Hello, does anyone have Tricia Power's e-mail? When I click on "e-mail me" on her site, nothing comes up!

If a SERIOUS herpetologist or herpetoculturist knows the answer to this question, it would be appreciared (Please, I am quite upset, and this not a question for a novice. No conjectures, please--I need a definitive answer).

The question is: Do/can water dragons regrow broken nuchal spines (the ones on the nape of the neck)? It seems that, in the last couple of days, Taz, my Aussie water dragon has taken to nipping Otis, my green water dragon Well, he clipped off the nuchal spines :-( They have since been separated, of course....

Q: Is there ANYTHING I can manipulate--nutrionally, hormonally or environmentally--to stimulate their regrowth? Anything?!? (Actually, I would be more than a bit surprised if the answer is no. After all, these are used for sexual display. no? Do not peacocks regrow their feathers?)

Not to sound too uncool, but this animal was flawless on Sunday--flawless. I know I sound like a Westminster dog show *****, but I am being honest when I say I am crestfallen.

My boy now looks like #%@#$@ rescue... How do regain my flawless show specimen?

Respectfully yours,

The Groundhog

P S.

Please...

I had a rescued water dragon with spike damages and they never grew back. I dont think anything you do will make them grow back, kinda like toes and tails. Why is it that you need a flawless water dragon? Just curious.

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:D I'm smiling because I have no idea whats going on!

i dont think that its that Groundhog needs a flawless water dragon more so as it upsets him/her that it happened
my water dragon lost a very small piece off the very tip of his tail but it upsets me when ever I hold him that it happened

I really see nothing wrong with having a dragon with a little wear and tear personally.

I have seen them regrow in iguanas. I suppose it probably depends on if just the spikes were damaged or if this attack effected the base where the spike generates from.

We my be able to take a better stab at it if you could show us just how much damamge was inflicted.

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Hello,

I have Tricias email and have forwarded along your question. (I won't be giving her email out if she doesn't have it publicly posted.) To the best of my knowledge, the spikes won't grow back.

Comparing WD's to peacocks is like comparing apples to oranges. Birds are designed to molt their old feathers while new ones replace them. Water Dragons don't molt their spikes and have new ones come in.

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"Do not peacocks regrow their feathers"

-this analogy is inherantly flawed. I don't need to say more on it because Rich said exactly what I was going to say.

I think your best bet would be to just let it be. It's like fussing about missing toes on a lizard, it just happens, there's nothing we can do about it.

I thank you for your replies (incidentally, I am a he; real name George). This sucks... I may have been comparing "apples to oranges," I was hoping that, being a reptile, it would have better powers of regeneration.

VENUS: As you did ask why, well, why do Westminster dog show as****es "need" mint dogs (for that matter, why do a lot of successful men trade in for trophy wives)? In this case, it is because the tall nuchal crest is the whole AESTHETIC appeal of having a male water dragon. It would be like having a gourami without feelers, or male lion without a mane.

I guess what really blows is how such a short, transitory incident could do such permanent damage... Makes me feel like three years wasted, as he was just really coming into his own--gold throat, pink jaws, turquoise stripes, etc; (this may be worse than dating a SCORE model, only to find out after three years that she would rather look "normal").


INCIDENTALLY--and maybe this should be a new thread--ever notice how most adult lizards are never flawless? There is always a missing tail tip, a missing toe or two; Odd, because you see old cats and dogs with myriad health problems, but very rarely stub tails, missing toes, torn ears, etc;

When I ran this by Bert Langerwerf (Agama International), he had an interesting reply: that is why he does not tame his lizards (My posse is housebroken, come when called, understand yes/no--don't get me started :-) As such, it is easy for an animal that hugs the ground to get hurt, no? Bert himself says that he would rather have display animals than tame ones.

For me, my goal is to one day win the Westminster dog show--with a contestant that cannot regulate its body temperature ;-)

Sincerely,

The Groundhog
Hopeless "Lookist"

Surely the aesthetic appeal isnt the only reason to have a water dragon.

IMO as long as the animal is happy, healthy and content with their surroundings thats what should matter.

Hello,

Tricia hit me up yesterday and pretty much stated what I had posted. If it were just the 'tips" of any of the spikes, there would be a chance they would grow in slightly. If there was extensive damage to the spikes, they won't grow back.

Most regeneration in reptiles is relative to defensive mechanisms for escaping predators. The spikes serve little purpose in the line of defense. As such, there was no reason for the animal to adapt to regenerating them if they were lost.

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This disturbs me a little, because this is the attitude we usually see in people who collect reptiles as show pieces - little works of art - instead of as pets, and subsequently usually neglect the needs of the animal.

Now that your water dragon is damaged, what will you do with him, just get rid of him because he's now lacking in aesthetic perfection? Feel resentful because you wasted all that time on an animal that no longer meets your standards?

I'm sorry if this sounds harsh or disapproving. That's not my intention. It's just that I have always had a problem with the attitude among pet owners that their pets have to meet certain standards to have value. I know people who have show dogs and cats, and I have never liked the things they put their animals through to get a winner. I know this is just my opinion, but I really think that a pet should be kept because the owner really loves it and wants to take care of it, not to use it for something.

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