Australian Water Dragon — Fact Sheet

Intellagama lesueurii · Australian Water Dragon

📋 At a glance

🏠 Enclosure

• Plan a room-sized enclosure: approximately 300 × 200 × 180 cm for an adult, with larger accommodation where possible.
• The ACT Herpetological Association recommends a 3 × 2 m adult footprint.
• Keep one animal unless equipped to manage a substantially larger compatible group; never combine adult males.

🪨 Enclosure furniture

• Anchor stout branches and shelves to support the adult’s weight.
• Include shaded hides, visual barriers and a dry land area alongside the pool.
• A soil-based substrate around 10–15 cm deep permits digging; laying females need a deeper separate nest area.

💡 Lighting

• Provide bright light, linear UVB and a 10–12-hour active-season day.
• The basking branch must receive both heat and UVB, while shaded branches permit withdrawal.
• Select and measure a suitable partial-sun UV gradient with a reptile lighting specialist; bulb percentage and advertised distance alone do not establish exposure.

🌡️ Temperature

• Provide a 35–40 °C basking surface, cool air around 22–26 °C and ordinary nights around 18–24 °C.
• These are active-season enclosure targets, not winter weather limits.
• Control heating with a thermostat and verify several heights with independent probes and an infrared thermometer.
• Never make the swimming area the only escape from excess heat.

💧 Humidity & water

• Aim for moderate ambient humidity around 50–70%, with ventilation and dry resting sites.
• Provide a pool allowing full submersion, turning and swimming, with broad easy exits.
• Remove faeces promptly and change unfiltered water daily; filtration does not remove the need for cleaning and water checks.
• Avoid stagnant, permanently saturated air.

🪳 Diet

Staple foods — follow the feeding schedule:

• Offer varied gut-loaded insects and suitable earthworms, alongside chopped leafy greens and vegetables.
• Juveniles need insect meals daily; feed adults measured animal-food portions every 2–3 days and offer fresh greens daily.
• Adjust to weight and activity, removing spoiled food.
• Fruit is occasional; fatty mammals, processed meat and dog or cat food are not routine staples.
• Choose prey no wider than the space between the eyes; offer smaller items if swallowing looks difficult.

In moderation:

• Sweet fruit is a small part of a varied diet, never the only food.

Avoid:

• Pesticide-contaminated food, spoiled leftovers and unverified wild-collected foods.

Supplements:

• Dust prey with calcium and use reptile vitamins according to label and UVB provision.
• With effective measured UVB, use plain calcium for routine dusting and obtain D3 from a coordinated, label-directed vitamin plan; without effective UVB, dietary D3 needs deliberate provision.
• Do not stack D3 products.

💤 Seasonal rest

• Only consider planned seasonal cooling for healthy, established adults after veterinary advice. Do not cool juveniles, new arrivals, thin or ill animals. Check weight, hydration, parasite status and equipment first; monitor weight, behaviour and temperatures throughout and stop for veterinary review if condition declines.

🩺 Health — warning signs

• Inspect the snout, feet and tail for injuries; screen reflection and inadequate cover can drive repeated escape attempts.
• Wheezing, swollen jaws, weakness, weight loss or prolonged unsuccessful digging require reptile-veterinary assessment.
• Use calm container transfers where practical, and support the body rather than holding the tail.
• Weak jaws and poor grip can indicate metabolic bone disease; repeated straining or abdominal swelling may indicate obstruction or egg binding.
• These require veterinary diagnosis, not extra supplements or home extraction.