I have two Chinese Water Dragon housed together and I'm noticing that they are biting at each other now, they are still babies, maybe 3 inches from the nose to the vent. The thing that I'm wondering about is that Chidori, my slightly smaller dragon has been basking with his/her mouth open lately, I don't know if it's normal behavior, or if it's aggression, or even if it's a health thing. I'm working on seperating the two dragons because of the aggression issue so far but I was wondering if anyone knew anything about this, she/he also doesn't show as much interest in food as the other one. They both eat, it's just that Chidori eats less as far as I can tell, though she/he is still fatter than the other one.

Any ideas?

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0.1.0 Brazilian Rainbow boa (Sakura)
1.1.0 Leopard geckos (Tasuki, Sango)
2.0.0 Ball pythons (Tsume, Kenshin)

does the one who basks with his mouth open have labored breathig? i noticed the only time my WDs have even done this is when they have something wrong, shock wiht his abscess and sally with her upper respitory infection...youre gonna want to keep a close eye on em..i cant believe they are biting at such a young age, ive housed sally and jack together since they were little like yours and now they are juves, they are showing a little bit of playful aggression, as in sally will push jack orr of his branch and steal his spot, but jack does the same thing to her, lol....but never any biting..

I know I'll have to seperate them from each other because of the aggression, I didn't think it was normal at their age so I'm assuming they are probably both males. I haven't noticed any labored breathing but I will keep a closer eye on it. I have noticed that every time I put food in the cage for them Chidori goes and gets a drink instead of eating. I'm not sure if that means anything, but I thought it was a little odd. Thanks for the heads up.

By the way, something I've wanted to know for a while, do they're tails ever grow back if part of it is broke off?

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0.1.0 Brazilian Rainbow boa (Sakura)
1.1.0 Leopard geckos (Tasuki, Sango)
2.0.0 Ball pythons (Tsume, Kenshin)

The open-mouth thing could be due to thermoregulation - I know Bearded Dragons do this to control their inside body temp and often when they are too hot. I don't know if it's the same for WDs?

At such a young age the aggression may be down to other things - simply individuals not getting on, establishing a hierarchy, not getting enough food - how much and how often do you feed them? I've noticed with hatchling Bearded Dragons that they can be very nippy with each other, and have occasionally had a slightly nipped tail or toe, even though they have been fed far more than enough!! Then we've had other clutches that were fed slightly less and didn't show any aggression to one another at all!

If one is eating less it could be that it is stressed and bullied by the other, in which case it would be a good idea to house them separate. Also what are their temps, humidity level?

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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 just checked the temp in the cage and it's 75F in the cool end where I don't have the basking light (it's 1:00 in the morning right now), the humidity should be fine because I live in a very humid place, outside the humidity is 93% but I still spray the cage up to four times a day. I feed them daily but I don't see them eating daily. The one who gapes it's mouth open isn't skinny at all, very plump in fact, it's just I'm worried about resperatory infection.

Is it at all possible that I have it too hot in there in general, or that there is too much humidity?

Another symptom, which may be unrelated is that I've noticed that my lizards skin looks a little rinkley. I don't know if it's normal but I don't want to take a chance.

Beth

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0.1.0 Brazilian Rainbow boa (Sakura)
1.1.0 Leopard geckos (Tasuki, Sango)
2.0.0 Ball pythons (Tsume, Kenshin)

Is there any way you can post pics of your water dragons? When you say wrinkly skin, is it all over or like a lateral fold (like iguanas have)? Am not to prepped up on WD's but maybe pics would help some of the other members give their opinions. Good luck and I hope it's nothing serious.

ohk, is the one thats wrinkley the one that isnt eating? if so that could be why, i know sally hasnt been eating cuz shes been so ill and her skin appears to be ''wrinkley'' your humidity shouldnt be over 80 percent, as I have learned it makes a respitory infection worse..your warm side temp should be 88 deg and cool side 84...you may want to raise your temps a little bit and lower your humidity...low temps will cause them not to eat too, so be sure your temps are high enough..i still dont know why your water dragons are so aggressive...lol...oh yeah...do you only feed crix? you should mix it up a bit and try mealies and waxworms so they dont get bored..good luck and keep us posted!

You may want to feer them seperately for a while, until the little one gains some weight. Some reptiles can be food aggressive and force their tankmates to shy away from the food.

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Yes I agree, your humidity could in fact be too high - incorrect humidity levels, whether too low or too high, can cause respiratory infections, but you should see other symptoms, such as runny nose, wheezing or sneezing, mucus around the mouth and nose.

I don't know if your temps are ok as you don't say what the temp is on the warm end or under the basking spot? Also do you have a UVB source? And how long do you have lights on?

As Jay said, if you can't house them separately, for the immediate time try feeding them separately if possible.

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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

You need a proper humidity gauge. Just because the place you live in has high humidity doesn't mean that the humidity in the cage is high. Your heating devices can seriously lower humidity as does the heating and air conditioning in your home.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!