Crickets and meal worms are fine if he likes them, but a good idea would be to dust them with vitamins. They sell pill bottle looking containers of them at pet stores and you pour a little in a plastic bag along with the insects, shake it up so it coats them and then feed the vitamin powdered insects to the dragon. Make sure he gets calcium.
Be careful with live mealworms, they can actually hurt the lizard. Some people kill them before they feed them. They are alive when they are swallowed and can give internal injuries.
http://www.triciaswaterdragon.com/diet.htm There is a link at the top of that page to more water dragon info.
Yes, you can get UVB bulbs that fit into a fish tank light fixture. They look the same but emit a much, much better light. The normal light in a fish tank does nothing for him and does not simulate the sun he needs.
There is a difference between a heat bulb and a UVB bulb. The UVB will be long like your current bulb and the heat light will be cone shaped and fit into one of those industrial looking fixtures. They usually have a clamp and can be attached to something within a couple of feet of the tank and pointed towards the opening. Be sure to put a tank thermometer on the inside to make sure it doesn't get too hot. If it does, you can just move the light back a little. The best fixtures for heat lights are ceramic bottomed... much less worry of fire hazard. You can also you ceramic heat emmitters that are shaped the same, go in the same fixture but just put out heat, not light.
If the fish tank has the plastic hood, take it apart, get a screen top for the tank and just sit the actual light fixture from the hood on top of the screen. The plastic lid parts aren't needed.
Screens are pretty cheap.
See how this is.... screen, light fixtures...
This company makes tons of reptile stuff if you want to see what some of the stuff I'm talking about looks like. Pet stores sell it.
http://www.esuweb.com/category.asp?E...=ESU%20Reptile
Also, remember... UVB bulbs have a lifespan of only a few months. The UVB wears out, change them on a 3-4 month schedule, not only when they burm out.
Reply With Quote