Hey all, I realize that this animal is a little skittish, but I would love to be able to take him out and have him chill with me and run around the house without getting into trouble. If I try to take him out by putting my palm under his belly, he'll run up my arm and try to jump off and maybe run away. If I just try to pick him up with my hand by his sides, he freaks out and starts flailing and I can't really hold him. I bought him from the pet store about a month ago, and they said he was about a year old. Any advice on what to do?

If you get animals that are no babies anymore,you need to
be a lot more patient because they need longer to adjust.
Water Dragons do regognize their owners and some of them act diffrent towards strangers.I heard of one that always jumped on the owners head as soon as the terrarium opened,but when strangers approached the terrarium he was very shy.
I would let him settle in for a few weeks and then try to get him used to you slowly and gentle.Try to hand feed him first,before trying to pick him up.So he will know that your hand means no harm.
My older snake I adopted needed at least six weeks to feel at home,all my baby
snakes settled in much quicker.How long did you give him time to settle in,before handling him?Was he all the time in that pet store?If he was then it will be much harder to tame him,because as he's already a year old and pet stores usually don't have time to "work" on the taming.
Oh,by the way,welcome to HC!!

We have a very good care sheet at
http://www.herpcenter.com/showthread.php?t=2732
It is written by Trisha, one of the "authorities" on water dragons. She is also one of our moderators.
At the bottom of the page is a link to Tricia's complete site where she discusses taming and training.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Great reference, and Tricia is the foremost authority in my mind. Give them time and come to accept the fact that while dragons are sociable they will never be 100% cuddely all the time. Mine enjoy the occasional shoulder ride or chin rub while sitting in my lap but neither of them will let me carry them around the house indefinielty and I cannot allow them to free roam any room that has not been 'dragon proofed' without worry they will hide or hurt themselves.

Its best not to handle water dragons because they stress so easy. They are more of a display animal.

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Jason

lol..well mine love being handled..but ive had em since they were pups...it will just take some time for him/her to adjust

Mine seem to enjoy being hanlded for the most part also. Like I said they will let me handle them and sit back for a shoulder ride or a petting session and are blast to watch. They remind me of a cat though in that they want to interact with me when and for how long THEY want to interact, compared to the skink who seems to crave attention my dragons are feral. I would not go as far as to say they are a display only animal that falls more into the chamelon line IMO and CWDs are muchmore handle-able then chameleons.

lol I think someone forgot to tell my Zilla that he should be a display animal. He scratches at the glass doors with his foot (not nose rubbing either) until I open the door and then he jumps on my lap and sits until he's ready to climb up on my shoulder or the back of the comptuer chair.
I think of it this way, some wds (or should I say reptiles) are not people lizards. Some like the attention and others don't. Some people handle their wds a lot and others don't. It's all a matter of preference on both the owners part and the wd.
Char

lol, Bi'l is the same way. he scratches away, and stares at me from across the room until I let him out. If that fails, he climbs up t the top of the cage, and dives at the screen top, where the door is, falling into his pool. He sure knows what he wants! lol

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later days,
Sarah


my little dudes:
1.0.0 pomeranian-pug-chihuahua (Buddy)
0.1.0 CWD (Biscuit-Lemming, aka Bi'l)
0.0.1 Cornsnake (was told is hypo-okeetee) (Mr. Snake)

wish list:
1.0.0 CWD
poison dart frogs (that one will wait until i have a bigger place though!)