恭喜发财! It's the year of the dragon, which is great news for the Chinese water dragon. Adults can be quite large, reaching up to 90 cm (3 feet) in length, and as their name implies they are adept swimmers and can spend up to 25 minutes underwater!
(Image: A Chinese water dragon (Physignathus cocincinus) by Paul McKenzie via iNaturalist)
If you like what I do, consider leaving a tip or buying me a kofi!
Ozzy removes old skin in a manner oddly similar to person washing their back. Part of me wonders if this thing turns into a person when I’m not looking and goes on adventures.
Dragons d'eau vert - C'est un reptile abroricole. Vivant dans les arbres au bord de l'eau, il plonge en cas de danger. Il peut rester jusqu'à 90min en apnée.
The “Blue Dragon River” (Odeleite River) Location: Algarve, Portugal
Odeleite is a right tributary of the River Guadiana. The river is also known as "The Blue Dragon River" because of the aerial photo showing its dark blue color and unusual curvy shape that resembles a dragon.
thoughts on chinese water dragons? both in general and as a pet, because of the whole controversial “giant lizard as pets” topic.
Chinese water dragons are super cool! They're big, beautiful, and so fun to watch, but no so big that they'd be unmanageable for a private keeper.
That said, they're very tricky and best suited for advanced-level keepers. It is extremely hard to find a captive-bred baby, so most on the market are wild-caught, and they're very fragile lizards to begin with. They need a very large enclosure with a large water feature and high basking perches, but they do great on widely-available feeder insects. Their enclosure absolutely should not be entirely glass; they're very bad for never understanding what glass is and hurting themselves trying to get throgh it.
Super cool lizards! It's unfortunately very rare to see them kept properly in captivity, though.