i just recently adopted a chinese water dragon from petco a couple of days ago. im friends with the head person in reptiles at petco, so I know he was well taken care of. he had come in with a group of wds, and one by one they started dying. he was the only one that made it, my friend took very good care in getting him back up to health. well last week he just had a full vet check up and was free and clear of everything. i named him zeke and he is about 9-10 months old, petco had him for 6-7 months. my question is zeke is very skittish and turns black any time you walk into the room. is this normal until he adjusts? he just kindof sits there in one corner of the tank and doesnt move very much. i have a basking spot at about 100-110, cool end is at 80 and the warm side is at 90. i have a uva/uvb light, he is in a 50 gal tank, with plenty of places to hide and a long water tub for soaking and swimming. he is stuck on eating mealworms which I am trying to wean him over to crickets as his main diet. sorry about the long post im just trying to make sure I covered everything. any suggestions would be wonderful, thanks!

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My kids:

1.0 box turtle
0.1 red foot tortoise
1.0 red eared slider
5.5 bearded dragons
2.8.6 leopard geckos
2.2 cats
1.0 husband
?.? on the way

Hi, my Chinese Water Dragon is still Skiddish. I think it is common. She is still afraid of anything new, and takes a while to adjust. I have heard mention of similiar behavior reported by other owners.
Good luck getting your Chinese Water Dragon to eat veggies, mine still won't.

Congratulations on your new addition - well done for taking it in and i'm so happy to hear that it received a full bill of health and is doing well. Shame that it's companions didn't make it - any idea why?

I'm not a WD owner myself, but with many new reptiles it takes time to adjust and in their settling in period they will be frightened and untrusting until they get to know you and their surroundings.

To start with, just leave her alone - she needs to get used to her new home and that's a big change for her to start with. Only go in her tank to change her water, clean poo out and to feed her. In time she will come to learn that you are the person that puts food in her enclosure and will hopefully grow to let you stroke her or come over to your hand if you put it in the tank and do not spook her by moving too quickly and scaring her. Eventually she should become much tamer, letting you hold her, where to start with you should just hold her in the enclosure to avoid her running off and having a stressful chase to catch her. In time you will be able to take her out and pet her, and have her sit with you while you chat on here with us Some herps adjust much quicker than others, and some species such as bearded dragons are known for becoming tame much more quickly than some other species.

Please post pics when you can, it would be lovely to see your new pet.

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"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004

I'm not sure why his other cage mates didnt make it. He didnt have any parasites or anything of that sort. He does have a start of Metabolic Bone Disease, and has a heald arm fracture, so im not sure if that might have been why the others died.
As of right now he is doing very well other than the fact that he hides behind his water bowl 24/7, which worries me due to the fact that he is refusing to soak up in his water bowl and all. I'm just worried that he is going to get dehydrated since he has had a problem with that at petco, that is one thing that the vet treated him for. So I've been taking him out to soak for about a half hr a day to keep him hydrated.
Has anybody ever had a problem with getting their wds to eat crickets? He is refusing and only wants mealworms. I've heard that mealworms aren't the best staple food due to their hard exoskeletons, should I be worried about this?
Thanks so much for any help you can give.

__________________
My kids:

1.0 box turtle
0.1 red foot tortoise
1.0 red eared slider
5.5 bearded dragons
2.8.6 leopard geckos
2.2 cats
1.0 husband
?.? on the way