Never seen this before..is he bathing?

[Faith3655]

So I have Draco a good size water dish in his Viv. He is still little enough that he can fit his whole body in it. Well I cleaned it today and filled it up with water and when I came back he was laying in it. For him that is normal, but out of no where he started moving around in it and dunking his whole head under the water. I'm sitting here watching him and he'll climb out but then go back and do it again, occasionally leaving his head submerged for a few seconds. Has anyone else seen this???

 

[TheWerewolf]

Sounds like you have a water loving dragon. There is someone on here who has a dragon that loves to swim. My dragon hates water so I don't know much from my experience.

 

[vampy]

I'm not sure it's a great idea to have a water bowl in a beardie tank. Some people do it, but I'd worry it would make the atmosphere in there too damp, or that if he were very young he might drown in it.

As for putting his head under, is he moving his mouth while he does it? Sometimes they do drink like this, I've seen my bf's dragons do it in the bath from time to time, his female did it on and off for a good couple of minutes just after she finishing laying her eggs, I imagine she was a bit dehydrated from the effort and the fact that she'd not really eaten much for a couple of days.

If he's not drinking while he's in there, I have no idea, but my inclination would be to take the water bowl out and give him a bath every couple of days if he enjoys it, rather than risk him drowning in it (if he's still a baby, if he's an adult and has always had water with him, then I guess he's probably fine, and maybe just enjoys it). I guess if he is shedding his neck he might be trying to soak it to make it shed more easily, but I've never seen them make the connection themselves that water helps with shedding, they always seem to prefer to rub the area on something.

 

[Faith3655]

I didn't see him open his mouth. He did it a few times before staying under. Later last night he went to bask and was acting normal. Even let me pick him up without hissing.

 

[lauraj1055]

I have 2 that do this all the time, it means they love the water and are basically playing in it. It's all good.

 

[Mummapinkham]

Harry loves his water bowl and we had to get him a bigger one because he didn't fit. He will relax in his pool every morning before basking and eating. I do take the bowl out at night though just because of the added humidity, but it is the first thing that goes back in in the AM, before my coffee even, lol.