i fed my water dragons one minnow each today for the first time. i had them in a bowl and each tried to catch it's own but the little buggers were too quick for them. so, i used my feeding tongs and fed them that way. i think both of them swallowed 'em whole. is that normal? will acids break them down during digestion?
they were really small minnows, about the size of adult crickets. i followed the rule of thumb where the thickness is 1/3 the width of the WDs' heads and length was about the width of their heads.

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~Gerardo

My babies:

1.1.0 Chinese Water Dragons (Miyagi, Karamu)
0.0.1 Ball Python (Squid)
0.0.1 Chilean Rose-haired Tarantula (Venom)
1.0.0 French Lop Bunny (Moses)
1.0.0 Black Cat (Felix)
1.0.0 Siamese-Mix Cat (Simon)


Wishlist:
2 Crested Geckos, 1 Veiled Chameleon, 1 Iguana, 1 Blue-tongued Skink

They are supposed to swallow them whole, once you start feeding them pinks they will swallow the pinks whole as well

Really? My pair of dragons would chew their pinkies and the occasional goldfish as well. Maybe they were just weird...LOL To answer the original post, yes their digestive fluids will break down the minnows with no problem. My WD's really LOVED Night crawlers as well and would attack them with gusto.

Anyway, no worries, your dragon will be fine!

Chris

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~Chris

It is better I think to reach for the stars than to sit flustered because you know you cannot reach them, at least he who reaches will get a good view, a good stretch and perhaps even a low hanging apple for the effort.
-R.A. Salvatore

All 3 of my dragons swallowed em whole lol. I have seen the occasional dragon chew em up, but the majority of em just inhale .

Mine chews his up most of the time, but he chews everything. If you leave the fish in the bowl long enough he will probably catch them on his own too. Mine loves to catch fish and even managed to take one of the tetras from his 20 gallon tank.