sneaky2

definitely much variation in crest/spike size and number. quennsland x wds generaly got bigger crest n less spines but spines bigger n more white shark tooth like. nsw type got wavy crest with less hight n smaller but more blue shark looking spines. queensland wds also generaly have a muddyer red belly as apposed to nsw fire engine red belly.queensland wds also have yellow stripes on throat or white purple, some times pink or red variegated stripes as well .queensland generaly got 5 ta 7 white to yellow or pink spots down the length of body as well. im basing this on bush crashing in south Sydney national park when I was 18 many many years ago! and bush crashing in and around sunshine coast and inland when visiting me bro over the last couple of years. im sure you only got to go 100 ks in any direction to find a new local colour type. also huge crest size variations e.c.t within local populations. ill have a go at posting some pics from me last visit. but couldn't find any reference to large crest on that tm listing written or after looking at the pics. maby they changed thr text. Either way your on the money about people trying to start a new so called morph/thing with the big crest. :dunno:

if its insects it dont matter,because the dragons will hunt when ready! and if your enclsure is insect escape proof its hatchling waterdragon escape proof?. EXCEPT adult crickets! cause if the crickets manage to hide in your enclosure in amongst all the plants and driftwood? they have been known to come out at night when hungry and chew on hatchling waterdragon tails n toes e.c.t. but then adult crickets dont go with hatchling wds any way so its all good!

you can catch wild grasshoppers this time of year,you just have to be willing to run around like a mad man swooping a large net.look for any long grass around just make sure it hasn't been sprayed with roundup or any other nastys.

same reason i stoped breeding waterdragons,when there cheap enough for an impulse buy,you know most of them are gona end up in a small fishtank,sick,dead or thrown out at western springs e.c.t :facepalm:

wasn't aimed at you,just my own rant in general

with a big enough enclosure, mostly males will become tame enough to climb your leg or stand on ya feet to get at locusts,cicadias e.c.t generaly in the summer season where temps are hot enough to make them feel secure and aggresive enough . outside enclosures that is! from what I have seen ,inside adult waterdragons with way too small enclosures 4 foot 6 foot 8 foot fishtanks ect become unnaturaly tame and become almost retarded as they don't have the space ,natural weather patterns,real sunlight,seasons e.c.t to act naturaly. never seen one as tame as an inland beardie but I put that down to domestication due to inbreeding,line breeding and the same lack of natural conditions and small inside enclosures! next time your in Australia try handeling a wild inland beardie! hope you got gloves.. then go to any park and feed a freerange waterdragon. ill take a waterdragon over an inland beardie any day. still inlands make great pets for kids and teach them to like reptiles.... p.s I think the reason inlands are so expensive and in demand is due to crap genetics and crap fertility and before you jump up and down and rant about it,answer this .if inlands can have up to 4 clutches of 12 to 24 eggs a season and they have been available to the general public for 10 or so years why arnt they $50 a pop and free to a good home? do the math do the research and then rant back at me! either crap genetics or crap husbandry. p.p.s if you don't like my crap spelling either put a spell check on this site or get over it! :lar: :dnc1: :facepalm: !drool: :sick: :cofn: :facepalm: :cofn: :lol: :nilly:

the irony being that the easy way to keep an animal species secure, is to either farm them for food! or farm them for the pet industry bad bad humans :dunno:

L. raniformis! have found big populations 1.5 hours north of auckland.20 years ago.found l.r at western springs auckland 10 years ago aaaaand found l.r at domain alongside l.a 30 or so years ago. :dunno: who wrote the book that said only mid north island and down?the tadpoles get masive before morphing. i assume they are still there? cant know.lifes busy.....

tryin ta get me head around this one! so she was kept inside AT 3 YEARS OLD? Then you put her outside for some sun and she managed to escape and 3 weeks later you found her in a bucket? assuming the bucket was half full so she couldnt get out? :dunno:

final got round to making a crappy low res vid of turtle tank up date and waterdragon enclosure. type in 4000 litre tropical fish tank on you tube or karl kwidor on you tube should find it. :cofn:

cane toads were imported by the D.S.I.R back in the day for research. saw some at ti point reptile park about 20 years ago.they were from D.S.I.R.

havnt got any pics of basic enclosures only me flash ones.do you want me to draw up some easy plans?

oops this thread seems to have gone off road! probably really important to finish it as w dragons the biggest legal reptile we can keep. enclosure size indoor or out can never be to big for natural behaviour and less stress. if ya gona keep them inside after 2 years old. enclosure should be at least 2m high by 2 m long by 1 m deep for a mature pair or trio,aaaand build a stand for it so dragons can perch above human head hight so they feel safe. also give them hides for the same reason. heavy filteration for water area. dosent have to be expensive,can be a fishtank pump into a fishbin filled with scoria or shellgrit and water cress e.c.t. never keep 2 mature males together in an enclosure less than 3m by 3m by 2m high even then you gona get one intimidated through breeding season. in the wild they seem to defend around 10 to 20 metres of riverbank. the adult males tend to defend the ground in the wild,while the females tend to hang out in the trees and branches depending on the time of day. the males in outside enclosures tend to stay active longer through autum,winter than the females presuming to defend territory . if you cant accommodate waterdragons long term in a decent size enclosure,make shure you have a backup plan as in some one with a large outside enclosure to take them off your hands. otherwise don't go there! they seem to like heavily planted enclosures and tend to do most of there basking morning and arvo,you need to make sure they can hide from the midday sun and add some shade to part of there water area so they can thermoregulate. will rant more later....

yea i do the same over here with waterdragons n coastal beardies,no power minus pond pump.

wuckud! no power bill needed.....sigh.

its a bit early for aurea,give it till late november n then try western springs(small ponds) or whatapu(wild west) if ya cant find them there PAY THE $3 YA TIGHT WADD(not aimed at you rabbit,just people in general) ooor any cattle trough in late november/or pond. :sage:

heat trans working good holding at 28, heater not even switching on :thup:

flat deck truck :dunno:

ohhh speakin of maggots this what im up to now check out ( soilcells.com) n then check out( 6 ways mushrooms can help save the world) by paul staments on u tube. not advertising,all relevant for biofilteration. we finally got a breakthrough and are about to do 4 different trials n then scale up for waste water treatment plant in nz. wuckud! :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

75mm refrigerated panel former 2m by 2m by 1.2m deep water 1m deep.15mm toughend glass front window. beefing up the former support with posts concreted in then 6 by 2 top plate then sleepers(not in pic) liner installed,window installed slab. starting rock and root work. filters 44 gal drum for mechanical running 8000 litres. over flow filter bath with 2 bins and uv. not tropical yet.need wetsuit mask for setup,or a can of harden up! hinged heat trans in night time mode for front window insulation. heat trans in daytime mode.cooling thermostat switches on at 22 deg 2 dial switching so off for 3 mins then on for 1 min to maximise heat buildup. up and running,turts and some fish in.

how do i move this to post your enclosures? thats what i thought i did but must of hit the wrong button along the way :dunno:

Cheers dude. Just got plastic 44 gallon drum so I can start tumble compost bin heat transfer. :digH:

hinged heat transfer is simply a sheet of ply, some 3 by 2 frame painted black,60m of cheap irrigation pipe. cheap is good cause thin wall pipe transfers better being that plastic is an insulator not a conductor,if I had the coin it would be copper pipe painted black. then old ranch slider window on top,have since replaced with quality plastic house film,much lighter to hinge so less counter weights. the trick is to stall the water so it has a chance to heat up.got a switch off trademe for $22 with 2 dials so you can set the off stage anywhere from 8 seconds to 8 miniuts,and the same for the on stage. cooling thermostat so it only switches on if the water in the pipes is over 24 deg.could proberbly loose the dial switch and just have the thermostat but I like the gizmo.

missus thinks idiot savant! :digH: :sml1:

na got a 500 watt backup heater on thermostat,then heat transfer panel,the third stage is gona be compost trans. because the enclosure is basicly a giant chilliy bin on sunny days the backup heater dosent switch on at all, the compost heat trans will take up the slack for this crappy auckland weather.