Australian Water Dragon

What is Australian Water Dragon

Australian water dragon is an arboreal agamid species native to Eastern Australia from Victoria northwards to Queensland. The species is including the Eastern water dragon and the Gippsland water dragon subspecies. There may be a small introduced population on the southeast coast of South Australia. This is the only species of the genus Intellagama.

Australian Water Dragon Characteristics

The Australian water dragon can be identified by a distinctively deep angular head and nuchal crest of spinose scales that joins the vertebral crest that goes down with the length of its body to the tail. These have the powerful legs and sharp claws which help them to climb trees more effectively.

Australian Water Dragon Care

You have to handle these lizards with care. You have to regularly maintain the feed ratio and temperature in the enclosure along with humidity to keep the Australian water dragon happy. The unmatched conditions can irritate and bad effect on the lizards and sometimes they become aggressive. So, you have to regularly observe the actions of lizards along with maintaining the temperature and other things.

Australian Water Dragon Facts

• Australian Water Dragons are omnivorous which eats almost anything.
• These have the captivity life up to 20 years while reaching sexual maturity around 4 to 5 years of age.
• A male water dragon can reach a length of 1 m and weigh about 1 kg.
• The two-third length of these water dragons is its tail.
• These are quickly jumping into the water to escape from the danger.
• They can remain underwater for about 90 minutes.
• The species mostly hibernate during the winter which depends on the climate of the region.
• These can sleep in the water by just their nostrils protruding.
• These can eat underwater but they need to come up at the water surface to chew their food.

Australian Water Dragon Habitat

These are the semi-aquatic as the name described. It can be found near humid areas like creeks, river, lakes, and other water bodies that have basking site like as overhanging branches or rocks in open or filtered sun. These are commonly seen in the rainforest section of Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mount Coot-tha in Queensland, and a monument has been specially built there for them.

Australian Water Dragon Diet

Australian Water Dragon Venom

The monitor lizards might have the weak venom which is not much dangerous for the humans. But it helps them to overpower on their food. The monitor lizards have the sharp teeth which might get hurt the humans. If anything happened like this then contact the physician for precautions.

Australian Water Dragon Reproduction

Australian Water Dragon spends their most of time living in the cooler Australian environment hibernate over winter. During spring, usually in early October, the female dig a burrow about 10-15 cm deep and lays between 6-18 eggs. The nest they usually use to lay eggs are existed in the sandy and soft soil, in an open area to the sun. The temperature determined the sex of the hatchlings which is quite similar to the reptiles.

Australian Water Dragon Bite

The monitor lizards have the sharp teeth that they used to bite or tear the flesh of meat and eat. These sometimes act aggressively and might bite humans too. In such cases, you need to clean the bite area with the antiseptic and contact the physician to avoid any type of infection.

Australian Water Dragon As Pet

Australian water dragons have the shy nature in the wild, but easily adapt the continual human presence in suburban parks and gardens. These are the fast runners and strong climbers. Both males and females display typical agamid behaviors such as basking, arm-waving, and head-bobbing.