Eastern Water Dragon males can grow to about one meter long. The length is mostly tail - their bodies are fairly short and stout. They are striped in a similar way to Sydney Blue Tongue lizards, but are immediately differentiated because of their very long toes and spiky crest which starts at the head and extends down the back. The females are much smaller - often only about one third to one half the size of the males.
The males are territorial after a fashion. They'll chase each other all day, and can be quite aggressive to each other, especially during the mating season. However, at night I've often found two competing males lovingly curled up with each other in the swimming pool filter box - one of their favourite haunts.
Eastern Water Dragons are not called Water Dragons for nothing - they love water, and at the first sign of danger - such as a neighbour's cat - they will all head for the swimming pool and dive to the bottom. Other places on the internet say they can stay underwater for up to half an hour. That's not true, they can stay underwater for at least three hours, and probably a lot longer. On cool autumn mornings I have often found a lizard or two, eyes tightly closed and in a stupor at the bottom of the pool - they look like they have been there for hours, and won't come up for air until two or three hours have elapsed from the time I've found them. I think the lizards use the pool as a sort of heat sink - when the air temperature is cooler than the water, they'll stay in the pool all day. Often when cleaning the pool I'll have to remove several lizards from the filter box. They act like they are in a state of suspended animation - there's no reaction at all when you touch them, but the second their skin comes in contact with the air (as you drag them out of the filter box), they'll wake up and struggle out of your hands. They seem to be very strong.
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