Draco species

So does anyone here keep or breed Dracos? I am currently working with what appears to be Draco volans collected from Vietnam, but I need to look into the ID a little more. I'll post pics and set-up photos soon.

Also, don't forget to join the Draco_sp Yahoo Group if you are interested in learning more about them.

i have dealt with the dracos before is there something you were wondering about? maybe i can help

thanks
raeth j morgan
www.morganreptileranch.com

Just looking for someone to exchange notes with. Have you kept them long term, what species, ever get to bred them?

Is Draco volans difficult to keep and breed? I suspect that they would need a relatively large and tall enclosure. Are captive bred specimens available? Thanks.

YES they are a very hard to keep animals.IMO they should not be imported. they have a absolutly no proper care info on them, the food they require is very expensive and its freee dried and they might not accept it. i never heard of anyone keeping them alive for more than a few months. there is NO captive bred dracos that can be confirmed.

raeth j morgan
morgan reptile ranch

They are very difficult to keep in captivity, I do agree with that. I must say though a few individuals have bred them in captivty, even into the F3 generation. While I currently have not been able to keep them past 3 months, I do believe that with further efforts I will have success with this genus. As for their food, they can easily be fed one week old crickets in large quanities, not to mention fruit flies in huge quanities. They are mostly sit and wait ambush predators, which means they will wait for the food to come right up to them before they'll consume it. So, you need to have large amounts for them to maintain their correct bodymass. I've been working on establishing a breeding group since 2001. So far I have failed, but I do think success is just around the corner. As for them being imported, yes they are imported in large numbers, but this is not having a negative effect on the species in the wild. They are extremely plentiful in many parts of tropical Asia. As for proper care info, I have been working on this, again since 2001, and soon I'll have everything pegged to a "tee." The main difficulty I am having right now is with kidney failure, which results in water rentention. I have had this problem with several species of chameleons in the past and have found ways around it with the help of my vet.

Originally Posted by raethmorgan

YES they are a very hard to keep animals.IMO they should not be imported. they have a absolutly no proper care info on them, the food they require is very expensive and its freee dried and they might not accept it. i never heard of anyone keeping them alive for more than a few months. there is NO captive bred dracos that can be confirmed.

raeth j morgan
morgan reptile ranch

the one thing you are forgeting, thus why you are having trouble. they are ant eaters. like the desert horned lizards, they need ants as the main diet. not just any ants but asian tree ants. they need the folic acid and crickets will not provide enough of what they need.they cost around $90 for a big jar of frezed dried ants. i havent tried them with them yet because they died before i found the website, now i have to wait untill spring before anyone gets them in.
also what little info you do find has a lot of mistakes. the biggest is they do NOT require a basking spot. they are canopy animals, they live in trees.
raeth j morgan
morgan reptile ranch

Sorry, but it has already been proven that neither Draco sps. nor horned lizards (Phrynosoma sps.) need folic acid to survive. They do not need ants to survive. People have bred both species to at least F2 on a diet without ants. There was even a team of herpetologists that tried to supplement crickets with folic acid, perhaps providing a balanced diet for horned lizards. It failed. Why? It failed because folic acid is present in such small doses in ants--so small it should not make a difference to the predator. The husbandry was flawed, as well as the size, duration, and amount of the diet. I have also researched the nutritional componets of several ant species that horn lizards eat. They have nothing we are not providing within captivity. I have also sent several Dracos that died in my care over the years to be necropsied. What was found is that they have died of kidney failure, dehydration, gout, progressive emaciation, etc. Not once did they even bring up possible nutritional deficiencies, even though I mentioned folic acid on several occasions.

The problem most people have with keeping either species is providing large enough amounts of small prey, along with proper hydration. Even if you do this, both species are not kept correctly most of the time prior to being sold to the hobbyist, thus resulting in kidney failure. I threw all the captive knowledge about Dracos out the window years ago when it was not useful to my efforts. I started from scratch based on the natural history of these animals and captive husbandry for related agamids.

As for basking spots, you can provide them, but they are not needed, as you noted. I have had the most success maintaining Dracos at about 85-92 degrees. I just acquired some animals, that I hand-picked, from a local importer on Friday. They are the best batch I have ever worked with and I am very postive that these guys will last for an extended period of time--and will likely breed. If you are interested in acquiring a few, shoot me an e-mail and we can talk. I would be willing to go pick out a few for you. I've been deep into Dracos for the past 4 years; I have practically every scientific paper on them out there, some of which are from the 1800s. I've talked to several people that have kept, bred, imported, exported, collected, and observed Dracos in the wild. It is my goal to establish them in captivity, and I am not taking any shortcuts.

Originally Posted by raethmorgan

the one thing you are forgeting, thus why you are having trouble. they are ant eaters. like the desert horned lizards, they need ants as the main diet. not just any ants but asian tree ants. they need the folic acid and crickets will not provide enough of what they need.they cost around $90 for a big jar of frezed dried ants. i havent tried them with them yet because they died before i found the website, now i have to wait untill spring before anyone gets them in.
also what little info you do find has a lot of mistakes. the biggest is they do NOT require a basking spot. they are canopy animals, they live in trees.
raeth j morgan
morgan reptile ranch

who did you get them from? how much were they? were they linnaeus,fimbriatus or volans( i dont know the names of the other 17 sub species)? my email is raeth2402@aol.com

thanks

Sent you an e-mail.