In this post, you will find all about Chinese water dragon egg laying, how to breed Chinese water dragons, how to create a nesting site for egg laying and incubate eggs. You will also find information on when Chinese water dragons reach sexual maturity and how to care for a gravid Chinese water dragon and hatchlings.
When do Chinese water dragons reach sexual maturity?
Chinese water dragons reach sexual maturity and become ready to breed, and females start laying eggs at around the age of 24 months, or when reaching approximately 25 inches (64 cm) long.
When is Chinese water dragon mating season?
Most Chinese water dragons start expressing mating interest and behaviors in the early spring. The mating season can last for 2-3 months.
How many eggs do Chinese water dragons lay?
Chinese water dragons will lay a clutch that will have around 5-20 eggs (often 7-10 eggs). If a female mated with a male, that will be after 2-2.5 (rarely 3) months of mating. Each egg will weigh around 3.5 grams.
Can a Chinese water dragon lay eggs without mating?
Yes, a female Chinese water dragon can lay eggs without mating with a male, but eggs will be infertile. She might also retain sperm for few months, and then lay eggs that are fertile. It’s important to set up a nesting site for all females over 18 months of age.
How often do Chinese water dragons lay eggs?
Chinese water dragons can lay 1-2 clutches per year.
How to prepare Chinese water dragons for a breeding season?
To prepare your Chinese water dragons for a breeding season, you need to let them rest a little by cooling them. This is done by slightly lowering temperatures and photoperiod in their cage. However, this is not necessary. Instead, you can separate the pair and reintroduce them to each other in spring.
After a cooling period, you will need to set temperatures and number of daylight in the cage to normal. Your Chinese water dragons will show interest in breeding after a cooling period.
In the beginning of December, start slowly reducing the number of daylight in your Chinese water dragons’ cage. Over a week, reduce to 10 hours of light vs. 14 hours of darkness.
Leave the lights on – but lower the temperatures. Daily background temperatures can be set to 75-78 F (24-25.5 C), with a basking spot temperature of 82-84 F (28-29 C). At night, temperatures should drop to 70-74 F (21.1-23.3 C).
Make sure have a soaking water bowl (water must be around 80 F/26.6 C), as well drinking bowl at all times. Feed your Chinese water dragons less, but still around once a week. Only feed early in the day to allow digestion.
After around 1.5 months, start increasing the number of daylight hours, as well as temperatures.
Only Chinese water dragons that are fully healthy, sexually mature and of healthy weight can be taken through cooling period. It’s a good idea to take them for an annual check-up before the cooling.
What are Chinese water dragon mating behaviors?
During the breeding season, you might notice your Chinese water dragons behaving differently with each other. Your Chinese water dragons should not behave differently towards you.
Males with be head bobbing, and frantically wish to mate with a female, and even too often. That’s why it’s important to separate them after they finish mating.
What is more, females tend to be aggressive towards each other during the mating season. Females are especially protective of an egg laying site and will try to scare away both females and males from it. Make sure she’s alone after mating to prevent stress.
How do Chinese water dragons mate?
After the cooling period, introduce Chinese water dragons together. If they lived separately, introduce a male to a female. Male will start head bobbing and chasing her in the tank. To mate, a male will grab the female by the neck and turn himself to insert his hemipenis (reproductive organ) in her vent.
Allow them to mate for around 20 minutes, and then separate them. You might also re-introduce them again after few days to allow second mating. This will increase chances of her laying fertile eggs.
How to prepare an egg-laying site (nesting site) for your Chinese water dragon?
To prepare a nesting site for your Chinese water dragon, make sure to pick a more hidden and quiet spot of the tank. A nesting site is where your Chinese water dragon will dig to lay the eggs.
The nesting site has to have enough substrate for your gravid Chinese water dragon to dig and lay eggs there. Around 10 inches of substrate would be optimal, and the hole must not fill again when she’s digging. This can be either a designated spot in the tank, or a large plastic tub that she can easily enter/exit and turn around inside.
For substrate, you can use moist vermiculite, or some soil mixed with coconut coir and moss. Make sure it’s not too soggy, just a little moist. Your Chinese water dragon needs to be able to dig properly – she will work hard to cover the eggs very well.
Once the female has laid the eggs, take them out 1 day after and place them in an incubator. You can leave them in a tank for a day as females tend to protect the nesting site for a while before calming down.
Please prepare a nesting (egg laying) site for ALL female Chinese water dragons that are around 1.5-2 years old. Even without mating, she will need to lay infertile eggs.
Signs of a gravid Chinese water dragon
- Gaining weight
- Refusing food, especially as time goes on
- Round belly, eggs showing on the sides (lumps)
- Being less active (but not lethargic)
- Digging a lot to prepare for laying eggs and going around the tank to search or check on the nesting site
How long do Chinese water dragons lay eggs after mating?
It will take around 60-65 days for your female Chinese water dragon to lay eggs after mating. You will notice your gravid dragon’s belly getting rounder and larger.
She might also refuse food and start digging shortly before laying. After laying eggs, she will cover them properly and will be tapping medium with her snout to properly pack it down.
Chinese water dragon egg incubation
Collect the eggs 1 day after she has laid them (she might protect the site for the first day or two). Mark the top of the eggs and don’t turn them (you can kill the embryo).
Lay them in the same position 2-3 inches away from each other, because they will enlarge during incubation. Don’t cover eggs with substrate fully (only to around 50%), or that might kill the embryo as well due to lack of ventilation. Covering them to a half will provide needed moisture.
Place the eggs in a tray like this, or another box, that is filled with moist substrate. This can be vermiculite, or a mix of vermiculite and perlite, or an incubation medium like this. Make sure it allows some ventilation
Temperature for incubation should be set to 84-86 Fahrenheit (28.8-30 Celsius). Constant temperatures are important for the eggs to hatch. Incubation will last for 60-90 days.
Buying or making an incubator for Chinese water dragon eggs
For the incubator, you can either use a commercial reptile egg incubator like this ReptiBator, or make one yourself. You can even use chicken egg incubator. Making one yourself will also require some supplies. Commercial incubators will allow to keep temperatures and humidity levels optimal.
To make your own incubator, you can use a cooler box or similar, that you will fill with water and place a submersible water heater like this on the bottom to heat the water to 84-86 F. With this, please use a thermostat to make sure that water is heated to ideal temperatures.
Also, please use a separate thermometer with a probe to check temperatures. Then, inside a cooler, place a stand and then a tray with eggs on top. Water must not touch the tray or eggs, as it will cause mold. Make sure to ventilate the cooler by opening the door from time to time for 15-30 minutes.
Another option would be fill a plastic tub with substrate and place eggs on top, and then put this tub inside a larger tub. This will also have a submersible water heater to heat the water.
Or, you could use a heating pad on the bottom for heating. But make sure that it doesn’t touch the container directly – lift it off the ground using a stand or similar. Inside, you can put a water dish for extra humidity.
Chinese water dragon eggs hatching
After 60-90 days of incubation, eggs will start hatching. They should hatch at around the same time. Once they hatch fully (don’t pull them from their egg, or it can cause damage) – take them out and place in a tank that you have setup previously.
Most will start eating within few days. Only offer pinhead sized crickets and others bugs that are soft and easy to digest – skip hard roaches, mealworms, superworms, Morioworms etc. Make sure heating, lighting, UVB and humidity (75-80%) in the cage are optimal.
Also, please allow your female Chinese water dragon to rest after she has laid eggs. Gut-load and dust her food with calcium daily for the first few weeks, or she might experience a calcium crash.
Chinese water dragon has laid eggs without mating – infertile eggs
If your Chinese water dragon has laid infertile eggs, you might dispose of them 1-2 days after she has laid them. Because they are non-viable, there will be no embryo inside. Infertile eggs will look deflated and even dented.
Thank you for reading this guide on Chinese water dragon egg laying and breeding! If you would like to read more about Chinese water dragon care, please see this resource page.