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  #1 (permalink)  
Old 04-20-2007, 10:47 PM
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Horned Mountain Dragons

Well its been about two weeks since my gf's petco water dragon died from giardia. and im thinking about purchasing her a horned mountain dragon. ive been reading up on these guys and i was wondering three thing..

what is the biggest they will get?

i read that they usually wont drink unless the water is constantly moving like a water fall/river deal. is this true?

are they as picky of eater as the water dragons are? like do i constantly have to switch up the diet to keep them intrested?
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Old 04-20-2007, 10:48 PM
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Re: Horned Mountain Dragons

oh and i was looking at getting one or two from switzer reptiles
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Old 04-24-2007, 02:12 PM
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Re: Horned Mountain Dragons

I kept Mountain Horned Dragons quite a while ago. I worked with WC armata and crucigera. As I said it was a long time ago but I think I should be able to answer your questions based on what I can actually remember.
1. They are generally regarded as medium sized lizards, mine were around the 6-7 inch mark and I don't think that any would go beyond 10 inches in length.
2. As I said mine were wild caught and they were pretty picky about drinking from a bowl of standing water. I kept them in a naturalistic enclosure with a waterfall and misting system. They seem perfectly happy to drink droplets of water on foliage so if you mist them or use a drip system you should be alright. They do dehydrate quite easily though, so whilst getting them to drink water from a drip is easy enough you have to make sure they are drinking enough and that the enclosure has enough humidity.
3. To begin with they can be a little bit picky, however they will not turn down earthworms. These seem to be a real favourite and I would imagine you could get the most obstinate feeders going by offering them. Overall, like many other Asian agamids, they do seem to prefer grubs and other slow moving prey (ie Locusts) over crickets, but once they are established they are quite voracious. Mine ate Crickets, Locusts, Butterworms, Earthworms, Silkworms, Superworms and Pachodna grubs. I had them long before roaches became a popular live food but I would imagine some of the slower roaches would be readily accepted.
My general setup was a 4x3x2 (LHW) enclosure. I had about 6 inches of a humus/redwood compost/ topsoil substrate. The enclosure was heavily palnted and I had a small waterfall in the centre. A misting system came on for five minutes in the morning and five early evening. There was a drip running all day. I used four full spectrum light and had a 95 degree basking spot with a halogen at one end. Ambient temps ran 68-76 during the day and the whole enclosure cooled to 65-70 at night.
The lizards themselves were surprisingly tame and after they were established they would often ride about on my shoulders for extended periods. They were quite slow moving animals but they dispalyed well in the enclosures.
Hope this helps some.
Regards,
Alex
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Old 04-25-2007, 06:43 PM
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Re: Horned Mountain Dragons

thanks thats what i was looking for
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Old 04-25-2007, 07:05 PM
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Re: Horned Mountain Dragons

I bred them for a few years till I figured out I could not compete with the WC Import Market. Most of those MHDs are wc het for dead so be sure you are getting CB from the start. A good clue is if the horns are missing they are likely WC and will need a vet ASAP.
Here is the care sheet I used to hand out with my babies hope it is helpful.

Mountain Horned Dragon Care Sheet

Mountain Horned Dragons also called Mountain Horned Lizards are perhaps one of the most docile personable lizards in the pet trade today. Most specimens sold are wild caught yet do not respond with great signs of defensive aggression like most lizards. Due to the fact that they are wild caught a new MHD owner would do well to have their lizard examined by a vet, as soon as possible after receiving it, for a thorough examination and worming.
In the wild these water loving arboreal lizards live in the branches of dense jungle growth usually near a trickling stream.

Housing
A thirty gallon high aquarium (24 ¼ wide x 12 ½ deep x 24 ¾ high) should be considered the smallest acceptable enclosure for a young Mountain Horned Dragon. For one adult a tall custom built enclosure 36 inches wide X 18 inches deep X 48 inches high should be considered a minimum size.
The best setup for a Mountain Horned reflects their natural a shady rainforest home. They need thick vertical branches for climbing with plenty of plant cover to hide in. A stream or small waterfall with flowing filtered water will go a long way toward making them feel at home.

Lighting
There is some disagreement on the exact lighting requirements for the MHD some say that UVB and Basking lights are not needed because the Mountain Horned lives in shady jungle setting where they get no sun. Others argue that the sun still shines down through the canopy to create basking spots where these lizards lay and absorb the UVB rays that provide the vitamin D3 necessary for calcium absorption. I am inclined to agree with the latter as breeders of Mountain Horned Dragons have witnessed spinal and tail deformities in lizards not exposed to UVB lighting as well as digestion problems when Basking lights were not provided.
UVB & Basking lights should be provided for 12 - 14 hours per day. The use of a timer will help to assure that the correct number of hours of light are provided on a set routine schedule.

Temperature
The ambient enclosure temperature for Mountain Horned Dragons should range between 70F & 75F. A basking light should be used to create a basking spot on a branch with temperatures between 80F to 85F. Night time temperatures may be allowed to drop to between 65F & 70F.

Humidity
As the MHD come from a humid jungle environment humidity should be kept at 70-80%.
Water and humidity are extremely important; a Mountain Horned Dragon can quickly become dehydrated if proper moisture is not provided. To maintain the proper humidity you can mist the enclosure once or twice each day. Another method that can be used to help maintain proper humidity is to place an aquarium air stone in their pond/water supply. The bubbles rising from the water increases the evaporation rate which helps to maintain a higher humidity in the enclosure.

Food
Horned Dragons are insectivorous and should be fed daily with calcium dusted silkworms, earth worms, crickets, roaches, Mealworm, Wax Worms, and with the silkworms and earth worms being their favorites.
Here is an approximate break down of prey items that can be fed to Mountain Horned Dragons;
Silkworms - Protein 54% / Fat 43% / Calcium 0.5% / Phosphorus 0.6% / Chitin (exoskeleton) low amount (This is the best feeder insect to use when available)
Earthworms - Protein 10.39% / Fat 7.2% / Calcium 1.18% / Phosphorus .9% / Chitin (exoskeleton) low amount (Though somewhat low in protein these have the best Calcium/Phosphorus Ratio of the feeder insects if you can get your lizard to eat them)
Crickets - Protein 50% / Fat 44% / Calcium 0.2% / Phosphorus 2.6% / Chitin (exoskeleton) medium amount (These MUST be gut loaded for 24 hours before feeding to your animal for proper nutrition)
Mealworms - Protein 37% / Fat 60% / Calcium 0.1% / Phosphorus 1.2% / Chitin (exoskeleton) high amount (I recommend feeding only very small and freshly molted due to the possibility of intestinal impaction in small or young animals)
House Fly Larvae (yes maggots) – Protein 56.5% / Fat 17.2% / Calcium .37% / Phosphorous 1.13% / Chitin (exoskeleton) low amount (Though these have the highest protein percentage of any of these listed feeder insects they have a lousy Calcium/Phosphorus ratio)
Wax Worms - Protein 27% / Fat 73% / Calcium 0.1% / Phosphorus 0.9% / Chitin (exoskeleton) (Feed as treats only due to the high fat content)
Insects should be dusted with a good quality vitamin supplement once each week and calcium supplement at every feeding.

Water
As Mountain Horned Dragons love water and will spend many happy hours in it they should be provided with a water source that is large enough for them to swim & soak in. Since they do not like to drink from still, not moving, water you should at the very least place an aquarium air stone in their water so as to simulate moving water and stimulate drinking.
A far better idea, the one I use for our MHDs, is to install a stream and water fall system where the water is cycled from the swimming area into a filtration system then is pumped back into the stream where it flows back down to a small water fall and into the pond.
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Old 04-25-2007, 07:25 PM
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Re: Horned Mountain Dragons

Mountain Horned Dragon (Acanthosaura species)

seems to be alot of info here......
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Old 04-25-2007, 07:53 PM
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Re: Horned Mountain Dragons

yeah thats where i got my info from already i just wanted to hear fropm people that have them ....... thanks everyone
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Old 04-26-2007, 11:06 AM
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Natural history of Acanthosaura

I have had the privilege of seeing Acanthosaura on many occasions in the field, most recently, this week. Although Acanthosaura is primarily arboreal, I have never seen them higher than neck/head level off of the ground. They tend to prefer light bushes to thick branches and will use the ground to travel from bush to bush. Of all the times that I have come across this genus, I have never found them adjacent to a stream. They are always found in forest with a significant amount of canopy (80+%). The canopy is thick, but for those that have visited tropical forests, the vegetation is not thick; there is not enough light to support thick growth.

A number of the specimens captured on surveys that I have been on, to include a recent expedition, are kept alive for display at the Thailand Natural History Museum. They do quite well without extra artificial light and are fed on a diet consisting primarily of meal worms and crickets. Because the ones there are not subjected to the horrible conditions of the pet trade route, they are not terribly stressed out coming into captivity (they miss out on all days/weeks of abhorrent conditions, the middle men and the trans-Pacific travel) and do not suffer from the parasite infestations that become out of control with added stress of the pet trade route. Parasite infestations often get out of control as a result of great stress weakening the immune system and allowing parasites to get out of control.

John Dove, I am sorry to hear about you not being able to compete with the wild caught pet trade. That is unfortunately all too common and until the US clamps down like the EU has on the wild caught trade, nothing is going to change. As you know, Acanthosaura is a wonderful genus that does well if they are received well, but after all the stress they go through in the pet trade route from field collector to purchase at the pet store getting one that is still in good shape is a rarity.

This is typical of how Acanthosaura crucigera is found in primary mountain mist/rainforest. This picture was taken in Khao Nan National Park, Nakhon Si Thammarat on the BRT (Biodiversity Response Thailand) expedition on 21 April.


Cheers,
Michael
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Old 05-07-2007, 01:31 PM
Dragonmom Dragonmom is offline
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Re: Horned Mountain Dragons

I joined just to respond to this thread.
I've been breeding the capra (like?) for almost 3 years. Just kind of fell into it but have since fallen in love with them. I do not make any money at it but I do get much pleasure in introducing captive bred babies to my local pet shops and people online.
I had a pair of armata but lost the male to I don't know what. One day he was bright and active and the next he was dead. The female died eggbound with an infertile clutch. They were wild caught and I had them for about 6 months. I've talked with several people that have been unsucessful with the armata also.
Mrcota, I envy you. I would love to see them in nature. I've been reading about new species being found. Hence the capra like. From what I understand the differences can be subtle.
Bonnie
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