How do you tell the difference between a female and a male baby chinese water dragon?

Question

i want to get a female chinese water dragon because i heard the males get around 3 feet and that is to big. but how do i make sure i am getting a female? is there any specific markings etc? and does anyone know where to get a care sheet?

Answer 1

You won't be able to s*x a baby water dragon. They all have female characteristics. Think of it like they haven't hit puberty yet. You won't be able to s*x them until they're a good bit older. If they're female, they will for the most part, stay the same- just bigger, with a tad larger crest. Males will develop large cheeks with vivid (with enough UVB light) colors such as yellows, blues, and peaches. They will also develop a large crest on the back of their neck with larger spines. The base of the tail will be more triangular and swollen, and they will develop prominent femoral pores. They might also have a patch of pink/peach coloration behind their front limbs. One of the first characteristcs to showis the chin/cheek coloration.

If you do get a female, you'll have to look into egg binding. Females require special care to ensure that their eggs can be laid (if not, they get too big inside her, cannot be laid, and can cause death)

http://www.triciaswaterdragon.com/ is one of the BEST water dragon care sites. it's lots of reading, but very informative and accurate. A great book to pick up is Water Dragons by Bert Langerwerf. It can be found at popular pet stores.

Other than that, Water dragons are beautiful creatures and make amazing pets! Hope this helps! :)

Answer 2

You won't be able to distinguish male from female until they're close to 20 inches long in growth...this is also close to full-grown and mature.  The way you'll be able to tell is that the male will have a larger, more triangular head and larger crests on neck, back and tail.  The femoral pores will also be larger as with most reptiles.  Sadly these characteristics probably won't develop until at least a year of age when they begin to mature.  I would not recommend probing, a vet can tell you the gender but there is always a risk that probing can harm your reptile so I personally avoid it.

Answer 3

I don't think you can tell until they're older. Some pet stores only sell one s*x or the other to prevent customers from breeding them, so ask an employee. If water dragons are too big, you might consider the Bearded Dragon. They get to be 18-24 inches and are one of the few lizards that like being handled.