FEEDING AND HANDLING
In captivity, green water dragons are primarily carnivorous, but they also eat a significant amount of plant matter. The following are recommended diets:
Hatchlings and Juveniles
Offer food to hatchling and juvenile water dragons every two days. Feed them two-to three-week-old crickets and supplement the insects with vitamins and minerals at every other feeding. Also offer finely chopped or grated fruits and vegetables, which will be taken by some lizards. Maintain the crickets on a high-quality diet, such as ground rodent or monkey chow and high-protein baby cereal or tropical fish flakes, prior to feeding to the lizards. As a water source, offer sections of orange to the crickets.
As they grow, give young water dragons correspondingly larger crickets and occasionally feed them waxworms and small mealworms. Eventually, you can offer the occasional day-old pink (newborn) mouse and, as they grow, fuzzy mice. With younger animals, it is preferable to offer three to four small food items at a feeding instead of a single large food item. Prey items should be no longer than the length of your water dragon’s head and no wider than half the width of the head, preferably about one-third of the width.
Adults
Feed subadults and adults every three to four days. Offer them small mice, adult crickets, and king mealworms (Zophobas). Also offer some plant matter, including: thawed, mixed vegetables, bananas, strawberries, and melon. Some dragons also eat soaked monkey chow, but it should not make up more than 10 percent of their diet.
Supplementation
A diet of store bought crickets and mealworms will not provide the necessary nutrients to assure the long-term health of insect-eating lizards. In the wild, the diet of lizards is usually more varied and other factors, such as the incidental ingestion of soil (a potential source of trace minerals) and exposure to sunlight (which allows many diurnal lizards to synthesize vitamin D3), assure that they receive a proper range of vitamins and minerals. For lizard keepers, assessing supplementation of the diet is not easy and varies from species to species.
In general, common reptile vitamin/mineral supplements fall under two categories: multivitamin mineral supplements with or without vitamin D3; and calcium carbonate powder with or without vitamin D3. Two formulas that generally work well for a wide range of species are: (1) mix two parts reptile multivitamin/mineral supplement with vitamin D3 to one part calcium carbonate without vitamin D3; or (2) mix two parts multivitamin/mineral supplement without vitamin D3 to one part calcium carbonate with vitamin D3.
How often and how much to supplement is a matter of controversy. Several experts advise supplementing insects only every one to two weeks, as long as the insects are offered a varied diet. I prefer providing small amounts of supplementation at every feeding. This schedule has proved very successful for keeping a number of lizard species long-term (including other agamids, such as frilled lizards and uromastyx). To supplement or dust insects, add only a pinch of powdered vitamin/mineral mix per animal in a jar, then add the feeder insects. Stir them lightly so that they end up with just a thin dusting of powdered supplement. The key to understanding this method is the term “dusting.” Once applied, the supplement layer should resemble a thin film of dust—not a white powder coating. Regular application of a thick coat of supplement will almost certainly lead to health problems.
Let There Be Heat
The best possible diet will be ineffective or harmful if proper temperature is not provided. Like other reptiles, green water dragons are ectotherms (cold-blooded animals) that depend on environmental heat sources to achieve their desired body temperature, properly digest food, and absorb nutrients. Suboptimal temperature, a common occurrence in reptile enclosures in the winter, is a primary indirect cause of death in many captive reptiles. Long-term exposure to suboptimal temperatures depresses the immune system and makes these lizards more susceptible to disease. Suboptimal temperatures also reduce metabolic rate and impair kidney function, notably the rate that kidneys can clear uric acid, a waste by-product, from blood. A buildup in uric acid in blood can lead to gout, kidney disease, and ultimately kidney failure. The importance of proper lighting and a basking site that offers the right temperature range cannot be emphasized enough.
Handling and Escape
Established green water dragons usually allow themselves to be picked up and handled for brief periods of time. They do not, as a rule, enjoy extensive handling and petting. Never take green water dragons outdoors on your shoulder or allow them to run loose or unrestrained. Given the opportunity, a normally calm water dragon can take off with astounding speed. Exposure to the great outdoors and sunlight can make a “tame” water dragon run away so quickly it will be difficult to capture. Heed this warning.
Grooming
If you intend to handle your water dragon, you should occasionally clip the tips of its nails using a standard nail clipper. When clipping nails, avoid cutting the vein that runs through the nail. Under good lighting, the vein appears as a dark line through the middle of the nail.