I got an email today asking why sometimes chinese water dragons will have smaller black spikes on their crests and down their back. I looked through all my books and couldnt come up with an answer... Does anyone know why this happens?
Thanks,
Char

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"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." ~ Immanual Kant

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." ~ Anatole France

Smaller black spikes opposed to larger spikes? Females and juveniles will have smaller spikes of course. The color of the spikes can be as wide an array as the color of the individual dragons. Here's a pic of my male in February. He would be seven months old here.

His spikes are just starting to sprout. They range in color from light green to very dark green.


Here's the same male taken about 5 minutes ago.






His spikes are alot bigger on his crest and back and starting to develop on his tail where he previously had none. If your asking about smaller spikes opposed to larger spikes on the same individual that may be a shedding problem. If the dragon isn't shedding properly leftover sheds can constrict around the spikes cutting off circulation leading to a loss of the spike. Just like it can happen with toes, tails etc. Hope this answers your question.