Beardie Cohabitation

Hello Beardie keepers! I just wanted to create this forum to hear stories about keeping Beardies together.

I’ve read about this topic A LOT. I’ve read about it as I’ve kept hem for 10+ years. I haven’t always kept some together, but I’ve closely examined how some of them interact with each other and have tried keep some of them together.

I also know that this a really debated topic, and it’s very taboo to keep them together. People who are opposed to this practice always say “It’ll happen eventually”. However, in many 10 years of keeping. I have NEVER once observed aggression in my Beardies. I have also always heard that “It comes out of no where” but man, I’ve not had any problems with this stuff.

So, I want to know your experience. How long have you kept Dragons? Have you kept them together or ever let them interact? Have you ever had problems with them? Have you ever had any where you didn’t have any problems with?

I’d like to stick to discussion with your experience, instead of critiquing mine, please. All my Beardies I currently own live alone, and only interact during some feeding, bathing, and when we let them out to get exercised.

Please leave your experience down below.

I feel that we as a bearded dragon community carry a certain responsibility to the dragon keepers that come on here, to help their dragons lead a long healthy life. With that being said, I personally will never condone housing them together because the chance of injury is always there and, I couldn't stand the thought of someone's dragon getting maimed or killed because of it.
You raise yours the way you want, but you know the risks involved, others don't.
This is why I come here every day... To help others with problems that I can help them with. If we said it was OK to do that and, one of there dragons dies, what happens to our credibility?

I totally see what you’re seeing, and I agree. That’s why I created this discussion, so people know there are two sides. Of course, you wouldn’t want to advise someone that it would be OK, and then something happen.

However, I also think believe that there are risks in everything we do. Keeping dogs together, keeping certain fish together and so on. There’s risk in everything, including keeping Beardies.

Yep, I think as far as bearded dragon enthusiasts go the three most controversial topics are beardie cohabitation, mealworms, and loose substrates. A lot of really respected/revered beardie breeders house multiple females together, but one could make the argument that this has less to do with them having a definitive answer on whether it’s a positive practice and more to do with creating an economy of space. There’s a lot of information from vets and herpetologists about other husbandry issues so I agree that it would be great if respected figures with a background in reptile behavior could explain specifically why cohabitation is never a good idea or is acceptable under specific circumstances. Given that these animals aren’t social in the wild, it makes sense that keeping them alone is both natural and desirable. But with so many breeders (and even some zoos) housing females together, there’s definitely a contradictory message on whether cohabitation can or should exist. So I agree that it would be great to have a definitive answer from an indisputable authority on beardie behavior.

Another thing I find interesting is the evolution of the creatures. They’re evolving into crazy morphs and some even have a leather feeling back! So, if their colors and body can change, isn’t it possible that their brain can evolve to becoming more social?

Think about it, animals adapt. They adapt to what makes their species survive. Essentially, these new morphs we see probably would have never happened in the wild because it wouldn’t allow them to survive. But since their getting these beautiful colors because they can, and still survive because of being pets, isn’t it possible for them to recognize their species can survive being in groups and adapt to that?

PodunkKhaleesi":2hdxzk7d said:

Yep, I think as far as bearded dragon enthusiasts go the three most controversial topics are beardie cohabitation, mealworms, and loose substrates. A lot of really respected/revered beardie breeders house multiple females together, but one could make the argument that this has less to do with them having a definitive answer on whether it’s a positive practice and more to do with creating an economy of space. There’s a lot of information from vets and herpetologists about other husbandry issues so I agree that it would be great if respected figures with a background in reptile behavior could explain specifically why cohabitation is never a good idea or is acceptable under specific circumstances. Given that these animals aren’t social in the wild, it makes sense that keeping them alone is both natural and desirable. But with so many breeders (and even some zoos) housing females together, there’s definitely a contradictory message on whether cohabitation can or should exist. So I agree that it would be great to have a definitive answer from an indisputable authority on beardie behavior.

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OK, I'll explain it from a safety issue, these two pics are from a thread posted here last year from a breeder that housed two females together for two years. The pictures are graphic and sad. This female had laid a batch of eggs a week before this happened. Apparently they had been fighting off and, on for a while as you can see the tail missing "and healed" and, some toes gone that are healed on the injured front hand.
This is why I say "NEVER HOUSE THEM TOGETHER"!!!!!!!!!!
Anyone that would risk this doesn't have a heart!

I wasn’t advocating housing beardies together. The point was that there’s a wealth of widely available information on diet, lighting, etc., but that a newcomer to the world of bearded dragons would have a much harder time finding information written by an expert (animal behaviorist, vet, etc.) on beardie cohabitation. Having volunteered at animal shelters in which I’ve encountered cats that had been disfigured by other cats and dogs maimed by other dogs, the point was that there isn’t a lot of information available on beardie behavior and why this specific species should always remain solitary. Many zoos, reptile breeders, and even a lot of newer books on bearded dragons maintain the “it’s fine if they’re both females” philosophy, which can easily lead to a newcomer thinking that this is a desirable practice. So the point was that it’s surprising that there isn’t more information from experts detailing why the practice is ill advised. If there were, I imagine the cohabitation issue would come up far less in forums.

Ya, I understand what you are saying and, I agree. There should be some guidelines laid out as to the do's and, don'ts
But the horror stories speak volumes as to why it should not be done. Anyone that writes a book saying it can be done, has no credibility with me! I wouldn't believe anything else they had to say! Some people will write anything just to get published....think about it.

LupercaX":65itbtzv said:

Another thing I find interesting is the evolution of the creatures. They’re evolving into crazy morphs and some even have a leather feeling back! So, if their colors and body can change, isn’t it possible that their brain can evolve to becoming more social?

Think about it, animals adapt. They adapt to what makes their species survive. Essentially, these new morphs we see probably would have never happened in the wild because it wouldn’t allow them to survive. But since their getting these beautiful colors because they can, and still survive because of being pets, isn’t it possible for them to recognize their species can survive being in groups and adapt to that?

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There is a huge leap between random phenotype mutations (morphs) and social/behavior adaptations. In other species morphs do pop up in the wild, and the animals do survive but the genes do not neccisarily survive without some level of inbreeding and/or exceptional fitness if the new genes. Its possible with selective pressure to breed for more social or docile lines, but this is not the case of what is practiced in the industry. It will not happen on its own. Learned behavior cannot have an effect on mate selection in this case, since there is no option tonhoose. There is no pressure really for much beyond aesthetics; not behavior, fitness, adapatability etc.

It is also worth mentioning that “bearded dragons are solitary creatures” is really misleading. They are already social to the degree that is benifical to them. Reptiles are being found more and more to have social behaviors, they just don’t fit into the pack/group sort of social structure. Dragons have basic social signals for dominance/aggression and submission.

What’s more likely the case with captives is a lack of resources leading to chronic stress. There is very little information about territory size preferences. Wild dragons eat to set their territory size, they get to defend it and more importantly they can run away if they are bested by competition. Captives cannot. Humans are very social but we still have our personal space requirements - anyone who has had an annoying roommate will understand that social predisposition just isn’t enough sometimes.

Then add in that we are really messing with their development and social structure. They may not have the range of mental/social expression humans do, but it’s reasonable to speculate that captive dragons are.... a little weird mentally. There have been some research (I think it was about snakes) that found different types of social behavior in animals left with their hatching group vs those separated at hatching.

Personally, if I had the resources and interest I’d like to try cohabiting dragons. I think this would require a lot of space and resources though.

I agree it would be cool to do further research on captive animal behavior. Three of my four dragons are very captive and wave at one another almost everytime they come into sight. I’ve done my best to see how they interact with one another when they’re running around my living room. My living room is quite large and I believe gives them enough space to properly interact.

Just wanted to add that the poor dragon in that picture was extremely neglected and that the bites would happen over a period of time. The owner did not separate them after the first bite, or the second or the third. By then you have a biting dragon that actually has a taste for the blood of the other one. That could have been stopped at the first bite which may have been relatively minor like a few toes, but it was left to end up in this horrible condition.

AHBD":38mq01x2 said:

Just wanted to add that the poor dragon in that picture was extremely neglected and that the bites would happen over a period of time. The owner did not separate them after the first bite, or the second or the third. By then you have a biting dragon that actually has a taste for the blood of the other one. That could have been stopped at the first bite which may have been relatively minor like a few toes, but it was left to end up in this horrible condition.

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Im extremely glad you added all of that information. As the person who initially posted the picture claimed, “Anyone who risked this doesnt have a heart!”. That’s totally false, the person did not seperate them, which makes the human not very intelligent. If mine were to do anything like that, they’d be separated. But they have never done so. Also, may I add, one of my Beardies has MBD, and I rescued her and another one of my Beardies, along with a mass amount of other animals. So, shame on you for claiming I don’t have a heart.

What I was trying to say was, it would be heartless to expose these adorable, loving, trusting and, helpless little creatures to conditions that would endanger them in any way.
I'm sorry if my opinion (That you asked for btw) didn't fall into what you wanted to hear. I am very cautious with my dragon's well being.
The fact that it "could" happen is enough for me!

Yeah, I think sometimes pet owners can naively assume that because their two dragons aren’t outright fighting, that they’re best buds. But there are elements to beardie language we still don’t fully understand, and some that are subtle and that a newbie might never pick up on (one beardie always sitting on the other while basking, one beardie hiding a lot, etc.). I’ve seen multiple zoos house females in groups, so I’m wondering if the theory there is that as long as everyone has ample space/territory then dominance and stress aren’t issues? Their enclosures are much larger than anything the average pet owner can aspire to, so it seems like it would be an ideal scenario for social/behavioral study (if they’re going to house them together regardless). It would be nice to have recent and specific research on the subject.

PodunkKhaleesi":402mph7d said:

Yeah, I think sometimes pet owners can naively assume that because their two dragons aren’t outright fighting, that they’re best buds. But there are elements to beardie language we still don’t fully understand, and some that are subtle and that a newbie might never pick up on (one beardie always sitting on the other while basking, one beardie hiding a lot, etc.). I’ve seen multiple zoos house females in groups, so I’m wondering if the theory there is that as long as everyone has ample space/territory then dominance and stress aren’t issues? Their enclosures are much larger than anything the average pet owner can aspire to, so it seems like it would be an ideal scenario for social/behavioral study (if they’re going to house them together regardless). It would be nice to have recent and specific research on the subject.

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I have to agree. There is no evidence that they can be housed together without the threat of bodily harm that is proven to be fact as of yet.