound store, cost me a fiver to recover my entire viv! cant remember what its called though! :bash:


As a slightly off topic suggestion; Wouldn't tinting the enclosure windows help avoid nose rub? None of mine have ever had it as theres a 15cm Wood Plinth on the bottom of my arboreals. Something that just sprang to mind. 

To the OP don't let it be 60-80% humidity all the time. 80% at Dawn & 60% at dusk. Don't spray in between those figures, they are replica's of their natural habitat. 

As for whatever you are using to create the humidity, well there is a selection of things. Foggers, Rainfall's, Misters, Waterfall's are all adequate systems but it all depends on the intervals & placement. You can of course use a squirty garden spray bottle (they are like £1.50 at homebase etc) and spray the enclosure with warm water using that. I have a feeling that i have missed some systems off that are commonly used but don't hate, i'm sure Dixon will clear that up. After all i have only just woken up.

Just saw the pic's. Looking adorable. I'll give ya some pics of ours in a little bit. I doubt they will have a cactus in their natural habitat though =P

Thats Ariel








Thats Aqua








And this is Poseidon


----------



## Rango7 (Aug 9, 2011)

G.R/Trooper said:


> As a slightly off topic suggestion; Wouldn't tinting the enclosure windows help avoid nose rub? None of mine have ever had it as theres a 15cm Wood Plinth on the bottom of my arboreals. Something that just sprang to mind.
> 
> To the OP don't let it be 60-80% humidity all the time. 80% at Dawn & 60% at dusk. Don't spray in between those figures, they are replica's of their natural habitat.
> 
> ...


 
Thanks for the advice  And yeah please do post some pics, and Haha yeah i know, but he/she loves the cactus and loves sitting on top of it! :lol2:


----------



## NicolasB (Jul 11, 2009)

G.R/Trooper said:


> As a slightly off topic suggestion; Wouldn't tinting the enclosure windows help avoid nose rub? None of mine have ever had it as theres a 15cm Wood Plinth on the bottom of my arboreals. Something that just sprang to mind.
> 
> To the OP don't let it be 60-80% humidity all the time. 80% at Dawn & 60% at dusk. Don't spray in between those figures, they are replica's of their natural habitat.
> 
> ...


Ha Ha! I was also wondering about the cactus! :lol2:

Most of my older vivs used to have a plinth at the bottom which prevented them from being able to rub, but as they grow and are able to get to the same height as the glass they will probably start to rub.

As for the tinting idea, i thought of that, but not 100% sure if it would work, simply because i doubt it would create a "Barrier" that would deter them, it would simply make that section darker but they would still be able to see through it...

Here's a thought - using that silver reflective tint on the inside of the glass so all they can see is the reflection of their viv and youwould still be able to see in? although this may also confuse and they wont be able to figure out why their twin is only around when they look out the glass! :lol2:

Just woke up???? Nice life for some 'ey? :Na_Na_Na_Na:


----------



## G.R/Trooper (Feb 20, 2011)

NicolasB said:


> Ha Ha! I was also wondering about the cactus! :lol2:
> 
> Most of my older vivs used to have a plinth at the bottom which prevented them from being able to rub, but as they grow and are able to get to the same height as the glass they will probably start to rub.
> 
> ...


All in all i think there must be something that can be done. I did experiment with nose rub and countering it several years back and came to the conclusion that perspex is a handy way to go as it would tend to spring back when hit, absorbing most of the damage. The only problem with that is it gets scratched easily and when they do hit it, it's damn loud.


----------



## Rango7 (Aug 9, 2011)

G.R/Trooper said:


> Thats Ariel
> image
> Thats Aqua
> image
> ...


how old are you 3 water dragons? They are all gorgeous! :2thumb:


----------



## NicolasB (Jul 11, 2009)

G.R/Trooper said:


> All in all i think there must be something that can be done. I did experiment with nose rub and countering it several years back and came to the conclusion that perspex is a handy way to go as it would tend to spring back when hit, absorbing most of the damage. The only problem with that is it gets scratched easily and when they do hit it, it's damn loud.


lucky bugger! :whip:

yeah luckily for me my AWD's have never had an issue with nose rub, except when the female was gravid and as soon as she laid she stopped it completely...


----------



## Rango7 (Aug 9, 2011)

G.R/Trooper said:


> All in all i think there must be something that can be done. I did experiment with nose rub and countering it several years back and came to the conclusion that perspex is a handy way to go as it would tend to spring back when hit, absorbing most of the damage. The only problem with that is it gets scratched easily and when they do hit it, it's damn loud.



I know this might sound a bit mad Lol, But what about if I put something soft like tissue, or thin layer of sponge along the bottom of the glass, and put a strip of duck tape, or cable tape on top of the tissue or sponge to stick it too the glass? 

If that makes sense :lol2:


----------



## NicolasB (Jul 11, 2009)

Rango7 said:


> I know this might sound a bit mad Lol, But what about if I put something soft like tissue, or thin layer of sponge along the bottom of the glass, and put a strip of duck tape, or cable tape on top of the tissue or sponge to stick it too the glass?
> 
> If that makes sense :lol2:


Makes sense, and may be worth a bash? i think its more the friction rather than the hardness of the glass tbh, but could be worth trying. you could try find some wide double sided tape and tape it on, leaving the exposed side with the backing on?


----------



## G.R/Trooper (Feb 20, 2011)

Rango7 said:


> how old are you 3 water dragons? They are all gorgeous! :2thumb:


Ooh now you got me. Erm Ariel & Poseidon are ~5 months. Aqua i beleive is ~1 year. And thanks =D



NicolasB said:


> lucky bugger! :whip:
> 
> yeah luckily for me my AWD's have never had an issue with nose rub, except when the female was gravid and as soon as she laid she stopped it completely...
> 
> I have never had the problem with my AWD either, he only ever sits in the bloody water bowl!





Rango7 said:


> I know this might sound a bit mad Lol, But what about if I put something soft like tissue, or thin layer of sponge along the bottom of the glass, and put a strip of duck tape, or cable tape on top of the tissue or sponge to stick it too the glass?
> 
> If that makes sense :lol2:
> Could work, Althoguh you wouldnt be able to open the doors properly.


 
I'll show ya my Red Iggy in a sec, just putting him in the bath =D


----------



## NicolasB (Jul 11, 2009)

G.R/Trooper said:


> Ooh now you got me. Erm Ariel & Poseidon are ~5 months. Aqua i beleive is ~1 year. And thanks =D
> 
> 
> 
> ...


oooh yay! love Iggy's! now im dying to see the pics!

I know what you mean about the AWD's and the water, this is my males idea of a good time...


----------



## G.R/Trooper (Feb 20, 2011)

NicolasB said:


> oooh yay! love Iggy's! now im dying to see the pics!
> 
> I know what you mean about the AWD's and the water, this is my males idea of a good time...
> 
> image


Haha strange considering my other WD's hate the water, even the iggy doesnt like it much. In future i'll advise new AWD owners to purchase an aquarium rather than a viv.

And here he/she is. 14 weeks old atm and struggling to make any change in taming him but it all takes time.


















































Named it Tugg, short for Tugg-Boat =P. GF still hates it cos apparently it looks evil.


----------



## NicolasB (Jul 11, 2009)

G.R/Trooper said:


> Haha strange considering my other WD's hate the water, even the iggy doesnt like it much. In future i'll advise new AWD owners to purchase an aquarium rather than a viv.
> 
> And here he/she is. 14 weeks old atm and struggling to make any change in taming him but it all takes time.
> 
> ...


Awesome pics, he/she is stunning! looks like the taming isnt going too bad considering it is just chilling on your arm!

and yeah i will also be advising other WD owners to buy an aquarium and just supply a basking spot! :lol2:


----------



## G.R/Trooper (Feb 20, 2011)

NicolasB said:


> Awesome pics, he/she is stunning! looks like the taming isnt going too bad considering it is just chilling on your arm!
> 
> and yeah i will also be advising other WD owners to buy an aquarium and just supply a basking spot! :lol2:


If you have a pond in the garden, heat it up and stick your AWD in it! I promise it wont move out the water.

:lol2:

Oh and thanks. Yeah he/she is a pain to get out the viv so im considering placing it in a monitoring viv for now untill it gets used to me. It looks real tame there on my arm but the bastardo keeps whipping me in the eye and i'm sick to death of it now. Funny how it acts all lovey when the camera is out, methink's it might be a she =P


----------



## NicolasB (Jul 11, 2009)

G.R/Trooper said:


> *If you have a pond in the garden, heat it up and stick your AWD in it! I promise it wont move out the water.*
> 
> :lol2:
> 
> Oh and thanks. Yeah he/she is a pain to get out the viv so im considering placing it in a monitoring viv for now untill it gets used to me. It looks real tame there on my arm but the bastardo keeps whipping me in the eye and i'm sick to death of it now. Funny how it acts all lovey when the camera is out, methink's it might be a she =P


Classic! :lol2:

so basically she is being a typical Ig then?! ha ha! she is a stunner and looks like you doing a good job with her, wish i had the time, patience and cash to invest in another Ig, i miss my 5!


----------



## kez30 (Jun 15, 2008)

Great pics :2thumb:

The stuff someone was thinking of to cover the glass was sticky back plastic /fablon. Works really well inside the glass, I used black myself. I know that Wilkinsons and B&Q sell it and they do a couple of different sizes.


----------



## NicolasB (Jul 11, 2009)

kez30 said:


> Great pics :2thumb:
> 
> The stuff someone was thinking of to cover the glass was sticky back plastic /fablon. Works really well inside the glass, I used black myself. I know that Wilkinsons and B&Q sell it and they do a couple of different sizes.


I knew it had a name! thanks! thats the stuff i was talking about, i got some at the pound store, for,wait for it, a pound! i bought 5 rolls and covered the entire viv, massive difference compared to the plain white viv it was before! :2thumb:


----------



## G.R/Trooper (Feb 20, 2011)

Just got back in from sexxing the AWD. Turns out it is female and fore i need to find a male companion. Name change, any idea's? Was named Khan before.


----------



## NicolasB (Jul 11, 2009)

G.R/Trooper said:


> Just got back in from sexxing the AWD. Turns out it is female and fore i need to find a male companion. Name change, any idea's? Was named Khan before.


You lucky Git! i been after a female to go with my pair, but finding one big enough is proving tricky!

how big is she? and how do you know she is defo a she? just curious coz they are hard as hell to sex when young!

if it is a she Khan is defo gonna have to be changed! Lol! Will give it some thought...


----------



## G.R/Trooper (Feb 20, 2011)

NicolasB said:


> You lucky Git! i been after a female to go with my pair, but finding one big enough is proving tricky!
> 
> how big is she? and how do you know she is defo a she? just curious coz they are hard as hell to sex when young!
> 
> if it is a she Khan is defo gonna have to be changed! Lol! Will give it some thought...


Local shop has quite a bit of experience with them so took it down to them. Admittedly it's not a 100% yes but i cant afford all the bills of a vet taking a look for a guarentee. She has no pinky/yellow/orange on the chest and a very small head. On top of that there is a very small crest and small back spines. I'll try to get a couple of shots of her for you. If you like we could come to some sort of arrangement on breeding yours & mine, it's something i would certainly be interested in but she is still rather small atm. Gimme 10 mins and i'll have a few photo's for you.


----------



## NicolasB (Jul 11, 2009)

G.R/Trooper said:


> Local shop has quite a bit of experience with them so took it down to them. Admittedly it's not a 100% yes but i cant afford all the bills of a vet taking a look for a guarentee. She has no pinky/yellow/orange on the chest and a very small head. On top of that there is a very small crest and small back spines. I'll try to get a couple of shots of her for you. If you like we could come to some sort of arrangement on breeding yours & mine, it's something i would certainly be interested in but she is still rather small atm. Gimme 10 mins and i'll have a few photo's for you.


Thats awesome mate! i know it can be very difficult to tell but at least it is some hope she is female. findign a male companion will be a piece of cake to be honest!

We could always look at something, but my male is over 2 foot already so it could be a while yet! :lol2:

I'm sure you are familiar with a certain member who breeds them in Portugal and i know he would be happy to find a male that is roughly her size once you know for sure she is a she! ha ha!


----------



## G.R/Trooper (Feb 20, 2011)

NicolasB said:


> Thats awesome mate! i know it can be very difficult to tell but at least it is some hope she is female. findign a male companion will be a piece of cake to be honest!
> 
> We could always look at something, but my male is over 2 foot already so it could be a while yet! :lol2:
> 
> I'm sure you are familiar with a certain member who breeds them in Portugal and i know he would be happy to find a male that is roughly her size once you know for sure she is a she! ha ha!


Yeah see she is only 6-7 inch in body length atm, ~16" in total. I know who you speak of, this is one of his =P 

A male would be very easy to find, maybe not for a while though as i got a little refurbishment project going on atm. A neihbour just gave me his garage to kit out with viv's and begin the little reptile shop i always wanted =D

This is her on my leg. Bugger never sits still and needs lots of work on the taming still.









Next two pictures i tried to get so you could see the lack of spines:


















And here is her chest, struggling to hold her in place =P










So, anyone got any naming idea's?


----------



## NicolasB (Jul 11, 2009)

G.R/Trooper said:


> Yeah see she is only 6-7 inch in body length atm, ~16" in total. I know who you speak of, this is one of his =P
> 
> A male would be very easy to find, maybe not for a while though as i got a little refurbishment project going on atm. A neihbour just gave me his garage to kit out with viv's and begin the little reptile shop i always wanted =D


:no1: that is awesome mate! Congrats!!! Will check where you are and have to come round and check it out one day!

yeah she is a bit small, i think my male would destroy her tbh, he tries to destroy his partner but she is a fatty and doesnt take his nonsene, so funny to watch her bully him back! ha ha!

Mate I am extremely jealous now, but well happy for you! :2thumb:


----------



## NicolasB (Jul 11, 2009)

yip, defo looking like a female mate, cool pics! and she looks well calm?! my female is quite chilled but my male came from Portugal, straight off the farm and is a bit mental! he dosent like me, but when i take them on holiday to the sanctuary the woman there and her daughters take him out and he has no issue with them, cheeky sod!

Cool pics mate, is that coco husk you using as substrate?


----------



## G.R/Trooper (Feb 20, 2011)

NicolasB said:


> :no1: that is awesome mate! Congrats!!! Will check where you are and have to come round and check it out one day!
> 
> yeah she is a bit small, i think my male would destroy her tbh, he tries to destroy his partner but she is a fatty and doesnt take his nonsene, so funny to watch her bully him back! ha ha!
> 
> Mate I am extremely jealous now, but well happy for you! :2thumb:


Give it time. It will be a long time before the garage is complete and it'l only be an online based thing. SO you cant just wander in you will have to book an appointment to come and view the animals or you can buy them online. I just got a quote back for like 40 viv's and it came in @ £2385 so i'll wait to hear from the others too. When you add the price of all the heatlamps, dimmers, starters & UVB's it wouldnt be far off 3k, if not over. Luckily i can do all the rewiring & electrics myself so i save a fortune there. Insulation materials then kitting out each viv etc etc. Going to make them all with fake wall builds too so it wont look basic like some shops people go into. Theres a whole mountain of stuff to be doing for the next year =P

It's a mix of eco earth (for humidity), dark bark (to solidify) & coco husk (it stops the smell kicking up). I find it holds the humidity really well. The only downside is you get covered in it all when you get the animal out. Nope just like my Iggy the AWD is only playing for the camera. It's a struggle to get her out and she never sits still. My AWD came from his farm to his shop in charlton (which isnt big tbh) and then to me, she is also skittish and hates me. So far she has calmed down a little and hasnt shat on me 4 days in a row when i get her out now. While he does a great job of breeding them over there i think he lacks the time & resources to make sure they have a small sense of trust to humans before they end up with the end user.


----------



## NicolasB (Jul 11, 2009)

G.R/Trooper said:


> Give it time. It will be a long time before the garage is complete and it'l only be an online based thing. SO you cant just wander in you will have to book an appointment to come and view the animals or you can buy them online. I just got a quote back for like 40 viv's and it came in @ £2385 so i'll wait to hear from the others too. When you add the price of all the heatlamps, dimmers, starters & UVB's it wouldnt be far off 3k, if not over. Luckily i can do all the rewiring & electrics myself so i save a fortune there. Insulation materials then kitting out each viv etc etc. Going to make them all with fake wall builds too so it wont look basic like some shops people go into. Theres a whole mountain of stuff to be doing for the next year =P


Either way thats still cool mate! just a thought, but have you considered doing the vivs yourself? materials etc will work out a LOT cheaper than paying someone to do it for you. I used to run a small viv building business in SA, called Titan Terrariums (Named after one of my Ig's) and we did everything from custom vivs to the basic stuff and to be honest, for the amount of work involved it might be worth looking at, specially if you can do the wiring etc yourself and save some cash on that front...

If you think this might be something you would wanna look into further let me know, i wouldnt mind giving a helping hand and all it would cost you is coffee and some graze! Lol!

I could even speak to my local glazier and get prices on buying bulk glass for you if you like... vents, runners etc are all easily available and if you buying in quantity you will get good prices and i am certain if you have a trading licence ArcadiaJohn may consider doing things at wholesale prices, maybe?

Just a thought mate, sorry if im getting carried away, feel like i am more excited about it than you! Lol!

Still trying to think of a cool name for Khan, what are your other reps names? Tugg is the Red Ig, any others?


----------



## NicolasB (Jul 11, 2009)

sorry mate, only read the rest of the reply now and saw all the names in your sig...

I agree with you RE the farm, i guess when you are breeding on that scale it is difficult to have personal interaction with every animal, which is a shame really because from what i hear he has an amazing setup. I know the feeling tho, my male is the same, but lucky for me they only poo in their water bowl so i dont have a problem with a stinky viv! :no1:

You could call her Cassy? (Female version of Cassius Clay, seeing as she likes to fight with you so much!) :lol2:


----------



## G.R/Trooper (Feb 20, 2011)

NicolasB said:


> Either way thats still cool mate! just a thought, but have you considered doing the vivs yourself? materials etc will work out a LOT cheaper than paying someone to do it for you. I used to run a small viv building business in SA, called Titan Terrariums (Named after one of my Ig's) and we did everything from custom vivs to the basic stuff and to be honest, for the amount of work involved it might be worth looking at, specially if you can do the wiring etc yourself and save some cash on that front...
> 
> If you think this might be something you would wanna look into further let me know, i wouldnt mind giving a helping hand and all it would cost you is coffee and some graze! Lol!
> 
> ...


By all means get carried away. I did think of doing it myself but i only ever built one viv, so it may be worthwhile getting your help on it then!

It's a great idea speaking to john but i'm unsure he would do that little deal for me =(

Erm we have the 5 Beardies (Sylvanas, Chromie, Stevie Wonder, Jumbo & Bolvar). Then we have the 3 CWD's (Aqua, Poseidon & Ariel). The Iggy (Tugg), The Tegu (Tyrone) and my adorable Anoles (Three Musketeers).

I'm now getting puzzled for names =( 

The benefit i suppose of doing it myself is being able to get everything the way i want it. Where do you live btw?

What other water themes are there? That is female. Considering she loves the water.


----------



## burbidgetodd (Aug 19, 2011)

Rango7 said:


> Ahh man, i didnt realise about the nose rub thing.
> Do you know what else as well as newspaper i could put on the inside of the tank to aviod my water dragon nose rubbing the glass??
> 
> And by the way Your water dragon is gorgeous!  how old is he/she?


 we have been told she is about two y/o but i have taken that with a pinch of salt as we were also told that she was a he


----------



## NicolasB (Jul 11, 2009)

G.R/Trooper said:


> By all means get carried away. I did think of doing it myself but i only ever built one viv, so it may be worthwhile getting your help on it then!
> 
> More than happy to help out if needed mate, i have built many vivs over the years, we used to carry around 30 in stock at any given time. I like getting my hands dirty!
> 
> ...


*Amphitrite is poseidons wife's name (Goddess of the water i suppose) you could call her Amphy?*


----------



## NicolasB (Jul 11, 2009)

burbidgetodd said:


> we have been told she is about two y/o but i have taken that with a pinch of salt as we were also told that she was a he


Ha Ha! sexing WD's is a nightmare mate, so dont feel like you been had! ha ha! how big is she/he? if its 2 then it should be well over a foot already...


----------



## G.R/Trooper (Feb 20, 2011)

NicolasB said:


> *Amphitrite is poseidons wife's name (Goddess of the water i suppose) you could call her Amphy?*


Like it, i may have that one. Yeah if you was able to come down i would pay for your travel costs etc. I think you are right i should do the building myself that way i can close down all the costs and get every enclosure exactly how i want it. Might go and buy all the wood in a few weeks and begin building the basic shells so everything can be done one step at a time.


----------



## NicolasB (Jul 11, 2009)

G.R/Trooper said:


> Like it, i may have that one. Yeah if you was able to come down i would pay for your travel costs etc. I think you are right i should do the building myself that way i can close down all the costs and get every enclosure exactly how i want it. Might go and buy all the wood in a few weeks and begin building the basic shells so everything can be done one step at a time.


Glad you like the name! there is a company I came across that will do all the cutting etc for you and deliver, which to be honest will work out the same price as buying board yourself and having to cut it...

If you have all the tools (Table saw, nail gun, compressor etc) it can be easily done?

like you say, doing it yourself gives you the freedom to have it the way you want it.

Before you build anything mate, maybe send me the dimensions of the garage and i can do some basic designs for you and get your thoughts? (Just dont expect them to be CAD deisgns accurate to the MM!) ha ha!

I would also suggest doing them in sections, rather than a plethera of single vivs. We did a job for a shop in SA where we built 4 stacks, 1.5m wide each, on castors, so easily moved, and then all just pushed into place and held together with some simple bracketary... it will save you loads of cash on materials doing it that way, rather than doing individual vivs... (The sides of the vivs can share a single sheet of board, saving you 50% on those materials as well as saving you valuable space in the garage...)

Let me know what you think, maybe even drop me a pm with your email address and we can communicate that way, its easier for me and i can also send you some pics of vivs we have done in the past...


----------



## burbidgetodd (Aug 19, 2011)

NicolasB said:


> Ha Ha! sexing WD's is a nightmare mate, so dont feel like you been had! ha ha! how big is she/he? if its 2 then it should be well over a foot already...


 i would say she is about a foot but she has lost some of her tail as she wasnt looked after by her privious owner and it looks like she had a bad shed but cant confirm her exact lenght at the min as she is at the shop we bought her from ready to go to the vets as she has lumps that look like tumors she goes in on friday


----------



## G.R/Trooper (Feb 20, 2011)

NicolasB said:


> Glad you like the name! there is a company I came across that will do all the cutting etc for you and deliver, which to be honest will work out the same price as buying board yourself and having to cut it...
> 
> If you have all the tools (Table saw, nail gun, compressor etc) it can be easily done?
> 
> ...


Yeah i was going to build them as single sheet dividers and you are right it will save a bomb. That would be awesome if you could i'll PM you now. I'm just building the website atm. PM Incoming.


----------



## NicolasB (Jul 11, 2009)

burbidgetodd said:


> i would say she is about a foot but she has lost some of her tail as she wasnt looked after by her privious owner and it looks like she had a bad shed but cant confirm her exact lenght at the min as she is at the shop we bought her from ready to go to the vets as she has lumps that look like tumors she goes in on friday


 
good luck with the vets trip mate! There is no nice way of saying this, but prepare for the worst, i had an ig with a lump on his throat, spent over £300 on surgery and he still passed away amonth later.

I really hope this is not the case for you though! please let us know how you get on though, I would love to hear good news! : victory:


----------



## G.R/Trooper (Feb 20, 2011)

NicolasB said:


> good luck with the vets trip mate! There is no nice way of saying this, but prepare for the worst, i had an ig with a lump on his throat, spent over £300 on surgery and he still passed away amonth later.
> 
> I really hope this is not the case for you though! please let us know how you get on though, I would love to hear good news! : victory:


I second those thoughts. Hope all goes well.


----------



## burbidgetodd (Aug 19, 2011)

will let every 1 know haw she gets on as soon as i know but i dont think its looking to good at the moment


----------



## NicolasB (Jul 11, 2009)

burbidgetodd said:


> will let every 1 know haw she gets on as soon as i know but i dont think its looking to good at the moment


Just try stay positive mate, i know its difficult in this situation, but keep the faith, so to speak...

GOOD LUCK! : victory:


----------



## burbidgetodd (Aug 19, 2011)

cheers for the kind words guys


----------



## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

WOW! spent a while reading this...

some good posts guys, even I learnt a thing or two:lol2:

Nic, I had to dash this morning, sorry couldn't finish out convo on our forum.: victory:

p.s you won the lottery yet:Na_Na_Na_Na:


----------



## NicolasB (Jul 11, 2009)

Salazare Slytherin said:


> WOW! spent a while reading this...
> 
> some good posts guys, even I learnt a thing or two:lol2:
> 
> ...


Ha Ha! no worries Sal, I thought after our convo I would actually get some work done, then i started speaking to Trooper and as you can see from thread, rather than getting any work done I seem to have mapped out an epic journey instead! LMAO!

Glad you learnt some stuff mate, always good to share the wealth of knowledge...

and no i havent won yet mate, the draw is only at 10pm! :lol2:


----------



## G.R/Trooper (Feb 20, 2011)

NicolasB said:


> Glad you learnt some stuff mate, always good to share the wealth of knowledge...


The trouble with experience, is once you get enough of it you are too bloody old to do anything with it.


----------



## NicolasB (Jul 11, 2009)

G.R/Trooper said:


> The trouble with experience, is once you get enough of it you are too bloody old to do anything with it.


Speak for yourself mate! :lol2::Na_Na_Na_Na:

They say you only as young as the person you feel, hence why I married a younger woman! :mf_dribble::lol2:


----------



## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

G.R/Trooper said:


> The trouble with experience, is once you get enough of it you are too bloody old to do anything with it.


 
as my aunty once said to me.... she had been into reps all her life (not a blood aunty I just called her aunty)
pretty old too.



> we made the mistakes, so you don't have too


passing on an expirience can and has saved lives.: victory:


----------



## G.R/Trooper (Feb 20, 2011)

NicolasB said:


> Speak for yourself mate! :lol2::Na_Na_Na_Na:
> 
> They say you only as young as the person you feel, hence why I married a younger woman! :mf_dribble::lol2:


I'm screwed then, the gf is five years older =(



Salazare Slytherin said:


> as my aunty once said to me.... she had been into reps all her life (not a blood aunty I just called her aunty)
> pretty old too.
> 
> 
> passing on an expirience can and has saved lives.: victory:


Haha she sounds like a legend. Theres a woman in our local shop that has like 12 snakes and she's 64 or something. I want to be that age walking my Iguana to the shops each day.


----------



## Rango7 (Aug 9, 2011)

Ive decided I am going to put some black Cable Tape around the bottom of the glass in the vivarium and see how that works out. 

do you guys think its best to stick the tape to the inside or outside if the vivarium or does it not matter?


----------



## Barlow (Sep 23, 2010)

I kept and bred many water dragons for many years. I never had a single problem with nose rub. In fact I don't think the problem is them rubbing their noses it is when they run smack into the glass at full speed. I always provided mine with a 12" bottom plynth that was full of 6" of damp sand. This provided egg laying sites as well as helping to hold humidity. I breed monitors now and if I could do the CWD thing over again I'd keep them on an even deeper substate that would maintain humidity without the need to spray often!


----------



## G.R/Trooper (Feb 20, 2011)

Barlow said:


> I kept and bred many water dragons for many years. I never had a single problem with nose rub. In fact I don't think the problem is them rubbing their noses it is when they run smack into the glass at full speed. I always provided mine with a 12" bottom plynth that was full of 6" of damp sand. This provided egg laying sites as well as helping to hold humidity. I breed monitors now and if I could do the CWD thing over again I'd keep them on an even deeper substate that would maintain humidity without the need to spray often!


There is no way you could have a sensible sized viv with the correct tempreture variants and optimum humidity without the need for spraying. How would you manage to get the two humidity levels in the morning and evening but allow it to partially dry out during the day? 

I don't mean to sound rude but you was either keeping them in a 3 foot high enclosure, had the entire vivarium 95+ on temps, or it's a load of bull.


----------

