Are my Beardies gay, confused, or just visibly appearing to be the wrong sex. (I suspect the later)
Last October I rehoused 2 beardies (happy and grumpy) who I was told were both female and had been living together since they were 2 and 3 months old respectively (at this stage they were around 10 month). Both have a single lump by their vents so I had no reason to doubt this.
At first they were happy, but luckily I had a spare viv on hand. After a month or so, one evening Grumpy (the larger of the 2) began bullying Happy, not just head bobbing, but nose ramming Happy. Then after a couple of times, Grumpy 'latched' onto Happys side. At this point I seperated them.
I always let them run around my flat for a hour or so every 2 or 3 days, when I let Grumpy out she would run infront of Happys viv and head bob, happy would just stare back at grumpy, but after about a week, Happy would respond by bobbing back at Grumpy, this went on for about a month, until they seemed ok with one another, I let them out together and they just ignored each other, so after a few runs out like this I tried putting them back together.
They seemed much happier together and would often curle up beside one another and their appetites increased so I left them in the one viv.
However, one day I saw Happy (the smaller and subisive one) 'mount' Grumpy. They did not get into position (tails not entwined), but seemed to be attempting to mate. After a few days they had figured it out and were evidently breeding. I was not too invading of their privacy, but had a look and could not see anything that appeared falic, but the vents were covered by their tails.
This happened a few times, but since then they have simply been happily living together.
The only change in behaviour is that Happy would not eat, until after Grumpy for a few weeks, Grumpy has put on weight, but no decernable egg lumps and it is several weeks since their mating attempts.
I am not looking for advice, but felt this was unusual and my be of interest to some people here. I have 2 theories as to what has happened;
1 - Grumpy is female and Happy male; they both still only have 1 visible vent lump, but maybe Happy just isn't well endowed. In this case Grumpy matured and harassed Happy for attention, but Happy had not matured until after the seperation time, however in this case Grumpy should be carrying and pretty much ready to lay, perhaps Happy is infertile, or its just a long gestation period.
2 - They are both female, Grumpy matured and developed urges, she harassed Happy and Happy has learnt to take a male sexual role merely to placate Grumpy. I am not sure if this sort of behaviour is even possible amongst reptiles. But, if anyone has had a similar experience I would be very interested to hear about it.
Last October I rehoused 2 beardies (happy and grumpy) who I was told were both female and had been living together since they were 2 and 3 months old respectively (at this stage they were around 10 month). Both have a single lump by their vents so I had no reason to doubt this.
At first they were happy, but luckily I had a spare viv on hand. After a month or so, one evening Grumpy (the larger of the 2) began bullying Happy, not just head bobbing, but nose ramming Happy. Then after a couple of times, Grumpy 'latched' onto Happys side. At this point I seperated them.
I always let them run around my flat for a hour or so every 2 or 3 days, when I let Grumpy out she would run infront of Happys viv and head bob, happy would just stare back at grumpy, but after about a week, Happy would respond by bobbing back at Grumpy, this went on for about a month, until they seemed ok with one another, I let them out together and they just ignored each other, so after a few runs out like this I tried putting them back together.
They seemed much happier together and would often curle up beside one another and their appetites increased so I left them in the one viv.
However, one day I saw Happy (the smaller and subisive one) 'mount' Grumpy. They did not get into position (tails not entwined), but seemed to be attempting to mate. After a few days they had figured it out and were evidently breeding. I was not too invading of their privacy, but had a look and could not see anything that appeared falic, but the vents were covered by their tails.
This happened a few times, but since then they have simply been happily living together.
The only change in behaviour is that Happy would not eat, until after Grumpy for a few weeks, Grumpy has put on weight, but no decernable egg lumps and it is several weeks since their mating attempts.
I am not looking for advice, but felt this was unusual and my be of interest to some people here. I have 2 theories as to what has happened;
1 - Grumpy is female and Happy male; they both still only have 1 visible vent lump, but maybe Happy just isn't well endowed. In this case Grumpy matured and harassed Happy for attention, but Happy had not matured until after the seperation time, however in this case Grumpy should be carrying and pretty much ready to lay, perhaps Happy is infertile, or its just a long gestation period.
2 - They are both female, Grumpy matured and developed urges, she harassed Happy and Happy has learnt to take a male sexual role merely to placate Grumpy. I am not sure if this sort of behaviour is even possible amongst reptiles. But, if anyone has had a similar experience I would be very interested to hear about it.