Baskden a warm den for reptile folk

🩺 Your free vet-prep sheet

Your Chinese Water Dragon Vet-Prep Sheet

Reptile vets are rare, and it is easy to freeze in a crisis. This is the one page to have ready — how to find a vet, what to bring, what to tell them, and the questions to ask. This helps you prepare for a visit — it is not a way to treat at home. Print it and keep it with your care notes.

Black & white saves ink and prints cleanly on any printer.

Not sure it’s a vet trip yet? Try the Is this normal? triage first — many worries turn out to be a husbandry fix.

Baskden a warm den for reptile folk · baskden.com
Chinese Water Dragon — Vet-Prep Sheet

🔍 Find a reptile / exotics vet — before you need one

  • Search the ARAV Find-a-Vet directory (the Association of Reptilian & Amphibian Veterinarians), or in the UK the RCVS Find-a-Vet — or search "reptile / exotics vet near me".
  • Call ahead and ask the key question: "Do you see reptiles?" Not every practice does.
  • Ask the exam fee when you call. Knowing the cost up front removes the money-panic in a crisis.
  • Find and save one now, while things are calm — not in the middle of an emergency.

📇 Fill this in now — before the crisis

Two minutes now saves ten in a panic. Print it and keep it with your care notes.

My reptile vet
My chinese water dragon
What I'm seeing

🚨 Is this an emergency now?

See a reptile vet promptly if you notice any of these:

  • Open-mouth breathing, wheezing, popping/clicking sounds, mucus around the mouth or nose, or lethargy — possible respiratory infection; see an exotics vet promptly, and check that your temps aren't running cold.
  • Soft, bent, or rubbery jaw/limbs, tremors, twitching, difficulty climbing, or repeated failed shedding — signs consistent with metabolic bone disease / calcium-D3-UVB problems.
  • Persistent raw, scraped, or swollen snout/chin from rubbing the glass — needs husbandry fixes (planting, barriers, reducing stress) and vet care if the skin is broken or infected.
  • Not eating, sudden weight loss, sunken eyes, or no droppings for an extended period.
  • Straining, a bulge, or no defecation with a distended belly — possible impaction; an emergency if paired with lethargy.
  • Trauma, a hard fall, obvious limb deformity, seizures, or clear overheating — treat as urgent.

When in doubt, a vet call is never wrong — most issues are reversible if caught early.

🚗 On the way / while you wait

✅ Do

  • Keep it warm at a safe transport temperature — a cold reptile crashes fast (a warm car or a covered container with a warm, not hot, pack helps).
  • Keep it calm, dark and quiet in a secure, ventilated container — stress makes almost everything worse.
  • Bring it in its own container so the vet sees it as it lives.

⛔ Don't

  • Don’t offer food, or any OTC, aquarium-shop or online-forum remedy — many are useless or harmful and can mask the signs.
  • Don’t let it get cold on the way in.
  • Don’t handle it more than you must.

🎒 What to bring

  • A short video and a couple of clear photos of the behaviour or sign — it may not show it in the clinic.
  • A note of your setup (basking, cool-side and night temperatures, UVB, humidity, substrate) and exactly what — and how often — you feed.
  • Your reptile, transported safely in its own secure, ventilated container — kept warm (see below), not in a cold car.

🗣️ What to tell the vet

A general vet may not know this species. Come ready to explain its correct care:

Temperature
Warm land basking spot around 90-95°F (32-35°C), measured at the surface where the dragon actually sits. Provide sturdy horizontal branches under the basking lamp so it can thermoregulate above the water. Cool end around 77-86°F (25-30°C) per ReptiFiles, so the animal has a real thermal gradient to move through. Night around 75-77°F (24-25°C); a modest natural drop is fine, but do not let it fall below about 65°F (18°C). Sustained cold is a leading cause of respiratory infection in this species. Use a non-light heat source (ceramic heat emitter or radiant panel on a thermostat) if the room drops.
UVB & lighting
Yes — UVB is essential. Use a high-output T5 HO linear tube: an Arcadia 12% (Desert) or Zoo Med ReptiSun 10.0, spanning roughly half to two-thirds of the enclosure in a reflective fixture, aiming for a basking-zone UV Index of about 3.0-4.0 (Ferguson Zone 3). Mount it about 11-15 in (30-38 cm) above the basking branch if over mesh, or 16-20 in (40-50 cm) if inside the enclosure. Replace the bulb every 6-12 months — UV output fades before the visible light does. Pair it with a bright ~6500K daylight LED, since a UVB tube alone isn't bright enough for their needs.
Humidity
High: daytime average around 60-80%. Achieve it with the large water feature plus misting 1-2x daily (or an automatic mister/fogger) and a moisture-holding substrate. Good ventilation still matters — high humidity with stagnant air invites respiratory and skin infections, so aim for humid but airy, not swampy-stale.
Enclosure
Adult minimum roughly 6 ft tall x 3 ft wide x 6 ft long (about 1.8 x 0.9 x 1.8 m); bigger is strongly recommended, and height matters because they climb. Build it as a paludarium: a large, heated pool that occupies about one-third to one-half of the floor space and is at least 6 in (15 cm) deep — deep enough for the dragon to fully submerge and swim, since these lizards dive to escape and can hold their breath underwater for many minutes. Keep the water warm (basking-warm surface, roughly 80s F / high-20s to low-30s C during the day) and, critically, filtered and moving — a canister or submersible filter plus weekly water changes (or sooner if soiled), because they defecate in the water and stagnant water breeds infection. Densely plant the land side and add visual barriers to stop snout-rubbing on the glass (see below). A single pet-store 75-gallon tank is a temporary juvenile home at best, not an adult enclosure.
Substrate
On the land side, a deep (about 4 in / 10 cm) moisture-holding layer such as coconut fiber, sphagnum/peat moss, or a bioactive soil mix — it holds humidity and cushions falls. Avoid loose particulate that could be swallowed with prey. Some vets prefer easy-clean paper towel or vinyl for hospital/quarantine setups; for a permanent enclosure, a naturalistic moist substrate suits the species better.
Diet
Insectivore-leaning omnivore. Juveniles are almost entirely insect-eaters; adults take roughly 80-90% insects (crickets, dubia roaches, black soldier fly larvae, silkworms, the occasional worm) with the remainder as leafy greens, vegetables, and small amounts of fruit. Gut-load feeder insects for 24-72 hours before offering. Adults typically eat insects every few days with salad available more often; feed juveniles more frequently. Offer appropriately sized prey (no wider than the space between the eyes).
Supplements
Dust feeders with a plain calcium (no D3) at most feedings, a calcium-with-D3 supplement about once weekly, and a reptile multivitamin every couple of weeks — or use an all-in-one balanced dust (e.g., Repashy Calcium Plus LoD) as directed. Exact schedule depends on how strong your UVB is, so follow the product and, ideally, your exotics vet's guidance. Correct calcium/D3/UVB together prevents metabolic bone disease.

⚕️ Reptiles are ectotherms kept at species-specific temperatures — a cold reptile can’t metabolise medicines properly, so tell the vet your exact temperatures and keep it warm for transport. Reptiles are prey animals and hide illness until it is advanced, so early changes matter. Mention your UVB/lighting and any supplements or remedies you’ve already used, and ask for reptile-safe products and doses.

Then note which of the warning signs (above) you are seeing, when they started, and whether they are getting worse.

❓ Questions to ask

  • Do you routinely see reptiles? If not, can you refer me to a vet who does?
  • What are the likely causes — and could my setup or diet be contributing?
  • What is the treatment plan, the likely cost, and what should I watch for at home?
  • How do I prevent this from happening again?