Flying Dragons Draco sp.
Description: Flying dragon Draco volans. There are about 16 species of this very unique type of agamid, also known as the Flying Lizard and the Flying Draco. It comes from the Philippines to western Malaysia and occurs widely across the Indo-Pacific islands. The natural habitat is open tropical forest trees and it does not venture onto the ground often. Females do bury their eggs in the ground. These lizards do not actually fly, they spread their amazing rib "wings" and expertly glide from tree to tree. Bright colors are displayed with the wings extended, males and females have different colors which allows the sexes to be distinguished at a distance. When not in use, the wings are folded in and these long-tailed lizards actually appear quite slender. Most grow to about 8" but a robust female may get a bit larger. Males are generally a little smaller than females. The basic color is brownish with a variable darker pattern, males have a yellowish dewlap and females usually have a blue one. The wings are a shade of yellow to reddish-orange when extended with a bluish color on the undersides. Temperature: Provide a basking area of around 90 to 95°F and a cool side in the enclosure of around 80 to 85°F with a 5 to 10°F drop at night. Humidity: Moderately high, between 75 and 85%. Frequent misting is beneficial. Lighting: UV lighting is required, the 5.0 florescent type will also provide the light needed to grow plants in a forest habitat. A basking light is also needed.
Feeding: In the wild, ants and termites are their main food. In captivity, crickets, flies and mealworms are fine as a staple diet but a variety of other insects should be offered. Feed adults about every 2 days or so and juveniles every day. A good vitamin/mineral supplement should be given once or twice a week for adults and more often for juveniles. Habitat: A large, tall enclosure is required. Set it up as a planted arboreal forest with an open area for gliding. Use sturdy plants, include plenty of thick, vertical branches to climb on and provide some sheltered areas or hollows to hide in. Keep the substrate moist but not soggy. Sexing: Males are generally smaller than females but have larger dewlaps. Breeding: Breeding season probably begins in December in the wild (mid-summer in the Southern Hemisphere). The male courts the female, spreading his wings as well as head and body bobbing while extending his dewlap. This is reminiscent of New World anoles.Using her head, the female will excavate a small nest, lay the eggs, cover them over and smooth out the ground. She will guard the nest for about a day before abandoning it. One to 5 eggs or more may be laid, which are rather odd looking, long and pointed with thick calcium deposits covering each end. The eggs should be carefully removed for incubation, do not change their orientation as it will likely kill them. Put a couple of inches of moistened coconut fiber or vermiculite in a plastic container. Carefully bury the eggs half way into the incubating medium without changing the orientation from the way they were laid. Put holes in the lid and put it on, then place the container in the incubator at 75 to 80°F with high humidity around 80 to 90%. Check every few days for bad eggs and add water to the vermiculite as needed. Eggs should hatch in about 1 to 2 months. Other species: |