# Do chinese water dragons eat fish.



## krytes (Oct 17, 2009)

Is it OK to feed a chinese water dragon fish?
Your knowledge on this would be appreciated?


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## ginnerone (Aug 2, 2009)

only if supplied with chips LMFAO, 
i have heard of people giving them tropical fresh water fish, same as Tokays, i have never tried it personally because tropical fish are about a fiver each and the bacteria worries etc.


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## krytes (Oct 17, 2009)

ginnerone said:


> only if supplied with chips LMFAO,
> i have heard of people giving them tropical fresh water fish, same as Tokays, i have never tried it personally because tropical fish are about a fiver each and the bacteria worries etc.


Thanks.:lol2:
Mine hasn't eaten since I got her. She wasn't being kept very well.
I have just offerred her cooked pilchards because that's all I have fish wise. She's taking an interest in it. She wouldn't take insects or mice.
I have dusted the fish.


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## ginnerone (Aug 2, 2009)

tried to find out where i read that they eat fish, 
it was on Tokays but they said CWD ate them two.
I'm sure it said tropical fresh water fish but i never tried it.
I would assume if it's fit for human consumption then it'll be fine for the CWD (the fish that is) but i would be conserned about the salt and fat content etc.


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## Keir64 (Oct 12, 2009)

I was thinking about having a few freshwater tropical fish in the viv im building.. the water is going to have a shallow end at about 10-15cms deep and a deep end at about 1ft deep.. my basilisk is going to be in it and i was wondering if he took up fishing as his new hobby if it would be harmful for him.. lol


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## KerryLou (Aug 19, 2009)

I read on another forum of a CWD owner feeding goldfish to his. I would like to know what is & what isnt safe to feed them cos I think my guys would love it


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## krytes (Oct 17, 2009)

ginnerone said:


> tried to find out where i read that they eat fish,
> it was on Tokays but they said CWD ate them two.
> I'm sure it said tropical fresh water fish but i never tried it.
> I would assume if it's fit for human consumption then it'll be fine for the CWD (the fish that is) but i would be conserned about the salt and fat content etc.


fatty fish and salt. Oh yeah. 

Maybe if she takes to it in the short term, I could use the scent to try and coax her in to eating other things; like they do with some snakes.


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## ginnerone (Aug 2, 2009)

thats why they said fresh water fish, i seen em swimming underwater for about 20mins holding their breath so i would imagine the fish wouldn't last long LMFAO


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## krytes (Oct 17, 2009)

ginnerone said:


> thats why they said fresh water fish, i seen em swimming underwater for about 20mins holding their breath so i would imagine the fish wouldn't last long LMFAO


Thanks. Keep smiling.


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## Jim2109 (Mar 30, 2009)

im not sure how keen their sense of smell is tbh. mine eat everything based on movement, if it doesnt move then they dont even look at it.

fish from shops can carry tons of parasites, unless you keep the fish yourself in a well maintained tank id be reluctant to feed them off. if yours like fish then you could breed some yourself, its not supposed to be too tricky.


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## krytes (Oct 17, 2009)

Jim2109 said:


> im not sure how keen their sense of smell is tbh. mine eat everything based on movement, if it doesnt move then they dont even look at it.
> 
> fish from shops can carry tons of parasites, unless you keep the fish yourself in a well maintained tank id be reluctant to feed them off. if yours like fish then you could breed some yourself, its not supposed to be too tricky.


Thanks.


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## cordylidae (Nov 2, 2008)

Jim2109 said:


> im not sure how keen their sense of smell is tbh. mine eat everything based on movement, if it doesnt move then they dont even look at it.
> 
> fish from shops can carry tons of parasites, unless you keep the fish yourself in a well maintained tank id be reluctant to feed them off. if yours like fish then you could breed some yourself, its not supposed to be too tricky.


id agree with this petshop fish can be full of parasites and have bacteria/pathogens that may be harmful to the lizards but to the fish even if you breed yourself then they are still at risk.

i wouldnt do it. theyre fine on the food they are eating now if you want a more varied diet use roaches locust pheonix worms butterwoms etc but i wouldnt use fish


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## _Jay_ (Dec 14, 2008)

I feed my male and female Dragons fish for a treat but they don't seem to be interested unless it's moving around quickly in the 2x2ft tank at the bottom of the viv, if you take it out and put it in front of them they go mad for it as it's flapping but if they are in the water they'll swim around with them!

they love them and it's a good source of protein if nothing else.. just a bit expensive to do it often (£1.99 a goldfish!).. :2thumb:


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## krytes (Oct 17, 2009)

Thanks allot


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## scotty123 (Sep 16, 2007)

personally id be more worried why she isnt eating in the first place - its not likely to be becasue she doesnt like locusts/crickets.

have you had her checked over from the vets? 

could be parasites - also could be gravid/egg bound?


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## Herpmad V2.0 (Nov 3, 2006)

if you go to a tropical fish shop and ask them for frozen lance or sprats these are ok for reptile consumption as there frozen just defrost in cold water i have feed these to wd in the past and i uses these with all my monitor its about £2 for a tray and they love them they are whole fish too so all bones etc much better than shop brought fish. if your going to put live fish in a vivarium its worth setting up a separate tank and quarentine them as most fish carry worms this is easy to treat but just becareful wat fish you add due to spike etc if you stick to comunity fish such a guppy mollys and the like they are fine


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## Keir64 (Oct 12, 2009)

Yeah, i think as long as you quarentine them and treat them they should be fine..


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## Herpmad V2.0 (Nov 3, 2006)

just dont forget to take carbon out of your filter when adding the treatment lol i used to keep live fish in with my snapper before she went in a pond


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## Jim2109 (Mar 30, 2009)

i plan to add feeder fish to my vivarium eventually. its got a 30 gallon water tank in it, so theres plenty of space lol. i think if they are quarantined in a holding tank for a while with UV sterilization it should take care of parasites, bacteria, etc. its the same as shop-bought reptiles, you never trust them to be parasite free, but if you quarantine them for a while any problems come to light and can be treated. fish will be the same. the issue lies in buying them from a fish shop and feeding them off the next day. shops have loads of tanks, and even the best maintained premises cant be perfect. fish come and go regularly from unknown sources, so its inevitable.


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## Herpmad V2.0 (Nov 3, 2006)

Jim2109 said:


> i plan to add feeder fish to my vivarium eventually. its got a 30 gallon water tank in it, so theres plenty of space lol. i think if they are quarantined in a holding tank for a while with UV sterilization it should take care of parasites, bacteria, etc. its the same as shop-bought reptiles, you never trust them to be parasite free, but if you quarantine them for a while any problems come to light and can be treated. fish will be the same. the issue lies in buying them from a fish shop and feeding them off the next day. shops have loads of tanks, and even the best maintained premises cant be perfect. fish come and go regularly from unknown sources, so its inevitable.


the problem with fish is they are never treated for worms when i used to breed tropicals any adults we brought in we treated for worms but shops dont and they dont seem to ill effect the fish there just there, but this means they will need treatment even if you quarantine fish they may show no signs of it other problems like white spot or cloudy eye wont effect the reptiles worth just reading up and check wats wat first.


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## Askey (Feb 14, 2017)

*Fish*

I have a young CWD living in a 6' terrarium. He has two small Minnow which live with him permanently in his pond. He often takes a swim in there but doesn't show much interest in them really. I've noticed him eyeing them a few times, but he always seems to decide against eating them for whatever reason. I think feeding fish to CWD is fine, from what I understand, but I'm not so sure on the bacteria issue. The two fish who live side by side with my dragon have been in the terrarium longer than he has, they live in a small pond where the water is filtered, and regularly changed. I hope this will not cause him any issues ever. I've heard of other people feeding CWD minnows before now, hence the choice of fish (cold water fish).

Askey & Misty -


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## Satch (Sep 25, 2009)

It's not a problem in small quantities but IIRC minows have thiaminase in them, so you wouldn't want then to become a large part of their diet. You'd be better off with some live bearers in there. Although you still face a parasite risk.


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