We have a female water dragon (crackle), about 14months old. 7inch snout to vent and 24inch in total.

In the past week we have noticed that she has reduced eating so now she only eats one item a day (either cricket, mealworm or veg).

Her stomach appears quite swollen, but we haven't seen many stools recently, though we find the daily white (urine?) spots in the pool when we change the water.

I have read about both impacted and gravid conditions in water dragons and don't seem to be able to identify which problem she has.

There is some moss as a substrate, but most of the viv is substrate free with plastic plants providing cover.

We also have a 2yr old male dragon who is nearly 36in long and quite a bit bigger than her. We would like to breed, but are apprehensive because he is such a big dragon.

I have included some pictures of Crackle and wondered if anyone has seen similar conditions in their females. They are housed seperately and have never been introduced for more than a few seconds when Snap grabbed her crest and we bottled out.

You can see from the photos that she has a great colour and is otherwise very active.11-27-04 16-04-20_0004.jpg

11-27-04 16-05-27_0008.jpg

Wow, they are beautiful. Color is amazing. But if you are not seeing in fecal matter in the tank, I would say she is impacted. Are these two housed together...does she look lumpy or just bloated. You can try soaking her in some warm water and see if that helps. What substrate is she on and when is the last time she poo'ed?

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MARSHA

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

I have 3 Chinese Water Dragon...they are gerat little lizards!! Im gonna have to agree with venus on this one because your Dragon is not old enough to be gravid yet, they have to be atleast 2 years old, although your dragonn is 2 feet long, Im pretty sure she isnt gravid..but she could be... http://www.triciaswaterdragon.com/ that webpage has info on gravid WDs...maybe a vet trip is in order? And yes the white is urates..or urine, lol....And your dragons are beautiful!!

Don't go by the age go by the size ... if she's 24 inches she's mature enough to develop eggs. I think she's likely quite a bit older than 14 months.

Is there any chance that she's eating her feces in the water and that's why you aren't seeing any? they do do that.

right now I'd says it's 50/50 as to whether she's gravid or impacted. She's the right size to develop eggs, but if she's really not producing any stool then she's likely impacted. Try placing her in warm water a few times a day ... slowly rubbing on her abdomen in circles towards her vent. If she's impacted this might help her go.

She's eating as you said, and she's obviously drinking if she's passing urates ... and her colour is good. Watch her carefully over the next few days and see how she's doing.

It might be a good idea to prepare an egg laying area for her just in case. You can find out how to set this up on my breeding page.

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Tricia

Thanks for all the replies.

They don't live together yet. Bit worried because he is so much bigger than her, but we hope to breed in the future.

We found a small stool today in the pool... she has been eating the odd one or two offerings by hand. We've taken to feeding her liquid calcium substitute on her tongue one a day, only a small amount, just to make sure she's getting some.

I've bought a 26ltr box and filled it with damp sterile topsoil, but she hasn't done any diggin yet.

She's still very active. I'll try the warm water massage technique yet, see if that works.

The only substrate in the viv is dry moss, but there's not much of it and she's never eaten it before.

We'll keep a close eye on her over the next few days and keep you posted.

Thanks again for the replies.

What do you feed and how often? Im beginning to lean towards her being gravid, crix can cause impactation but if shes going to the bathroom then I doubt thats it....try the warm water thing..I have dont it to mine and it works, lol...keep giving her liquid calc cause if she is gravid then she will definatley need the extra calc...good luck and keep us poseted!!

No change in her condition. She looks bloated more than lumpy at this time.

The condition came on almost overnight. Her diet has been mainly large crickets and meal worms, supplemented with a daily offering of fruit (cut grapes, strawberries and plum).

She normally makes a right mess at toilet time which made us notice the change when linked with her loss of appetite.

Again she had another small pooh yesterday, which is understanding as she has only eaten 2 small crickets over the past 3 days.

I'm still leaning towards EGGS and have put a 26ltr nest box in the VIV (pics to follow), but no sign of digging yet.

Though worried, I am not overly concerned due to her colour and energy which both remain good.

So for now its the toilet massage thingy in warm water... we'll see what happens and I'll let you all know.

A diet of mainly crix and mealies will cause impactation, do you feed everyday? At this age you might wantt o consider feeding every other day, and you could try pinkies once a week, they are a good source of calucium and other nutrients, what types of fruits and veggies do you feed? Mine will eat squash, pumpkin, kale and banana..Ive never had a gravid dragon, but next year I will, lol, so I really cant say weather shes gravid or impacted...good luck and I hope everythign turns out well for your WD

I have had two gravid water dragons just recently lay eggs.My first didn'teven look like she was gravid.My second looked quite big.The biggest thing with mine they were very active before laying.going back and forth in and out of the water.Just before lay about 1 week before the both had small amount of white stool in the water they ate very little.Mine only had 5 eggs each.Keep your cage damp.Mist the cage and the dragon a couple times a day. I don't think your male is to big for the female.they play rough but its over pretty quick. he will grab her by the crest and spin her for entry.Then they will stay together for 5 or 10 min. with mine it was 5 .She will stay stunned for a few min. after then she will be on her way.He will go off and think he is great.In my enclosure I have vermiculite and soil mixed together with live plants right in the soil.The female will dig under the plant to lay her eggs.keep soil moist and soil temp warm 80.I also have wood chip mixed and around the enclosure.Don't be afraid to put your male with her. Just put in some hiding places for her if she don't want to be with him.hope this helps