Adult male water dragon 8/9yrs old with health issues (Devon)

[cpiggott22]

After much thought we feel our CWD would be best off with someone more experienced and able to give him more time. This is a very difficult decision to make so please bear with me as this will be a long and specific thread!

We first got Blow 2 years ago when we were asked to take him as his previous owner was unable to care for him. He was kept in very unsuitable conditions and fed an imbalanced diet with minimal supplementation and has consequently suffered some eating and digestive problems. During our first week of owning him he was taken to the vet as he was very lethargic and not eating much. He was given an injection of electrolytes and sugars (I think) to boost his metabolism. In two years he has steadily picked up but has been known to regurgitate food and we had to treat him for impaction a few months ago. Our herp vet believes his problems are resultant from his previous conditions and has pointed out that he's unlikely to live as long as other CWD. He can be a fussy feeder and is more willing to eat some days than others but does pass faeces and urate daily. His diet consists of morios, rat pups, fruit beetle grubs, locusts (only very occassionally as he tends to refuse them), green grapes and roaches. He doesn't bother with crickets and we've never managed to get him to eat more salad. He also has some difficulties shedding his 'saddle' and has some old skin there.

We've decided to look for a more suitable home as we feel a bit out of our depth with him. We haven't had CWD before so have no basis for comparison and no amount of research actually makes up for first hand experience. We've had difficulties keeping his humidity up and are concerned this will further degrade his health. Although I loath to give up on an animal I don't think it's fair to keep him out of guilt if there's a better home out there for him. We can't have him out of his viv, partly because we keep the room very cool for the salamanders and partly because our dog would chase him and we can't get him company because we're limited for space. His viv is 7'H x 3'W x 2'D but he really needs something wider and not so tall as he's not much of a climber. Again though, space prevents us from providing something more suited to him. We also feel that we haven't really 'bonded' with him in the same way as we have with our other animals. I feel awful for that and would always provide whatever care he requires but for some reason we just don't feel the same attachment to him. Although this in no way means he receives poor care I think he needs the right environment to flourish.

This poor chap needs a forever home only, I am not willing for him to keep getting passed from pillar to post as he's already had a difficult life. I would prefer him to go to a new viv but if required I would consider selling the one he's currently in. However, this would only be providing he gets plenty of time out of his viv, lots of contact and adjustments must be made to improve the humidity (something which has proved difficult for us but maybe someone else could manage). Feel free to ask if you have any questions regarding the viv- there's a photo in my album but it's not very good and it looks much nicer in real life.

Please do ask if you would like any specific details about his health or behaviour. I will only consider letting him go to someone with experience and there will be a small re-homing fee to discourage freebie hunters. I would prefer a new home to be local and would like to see his prospective new viv if possible. I'll also only let him go with the understanding that if the new owner is unable to keep him for whatever reason he must come back to live with us. Please consider carefully if you're interested in this chap, he is likely to become quite a financial commitment as he ages.

I've been as honest as I can as I don't think it's fair on ether him or his new owner to get any nasty surprises and I don't want him to be re-homed yet again. There is a photo of him in my album but please let me know if you'd like more.

Thanks for looking

[cpiggott22]

forgot to add that he's lost the very tip of his tail at some point in his life but it's not really noticeable

[reptile_man_08]

Poor guy.Kudos to you for taking him in..If you were close I could have possibly taken him in.
For the mean time to raise humidity try putting a ficus, pothos or some live plant in his tank.That way when you water them it raises the humidity, and it seems to hold it much longer.
Also If he has digestive issues I would completely cut out on rat pups- its probably more strain on his system.
Does he have MBD?
Good luck.

[cpiggott22]

Hiya, thanks for your reply. I would like to use pothos or something but the shape of the viv (narrow and tall) makes it very difficult to get live plants in around the heat lights. Due to his digestive probs he needs it around 29C throughout as much of the viv as possible which tends to kill off most plants. We do have one in there but it's not looking too good! He does tend to spend much of his time in his pool (probably due to the low humidity) which at least prevents respiratory infections.

I did think that rat pups may not be ideal for him but the vet just said to keep giving him as varied a diet as possible- do you think maybe pinkies would be better?

The vet checked him for MBD when we first got him and fortunately he seems ok (which is surprising giving his previous living conditions and diet).

[cpiggott22]

Also forgot to add that he's extremely easy to handle and very mellow. I believe his previous owner seperated him from their female because one of them attacked the other (I forget which), although judging by the size of the viv he came in it was probably due to lack of space. She wouldn't tell me much though and I just wanted to get him out of there so didn't push too hard.

[reptile_man_08]

Ahh I see, probably a bit late now but a rain system, on a timer could help keep the humidity up.
I would completely take rats/mice/pinkies out of the diet tbh...As its not something they would go around eating everyday in the wild, and so I would presume not very easy on there digestive system.
There was a cwd on a vet program a few weeks ago where it had a layer of fat and a fatty liver because it had been fed to many morio mealworms.

[cpiggott22]

I know morios aren't good either but he's such a fussy eater it tends to be that or nothing. He usually gets them every other meal, quite often with a fruit beetle grub. I've been trying to find somewhere to buy silkworms for ages but I'm unwilling to pay the extortionate prices as he probably won't like them. We've tried earthworms, butterworms and phoenix worms but he ate one of each and refused any more and he quite often turns his nose up at locusts and roaches. He really turned out to be a huge project for our first CWD and we've tried our best with him but it's been an uphill struggle all the way and he really needs someone with more experience and the cash to go all out. I've considered a rain system but it's so expensive and I'd be worried about the electrics- his layout doesn't lend itself to running water which is another reason why I'd like him to go to someone with a more suitable viv.

I hope someone out there reads about this poor little man and can offer him the home I really wish we'd been able to. I'm so gutted to be doing this but I can see it's quite clearly for the best- he needs someone who's an old hand with CWDs and can offer him all the things we can't.

EDIT: when we first got him he was fed on a rat pup every other day! He now gets one every fortnight as they're still his absolute favourite

[cpiggott22]

Wednesday bump

[cpiggott22]

Bump for today. He's just started shedding his 'saddle' so I'll post a pic when he's finished

[cpiggott22]

Bump!