# New Herps came today!



## ESPMike

Got my new herps today after their trip from Alabama. They are Physignathus Lesueurii or Austrailian/Eastern Water Dragons. Really cool lizards, and very entertaining to watch. They definately like to move and can swim like crazy. They are very young, and only about 9" long, about 6 of which is tail.:laugh: I expected them to be a bit sluggish after the plane ride but they jumped from the shipping containers into the branches in the enclosure and have been running around in them ever since, plus some good swimming time.

I dont have access to a digitcal camera just yet, but hopefully I'll be able to get some good pics up tonight. I want to publically thank Croc for all his help in getting me back to herps, which I haven't done for a few years now, and for reccomending both the species (which I had never heard of), and a breeder where to get them from. Bert at Agama International was a great guy to work with and made it really easy to get a pair quickly. He breeds several species so if your interested in some new lizards I HIGHLY reccomend him, as did CK. Here's the link to his site...

http://agamainternational.com/home.html

EDIT: Ok I admit these posts are pretty stupid without atleast 1 pic to share, so here's a crappy cell phone pic till I can get some better ones tonight.

View attachment 122793


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## nswhite

Well good luck with the herps.


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## mdrs

yeah that looks cool. how good are they at swimming, btw?


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## ESPMike

They're definately more then proficient in the water. It is a good size pool in there for them to swim around in, and more then deep enough for them to completely submerge themselves, and they take advantage of it. I have already seen them both use the pool and go completely underwater to swim, which is a cool sight. They have very long taills which they use to paddle in the water, and they are FAST in there.

They are equally as good of climbers and jumpers, often jumping straight accross the tank (which is 55g) into the pool, its very impressive to watch. I will definately be building a VERY large enclosure as they grow because they need the space to move, jump, climb and swim.


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## AKSkirmish

Awesome congrats on the new additions sir!!!!Sounds like they are getting the care they need-Sounds like you mostly got everything planned out for the future as well-Nice







Look forward to seeing more pics in the future though!!!


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## bigboi

Yup good luck with them :nod: Yeah Bert is awsome I ordered my tegus through him


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## ESPMike

Ok now I have a few pics where you can actually see the lizards...


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## CrocKeeper

Bert is THE MAN....

Mike they look AWESOME!!!!!

I know you will be pleased with the choice!

Congratulations and keep us posted as they grow...they only get to be more fun..


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## ESPMike

Thank you for the kind words. Im very happy with the choice and even happier with their acclimation. Bert told me not to expect them to eat for a few days, but I offered food and they are both already eating dusted crickets enthusiastically. I will definately keep you posted Croc, as they were fun to take pics of and are pretty photogenic IMO.

Ive done alot of research to get myself as edumacated as possible about them, and one thing Ive figured out is in the wild they have a pretty wide diet. I plan on using dusted crickets and fresh soft fruits (if they take them) as a staple, and pinkie mice once they grow large enough, however does anyone have any other reccomendations I can supplement in the mean time? I was considering maybe some kind of fish in the water bowl for them to pick out, or some other good protein source, but I am up for some good suggestions if anyone has any.

Here's one more pic to show the quality of their color. One is in mid shed, and the other looks as though he just finished one and has some pretty cool colors including yellows, greens, browns, and even some reds and pinks. I took a closeup of the body to show the true color up close...
View attachment 122832


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## kigrind

Will you name one cheek-o for me? I always wanted a lizard called cheek-o.

Please? It sounds funny.

Name them something like this: Bob, Bill, Buster and Cheek-o and tell everyone cheek-o is adopted lol.


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## acestro

/avoids making 'dont do drugs' LT comment from Waterboy

Mike, that is one of the best set-ups I've ever seen! Nicely done! Great reptiles too!


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## kigrind

What kind of pot I MEAN PLANT SORRY.... do you have growing in that tank?

I know its fake.


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## ESPMike

acestro said:


> /avoids making 'dont do drugs' LT comment from Waterboy
> 
> Mike, that is one of the best set-ups I've ever seen! Nicely done! Great reptiles too!


/thinks drug comment would have been well deserved








Thanks for the kind words Ace. I moslty just stacked up some wood some rocks and a water bowl, and they have made it what they want a bit too. The plants (which are just fake ones from petsmart I got many years ago) were all originally up on the top of the glass, but they managed to knock them down and make a ramp out of them. They have also burrowed under the rock near the pool and made a little cave out of it where I figured they were going to sleep, but I have a red night heat bulb in there which they liked, and slept all night on the plants under the light. I also bought those hammocks figuring it would be a cool place to hang out, and one has a water bowl in it which I figured was good to have since the pool is accross the tank, and they dont go anywhere near them. Im considering taking them out and adding more wood, because they definately prefer the natural environment more then the nylon hammocks.


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## Wide_Eyed_Wanderer

those plants have a slight resemblance to weed

i also seen some floating plants at my LFS that look exactly like marijuana.

nice lizard 2


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## KINGofKINGS

esp-
id give the hammocks a bit longer... i bought one for my dragons and they didnt use it at all- now they are beginning to, i have mine in the front corner of the tank... they like to lay there and wait for me to walk in with food

how are theyre dispositions.... or havent you messed with them?


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## ESPMike

Funny you say that King cause I went up to check on them about 10 minutes ago and sure enough both are in the top hammock. I guess I just need to give them some patience to explore the entire enclosure more.

Their dispositions are great. I have been handling them quite a bit and they are very comfortable with it. They still run from my hand when I reach for them a bit, but once I have them they are pretty content to lay in my hands or just walk between my two hands. They defianately arent making any attempts to bite or anything. The fact they are captive bred helps with that issue though, they are already pretty used to human contact at a couple of months old, which is a good start.


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## KINGofKINGS

thats awesome man... i cant wait until mine are large enough that i can just set them down and not have to watch them as closely.... soon....


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## CrocKeeper

Mike if you like I will get a cockroach colony together to send ya...and by the time they are at a size to be mowing them down you can have the colony up to size..malagasy giant hissing cockroaches...


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## ESPMike

I appreciate the offer Croc, very nice of you. However I think I might be up for a beating if I try and keep a cockroach colony in the house. While I realize they arent typical American pest cockroaches, I dont think the descriptive words "giant" and "hissing" will help my cause.









Do you have any other suggestions for food options however? They are both eating dusted crockets the past 2 days, and I plan to grab some fruit (grapes/bananas) and vegetables (going to look for mustard greens) tomorrow when I go for some P food at the grocery store. Im worried they may not be getting enough protein however from just the crickets and plants. I was considering some type of fish as another substitute, but I wasnt sure about that as a safe idea.


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## KINGofKINGS

get them on worms dude.... mealworms, phoenix worms, silkworms, etc... lots of different distributors on the net- theyre extremely easy to keep and dont stink....


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## CrocKeeper

KINGofKINGS said:


> get them on worms dude.... mealworms, phoenix worms, silkworms, etc... lots of different distributors on the net- theyre extremely easy to keep and dont stink....


King nailed the suggestion I would have made...

Bert at agama is actually the man that pioneered the raising of the Super mealworm (Zoophoba)....

Giant mealworms, phoenix worms, and silkjworms all will work, as will pinkies as they get a little bigger.....as adults we feed juvenile mice to the breeders once a week...but their staple is a mix of beetle larvae and cockroaches, and greens....


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## ESPMike

Thanks guys. I'll look into mixing it up with some worms I can get ahold of a bit. They definately are attacking the crickets, which I am both gutloading and dusting with calcium. I plan on using pinkies quite a bit once they are large enough because (and correct me if im wrong) but that appears to be the healthiest food source. I tried some grapes today, cut in half and fed in a dish but they seemed less then interested. Im going to try banana and greens over the next week and see what happens.

What do you guys feel is a good guideline regarding handling? I have been handling for a little while on a daily basis to get them used to it, and often twice a day for a short time (about 30 minutes). Is that too much, not enough, etc. I know certain herps can become stressed from handling, what do you guys think about that?


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## Malok

congrades on the herps mike damn shame about the snake but glad to see how excited you are about the dragons


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## ESPMike

Yeah what are you gonna do, I'll work on her and still geg my boa one day soon. The dragons are very cool though and a pretty nice easy step back into herp keeping.

Thanks for the kind words though Malok.


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## CrocKeeper

your handling schedule is fine Mike.....as they start getting a little bigger......which they will do rapidly......start handling them a little more.....


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## ESPMike

Thanks Croc. Good to hear, as I was a bit worried I would stress them out from too much handling. They arent very happy about it as first, but once they are out they seem to settle into being handled pretty quickly. Im looking forward to the rapid growth too. Ive started a chart on their size and plan to keep the records to chart it. Should be interesting.


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