ok so i purchased my first chinese water dragon about 4 months ago,just a baby..........she has blossomed very fast,very friendly and of course loves to run and jump haha,i have gone thru 3 tanks with the first and about a month ago i got her a huge terrarium with folding fronts....plenty of water and foliage and climbing she loves it,very colorful,today i bought her a friend,was scared to get a male just yet so i got another female about the same size,and they are already inseperable by nightfall lol......my question or questions i should say are this.....do you think they will continue this mutual relationship and when can i invite a male into the terrarium....yes i wanna breed!!!!
You COULD invite a male into the terrarium at any time. But of course you would need to be prepared to take it out if any problems came up. There is always a risk with introducing a new cage mate, male or female, mites and fights would be the most common. If you do insist on introducing a new dragon to the cage make sure it is of similar size. If one of them is bigger than the other it could intimidate the others to stop eating. I have been debating with myself on wether to get another dragon or not, and have decided not to because of the risk. If they dont get along then you will need to get a seperate cage for them. If you want my opinion you should just be happy that you have 2 dragons male or female that get along for now, and you shouldn't take the risk of a third. Also how are you certain that your dragons are both female? One of them could be a male and you wouldnt want a 2nd or even 3rd male.
I must admit I was quite lucky. My female was a full grown adult when I introduced a 4 month old male. Watched them very carefully for a few days until I saw them cuddling up at night. She was protective over him and he would sit on her back and then make sure he was ok during the day by following him. 8 months later I have just had my first clutch of eggs from them. I'm not saying this is the best way to do it, just this worked for me.
Your male was only 12 months old when he was mating with the female? That cant be right, he wouldnt even be close to full grown at that age. Please tell me I read that wrong.
I just have a quick question how long is your water dragons Ruks because you keep saying female but males show female traits until I believe its like 16 to 18 inches in length when they start to form the spike trait of the male down there back until then they are basically unsexable unless probed which I believe is not a good thing..So I would stick with just the two you have right now because if both of them turn out to be Male you will have to seperate them cause they will start fighting over dominence which isnt a good thing. I have one Male Water dragon and one female which I keep seperate because right now I dont want no little babies running around as mine are 28 inches in length and 24 inches in length as of right now. So I would suggest sticking to what you have right now till you are absolutely sure you dont have a male already..Also If you do end up with a male n female be sure to watch them closely because in the wild they dont hang out with eachother or anything like that there very much a solitary lizard only coming together to breed.So housing a male and female can cause alot of problems males will usually dominate the female so badly that she will stop eating,bathing anything like that. So even though it seem awesome right now they get along great that can quickly change when the male gets twice her size.
Just a comment....for future reference...when you buy a new lizard, you should never put it in with one you've had for a while without quarantining it first. You asked..."do you think they will continue this mutual relationship and when can i invite a male into the terrarium....yes i wanna breed!!!!"...some will get along forever and others won't. You will just have to watch them and see. I wouldn't put a male in with the females until they are three years old. By that time, they are old enough to breed and close enough to full grown that producing eggs won't hurt them. You need to make sure that your cage is big enough to hold the three of them too....of course.
ok so now there is some arm waving and head bobbing going on,the new one which is a little bigger seems to try to dominate the terrarium......is this normal behavior?bad behavior?
RE: tiamat top one is lizzy,our first...bottom one is the newbie...tiamat....which is the one who is initiating the head bobs and arm waving tiamat also climbs onto lizzys back....tiamat has a row of small spike like things between her legs???
RE: tiamat tiamat could be a boy...I'm not 100% sure....but just look at the difference in the back of the neck and the spikes.
RE: tiamat Head bobbing & arm waving are dominant/submissive behaviour. Just a quick background - the dragons that Beardedmania is talking about are ours, Sprite & Oscar. Oscar was a rescue, and after quarentine, he was introduced to Sprite (they were, at that time, approx the same size). For several months, everything was hunky-dory...then one day, Oscar decided he was a BIG TOUGH MALE and actually attacked my girl. Well, that was that & that day, he got a bacholar pad. Moral of the story...even if they've gotten along in the past does NOT mean they will indefinately. In Oscar's case...when he came, he was in BAD shape, we got him fixed up and healthy, and then all of a sudden...it's breeding season, he's feeling like the Man, and there's just a pretty lil thing sitting there (Sprite). She lost 2 spikes on her little cresit because of his "armourous advances" before I grabbed him. It's much safer to keep them seperate. Also, it seems that your already experiancing dominant/territorial behaviour, so might as well jump the gun & seperate before someone gets hurt. It's taken MONTHS for Sprite to recover (my eternal apologies to my baby, and boy oh boy does she get spoiled now) and she'll STILL freak out if she even sees Oscar. I'd vote play it safe. At least until your ceratin of the sex of both, they're far to young to tell right now. For several months when I first had just Sprite..."his" name was "Draco"...! ~Michelle
RE: tiamat Earlier you said - tiamat has a row of small spike like things between her legs??? If by that you mean femoral pores. It sounds like Tiamat is a male, which is most likely why he is desplaying dominant behaviour. If I were I'd take the advice shorty girl gave you and make sure you seperate them soon. Also If your male and female reproduce a little earlier than they should it could do damage for your female. Try to find pictures of femoral pores on the internet and compare it to Tiamat, just so you can get an idea for yourself.
RE: tiamat Id agree with shortygirl id seperate them soon as possible..By looks of the second picture you have, it definately is starting to show male characteristics..Theres a few simple ways to tell because he or she can be showin these signs by 15 inches..The spikes going down your water dragons back there will be a line of longer spikes followed by smaller spikes in between them a very easy way to tell if its a male or not..Since a female water dragon doesnt get the secondary spikes..Also the tail will start to get very thick right behind the legs and a little indentation will start to show right behind the legs and the beginning of his tail which is a little difficult for me to see in that picture..Other reasons for the arm raising and head bobbing is your other one might be a male also which is very bad because the bigger one can attack and severely hurt him or her..Or they could end up being females and are trying to distinquish dominence between the two which can lead to alot of problems for the less dominant one..The more dominant female or male can stop her from getting to the water bowl, from eating all these types of things which in the end will prove fatal to the less dominant dragon if not seperated quickly...So just play it safe and seperate them Water Dragons are solitary creatures anyways only coming together to breed so make them both happy and give them there own little home..
Re: RE: intested Yes he was - but he's an exceptionally big boy. He went into my 5x4x2 viv and within 8 months he is currently the same size as the female. The reason I didn't quarantine was because I knew exactly where he came from. Any reptiles I buy from unknown sources get quarantined for at least six months.
