How to Tell the Sex of Your Chinese Water Dragon

Co-authored by Audra Barrios and Nihal Shetty

Last Updated: July 11, 2022

Wondering how to tell whether your majestic Chinese water dragon is a boy or a girl? While juvenile water dragons don’t have any features to distinguish between males and females, when they’re about 16 inches (41 cm) long, or around 1.5 years old, there are a number of telltale signs that can let you know the sex of your dragon.^{[1]
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1

Pores

Male dragons have larger, browner pores than females. Pores are the easiest way to distinguish male dragons from females. To look at your dragon’s pores, turn them upside down so that their feet face the sky, then take a look at the area between their back legs. If you have a male dragon, there will be several dark brown, large pores present. Females have pores as well, but they’re smaller and tend to blend in with the rest of their skin.^{[2]
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2

Spines

Male dragons have spines on their back, while females have bumps. While female dragons will have the beginnings of spines on their backs, they’re more like slightly raised bumps. These spines are more pointy and pronounced in males. If you’ve noticed sharp and spines in a line along your water dragon’s back, it’s likely that your dragon is male.^{[3]
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3

Crests

Both males and females have crests, but they’re less prominent in females. Crests located above the neck, known as nuchal crests, appear in both males and females, with male crests tending to be higher and with longer spikes. Males may also have mid-sagittal crests emerging from the top of their skulls, which females lack.^{[4]
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4

Throat color

Throats of male dragons are pinker than those of females. While females tend to maintain their beautiful green color all around their body, the throats of male water dragons can have a striking pink color instead. If your dragon’s throat seems really light in comparison to the rest of their body, they may be a male.^{[5]
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5

Head Shape

Males have broader, more triangular-shaped heads than females. Once they reach maturity, you’ll begin to notice that a male water dragon’s head shape is significantly wider than the rest of his body, while a female’s head is somewhat more proportional. These differences are even more clear if you have two dragons of different sexes, so that you can make a comparison.^{[6]
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6

Size

Female dragons tend to be smaller than males. As fully grown adults, male water dragons are generally around 3 feet (91 cm) long, while females are fully-grown at around 2 feet (61 cm). If you have two adult water dragons that are markedly different in size, you can generally guess that the larger one is male, and the smaller is female.^{[7]
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