I just recently bought to juvenile chinese water dragons, one is quite a bit larger than the other one, and i had some questions now that i'm not at the pet store and i've been observing them for about 4 days. 1. I started off buying a 40 gallon tank until they get larger, and i was planning on getting one around 75 gallons when they start growing a bit larger, should that be big enough for the both of them? 2. I was curious just from reading around, how i could tell some early signs of their genders, the larger dragon is about 14 inches from snout to tail and the smaller one is about 10 inches same measurement. The larger one i've convinced myself is a male because 'he' has much larger crests already then the smaller one and is getting a peachy color under his joules, he is a darker forest green on top and mint green on the sides, the smaller one is a mint green all over, smaller joules, and is all white on the bottom but i'm sure 'she' is only 2 months old or so. I will try and get some pictures onto this topic of each one soon. 3. Is it normal in their first few days to try to jump out of the cage when i open it to put in crickets, meal worms, and new water? The larger one does it more than the smaller, but when i hold the larger one he tends to try and escape, so i have to close my door and make sure I don't get to close to something while I hold 'him.' However, the younger/smaller one loves to be held from what i've noticed, 'she' doesn't get jumpy, she lays her head down, and depending on the time of day, 'she may attempt to go to sleep. But should i try and keep them out more if they are constantly jumping at the roof? 4. I have been feeding them about 5 crickets a day, in the morning, and depending on how many there are two hours before bed time for them, i'll put a few in. But about how often should i feed them? I always leave the meal worms in a food dish in case i'm not home if they run out of crickets, which by the way, today the 'boy' was up on the highest perch that he likes to climb onto when i got home from basketball and there weren't any crickets, when i walked in he perked up and looked like he does when he gets ready to jump, and I dropped two crickets in and when the first one was falling he jumped off the perch and caught the cricket in the air, i wish i had known he was gonna try that, i would have made a video, but i thought it was cool and unusual. 5. My younger dragon appears, from my basic knowledge at least, to have injured one of the rear foot toes (second from the last.) The joints look a little swollen and the toe doesn't follow the same path i guess, since it's long, as the one on the other foot, it doesn't bother 'her' from what i've seen, she runs a lot and jumps into the pool between the two little logs that are above it, but i don't know how serious it is or what to do about it if i need to get it taken care of. 6. I read in another topic that head bobbing might show dominance and arm 'swiping' or 'clawing' might mean they are showing submissiveness, both of my dragons do that, but the larger one doesn't claw, but they only seem to do it when they get excited when i start getting the crickets or if i walk in the room and open the cage, they run up and down the front of the cage and bob their heads. Does that really mean anything or does that just mean they might want out of the cage when i walk in? 7. I get very nervous when my 'boy' dragon gets excited though for what seems like no reason while i'm watching them, because he jumps at the glass around the sides that are covered on the cage and tries to grab hold of the hygrometer, i noticed that 'he' has what look like sores around his mouth on his snout, i read two things on this though, one: 'he' is running across the glass to much, two: if indeed 'he' is a boy then they will have larger lower joules like a small under bite, and while they are growing the scales stretch and expose the skin below more so than the females which might look like a sore or bleeding. should i be concerned about that? if so how might i stop 'him' from trying to do that so much? 8. Are the tempers and personalities noticeably different between genders? 9. How important is it to keep the cage at 75%-80% humidity? Since i'm not home 24/7 and my parents work, I can't constantly mist them and such, but I try to get my parents to mist them while I'm at school, but even when they are completely soaked and i have the moss in the cage very damp the humidity hovers near 55-65% with the temperature at 68-72'F at night and 83-87'F in the day. My 'girl' dragon loves to be misted and runs up on a perch opens he mouth and then lays down when i get the mister going no matter how long i spray 'her.' But on the other end, the 'boy' normally dislikes the mister and will sit still for a few seconds and then will run under the fake bush to get out of the way of the mister. I try my best with the humidity but i don't know how to get it any more humid or keep it humid in the cage for them. 10. I just started attempting to handle them today since it's been three days and i want them to get used to me asap. About how long should i hold them for the first few days between sessions without stressing them out, or if they like it, still getting them back in the cage, they don't really like me initially picking them up but once they are out, the 'girl' is perfectly calm and seems content, where the 'boy' is a spas and loves running and wants to explore and looks around then tries to jump on nearby furniture, but 'he' doesn't mind getting picked up as much. 11. How often should i sprinkle calcium dust on things in the tank such as the water and meal worms? 12. How far up would jumping hurt them? i'm really nervous that my 'male' will jump when i'm holding him and miss what he is jumping at, i'm 5'11" and if he missed some furniture and landed on the floor from my shoulder about 5'2" up or from missing the bed but a broken fall from about 3 feet. 13. What are some things that they might enjoy doing outside of their cage? I think they pretty much hate being in the cage but if i get them out they are fine but just seem bored, especially the 'boy.' 14. Assuming they are boy and girl, when they come of age, what should i do if they start breeding? I realize there is a long time until that but i just want to know what to expect generally. I really hope you guys can help because i want to give these dragons the best life that they can and i love them so much already, i just really want to make sure that i'm doing everything well and how to make sure they are comfortable and calm around me and enjoy playing. Thanks a ton if you could answer any questions!
Alright, I'm going to do my best to answer some of your questions, but I am by no means a WD expert and anyone can feel free to correct anything I say. First off, I would just like to warn you that getting them from a pet store is a hit or miss. I got my CWD from a petstore and he got extremely sick. So make sure you watch their personalities closely. I speak from experience, force feeding a sick CWD is not fun. Anyways, on to your questions: 4. they should be given as many crickets as they can eat in 10-15 minutes and probably about 2-3 times daily. They're growing and need lots of food! Do you give them any vegetables? 5. My WD has really knobby toes, so if it doesn't look infected or painful, I would just keep an eye on it. If it looks like it's getting bigger or they are not using it, consult a vet. 8. From what I've heard, males get a little tense during their mating times, but every dragon has its day. Get them used to being handled early, so it doesn't become a problem when they're older. 9. Humidity is pretty important. If you can't keep it up all day, try giving them a bath to let them get the skin moisturized. If it's too dry, they have trouble shedding which could leave to problems. 10. It's good that you're getting them used to be handled early. If they seem really stressed out, put them back. Start with short sessions and progressively get longer. You could even put your hand in their tank every once in a while for a few minutes so they recognize your smell and also don't think that every time your hand is in there means they are being picked up. I like to touch Willy's back or head while he's in his tank so he gets used to my touch and scent. And I know this sounds weird, but I also talk to him. I don't know if he can recognize my voice or not, but anything to help! I like to say hi to him every time I walk in my room or when he's roaming around. Be careful with them jumping off your shoulder, they have fragile bones and could easily be hurt on the way down! 13. You could buy one of those big fake trees for them to climb up, I'm sure they would love that!
