So I purchased what I thought was a Pictus Gecko 4 months ago to the day, but after a trip to a different petstore it looks like I have a Chinese Water dragon. Now I have never owned a reptile before and have been going off things I have read off the internet on how to care for them. I can post pictures in a few hours to get a second opinion on the species. But he has been shedding for about a month now, recently has been going quicker. The skin underneath his old skin is a nice green color though. When I bought him he was a nice green color but after a month or so he turned to a dark brown. Recently I have been feeding him more, and making sure he eats the crickets but I did not know I need to feed him vegetables as well. Right now he appears to be in rough shape, When he breathes he takes really deep breaths at long intervals, he has a blister on the right side of his head, near his mouth; and has not grown very much at all. I thought the growing was normal as pictus geckos don't get very big. He lost part of his tail from a cricket attacking him, which i watched closely and it healed well, no oozing no redness no swelling. Now I have put some chopped up iceberg lettuce along with some carrots, but he seems to be ignoring them. I've also recently found out I need to dust all his crickets/waxworms in calcium so I've been doing that aswell. Now is there anything else I can be doing to improve his health?
I don't mean to be rude, but was this a simple impulse buy? I'm not real sure how a Gecko could be mixed up with a Water Dragon. Have you done any extra research? Read alot of caresheets. Please be sure to post pictures so we can confirm your reptiles species.
yea I will be able to post pics in a bit. It was an impulse buy, but I asked what was easy to maintain and we ended up coming to the conclusion of a Pictus. I have never owned or seen a pictus gecko before so I thought it was a pictus. I was misinformed by the petstore, I have the receipt and waiver saying they sold me a pictus gecko. I've been researching Chinese Water Dragons all night and it seems to be what it is by pictures, looking at the feet and head.
sorry for the camera phone pics, I will take more pics with a digital cam tommorow. This is what he looks like now: And this is what he looked like when i first got him:
Please post a picture so we can be sure that it is a water dragon. You need to find out what the blister is and have it treated and since he's breathing heavily, I recommend that you take it to the vets. Proper care for a water dragon is vastly different from a pictus gecko. If its a water dragon, it needs a basking area in the 80's and water to swim in that isn't deep enough to drown in. It should be fed a wide variety of greens (dandelion greens, kale, collards, endive, ROMAINE lettuce, etc.) and veggies (sweet red peppers, squash, carrots, zucchini, sweet potato, etc.) and some fruit (apple, pear, berries, melon, etc.) as well as well gutloaded crickets, superworms and other insects. It needs to have the insects dusted at most feedings with a phosphorous-free calcium powder. Insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phos. so this makes up for it. Twice a month dust with a vitamin powder that has a beta carotene source of vitamin A. Preformed vitamin A can build up in the system but beta carotene can't. If it doesn't get any direct sunlight, then its important to dust with calcium/D3 twice a month. D3 from supplements can build up in the system, so don't overdo it. It needs a UVB light (the light from it must not pass through glass or plastic) or exposure to direct sunlight. Hope this helps you to get the dragon back in shape.
I didn't see your pictures when I asked for you to post some...we must have posted at about the same time. Its definitely a water dragon. It looks like it might have some mouth rot going on...your pictures aren't clear enough to be sure. If it does you will need a vet to treat it. You need a container in its cage for it to soak in. They need fairly high humidity too....your cage doesn't look like it provides much humidity. A water dish will help.
well it is deff not a pictus gecko this is what a pictus gecko looks like to me it looks more like a horned mountain dragon like this one but it is not a gecko deff a lizard.
He actually has 2 water dishes, I'm grabbing a better cam right now and will post some better pics. edit:: Here is the blister i was talking about And here's a shot of his mouth
wow to be honest to you i cant really tell what kind of lizard he is but it looks like he has a bad case of mouth rot i highly suggest that you take him to a vet ASAP he looks in really bad shape and a vet can help you a whole lot better than any one on a forum.
Many of the orangey spots along the edge of his lip look like they could be infected. The blister is not looking good either. I strongly advise that you take it to a vet so that it can be cleaned out and it can be given some antibiotics....the poor thing must be uncomfortable to say the least. It doesn't look like its so far gone that it doesn't have a chance.
100% water dragon...you can tell by his before pic. A vet is really your only option. I have seen many a water dragon go downhill at work, and this guy look pretty bad. They are famous for mouthrot, as well as blisters on their skin. Odds are he has parasites too. he may very well be treatable but at this point only with a visit to a herp vet. In the meantime, 15 minute soaks in 90* water daily(looks like he's having a rough shed) give him as much food as he will take as often as he will take it, switch his substrate over to paper towels until his blister and mouth rot have been treated(paper towel is more sterile) and neosporin(without pain reliever) on the blister until you can get him to a vet. I would also have a talk with that pet store.
oh that poor baby...it is soooo important to get that cleared up...they have a water dragon at my school that needs to be syringe fed every day for the rest of it's life because it had such severe mouth rot it's lower jaw juts out about a half inch farther than his upper jaw...it's owner gave him to the school because he did not want to deal with it anymore...if you let it continue without medical attention it will stop eating and you will just watch it waste away to nothing and eventually it WILL die. i don't mean to be harsh but you really do need to know the truth...good luck with the baby and please see a herp vet as soon as they will take you
He was given back to the pet-store when they offered to take care of him and nurse him back to health. I hope he comes out okay.
here is a couple pictures of my water dragon just so you can see what they look like. Mine is about 12 inches. They are wonderful pets and would not give mine for all things in the world.
