My husband and I have been looking for a Chinese Water Dragon for some time now, so when we were told by a local pet store that they had one in that they would give to us for free we went in right away to take a look at him. They told us over the phone that he had a problem with rubbing his snout on the glass a lot, and that his mouth was quite torn up, but other than that he seemed like a healthy dragon. When we got there it was worse than I expected, but definitely still treatable. He was also missing 2 toes on his right front foot and one toe on his left front foot, but still, it's not a huge deal. So I told them that I would take him and we came back home with a new addition. We've been setting up his cage and I also cleaned up his mouth a bit, but then I started to notice something...he doesn't really respond to anything unless he hears it or feels it. My husband and I started to try some things to see if he ever really moved his eyes to look at anything, and sadly, only one eye ever does and it's a very rare occurrence I was just wondering if there was any way to treat his one eye that he can still slightly use. If not, some tips from other reptile owners with blind reptiles would be nice...or any tips in general actually. I wasn't expecting this, but I am more than happy to give him a good life.
You need a vet to tell you if the eye can be saved. Concerning the possibility of it being blind, if you put some greens, veggies and fruit on a plate in the same place it should learn to go there to eat. You may have to hand feed it insects. I have kept water dragons for over 15 years and this is what I do... I use a regular household incandescent light bulb of an appropriate wattage to produce the proper temperature in the basking area. I put it in a hood and place it at one end of the aquarium so that there will be a warm end and a cooler end. I keep the basking area for an adult or subadult in the high 80's to low 90'sF. (This is too warm for hatchlings.) Appropriate temperatures are important for good digestion thus play a part in nutrient absorption. I use a Repti-sun 5.0 to provide UVB. Exposing your dragon to UVB allows it to produce vitamin D3 which allows it to use the calcium in its diet. The best source of UVB is the sun. UVB light from the sun or the fluorescent UVB light should not pass through glass or plastic. Also, the compact/spiral UVB bulbs have been causing photo kerato conjuctivitus so I don't recommend using them. I provide a container of water that is big enough for the dragon to completely fit into and deep enough that when his feet are on the floor of the container his head is still out of water. I change it daily. I feed the dragon an assortment of insects that have been fed a nutritious diet and gutloaded before they are fed to the dragon. I feed the crickets an assortment of greens (dandelion, kale, collards, curly endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, zucchini, sweet red peppers, etc.). Most of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous so I dust them before feeding them to the dragons with a phos.-free calcium powder at most feedings to help make up for it. I also dust with a vitamin powder twice a month that contains a beta carotene source of vitamin A. Beta carotene can not build up in the system like preformed vitamin A can. Excess preformed vitamin A can prevent the D3 from doing its job and lead to MBD. (PrEformed vitamin A comes from animal sources like mice but beta carotene aka prOformed vitamin A comes from greens and veggies.) Since my dragons don't get any direct sunlight, I also dust with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder lightly twice a month. D3 from supplements can build up in the system, so don't overdo it. Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are all important players in bone health and need to be in balance. When trying to achieve the balance, look at your supplements and what you feed to the dragon and to the insects. In addition to insects, I feed my dragons the same assortment of greens and veggies that I feed to the crickets along with a bit of fruit (apple, pear, melon, berries, etc.). I do this 2 or 3 times a week. Be careful if you use any real plants in the dragon's cage...they need to be non-toxic and well washed (both sides of the leaves). If your dragon turns out to be female, once she is about 3 years of age she could lay eggs even when not mated...so its important to provide a suitable place for her to lay them. Hope this helps!
