Hugging.

My beardies seem to take turns on lying on each other under the basking light and when they go to sleep its not all the time but they do enjoy climbing on each other.

Neither of them seem to be bothered by it and just lie nicely together.

Is this kind of behaviour normal for them and just a show of affection for one another?

I always thought this was a sign of affection, but seem to think that I have read on here somewhere that its a sign of dominance.

The one on top stopping the one at the bottom getting the heat and light and so on.

I am sure someone more knowledgable will come and tell you one way or another.

Its dominance.
Reptiles are not like mammals.
The one on top is saying I get the heat 1st, or simply stating Im #1

Thanks, well they both take turns doing it so guess they cant choose who the boss is yet.

Hopefully you can get them separate tanks before they do.
These things can turn ugly fast.

They have been raised together in the same tank since birth and 1 is male and 1 is female, do you think they will still fight then?

They tend to lick each other a lot and are never that far apart despite having a large enclosure, they hunt and move in packs just like a raptor......lol.

Reptiles dont care.
When the male hits puberty He will try to breed His sibling.
That can lead to its own world of headaches and problems.
Separation is the best way to ensure a long and healthy lifespan.

I agree. there has been too many posts about beardies suddenly turning on each other resulting in seroius injury or worse. they may seem ok at the moment but they will fight. They are solitary animals and shouldn't be housed together. hope i don't sound blunt saying this, just trying to help

So, at what age is it recommended that the beardies live in solitare? My neighbors have two beardies that are probably maybe 6 months old and are housing them together... also, the tank is maybe 40 G? I tried telling them that they will need to look into seperation but they arent taking me too seriously... also, their tanks at night will get down too about 60 Degrees... they seem to think it's ok because in the desert at night, people can get hyperthermia so they are used to lower temps in the wild... :? Oh boy... LOL

its advised to separate them at 4 months but sooner would be better. Also as long as the temps don't drop below 60 then its ok, although about 70 is more comfortable for them.

actuallly i agree sooner is best... i was in petsmart not but a few days ago... there were beardies about 4 in together, all about 3 inches long but one of those were attacked and lost his sweet little arm he seemed so scared to me... i felt horrible seeing him like that... he was the skinny one in the bunch and if the others would come near him he would run for all he was worth and hide in the tree thing they had.... poor guy and you cant blame the animal for doing what comes naturally....

Phoenix17June2009 said:

actuallly i agree sooner is best... i was in petsmart not but a few days ago... there were beardies about 4 in together, all about 3 inches long but one of those were attacked and lost his sweet little arm he seemed so scared to me... i felt horrible seeing him like that... he was the skinny one in the bunch and if the others would come near him he would run for all he was worth and hide in the tree thing they had.... poor guy and you cant blame the animal for doing what comes naturally....

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AAh, tht just breaks my heart!! Poor little guy :-(

It was horrible........

Phoenix17June2009":2e7bvpkr said:

actuallly i agree sooner is best... i was in petsmart not but a few days ago... there were beardies about 4 in together, all about 3 inches long but one of those were attacked and lost his sweet little arm he seemed so scared to me... i felt horrible seeing him like that... he was the skinny one in the bunch and if the others would come near him he would run for all he was worth and hide in the tree thing they had.... poor guy and you cant blame the animal for doing what comes naturally....

Click to expand...

awww thats so sad, poor little thing!