Is Bearded Dragon Cohabitation A Good Plan?

Rukia1988":268nrq5l said:

I have kept all three of my females together for several years and no one ever had any problems.....around ovulation time they mimic the sexual aspect but they never hurt each other....I individually feed though

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So would you recommend others, or a newbie, to house together? Or would you tell them to get separate tanks.

-Brandon

Well I raised Pip all by herself until I bought Pumpkin. Then Pumpkin went together with Pip. They were both adults when I did this. Then I raised Azura up from a baby and stuck her in when she was adult size. They are in a rather large enclosure that is 4 foot long 3 foot deep and 2 foot high. They have two baking areas and lots of separate things to climb on. They all get fed by my hand individually and have lived together in harmony.

I have recommended housing only females together but in a larger enclosure such as a 75 or custom built. I have never had issues but when I recommend it I always let them know that they need to keep an eye on them, feed them separately, and watch for any fight wounds. I feel if housed early on together they get a long better but only if you are feeding them enough food. If you don't feed them separately I noticed that they start to make one dragon, the weaker one, like you said unable to eat. I recently had to separate Azura for this reason. I was not feeding them separately because, to be honest, I was getting lazy. Now I may lose her because of my own stupidity. However, I never had this problem before and I have successfully housed 5 females together without any issue. You just have to watch them and make sure one is not trying to be completely dominant.

I have also noticed, when I split Pip and Pumpkin they get stressed. They are not as bright and beautiful and they stop eating. I believe they do have the ability to form bonds with each other. Since I took Azura out of the tank they have both been rather dark like the almost miss her.

I also bathe all my dragons together, male and female, in the bathtub. I have 8 altogether and I never have any issues. My eye is constantly on them however in case a male does decide to get a little protective however I have never had that happen only with young males who are just starting to get their man man parts so to speak.

I've always kept my dragons separate, because when they're out in the living room together, things get very feisty!

I have absolutely no doubts that my big big male would happily kill any of the other males - even the normally docile females have nasty spats with each other from time to time.

The only time I've had co-habiters was when Mocha decided she liked Sandy and was going to move into her tank with her. Mocha is about the same age, they're both adults, but she's much smaller than Sandy is. Both are very peaceful dragons - both pretty submissive, though Mocha does an extremely cute, teenytiny sharp bobbobbob when annoyed. Sandy does get sooty beard and bob at the males - otherwise, they're quiet and content.

Sandy was quite happy to let her room mate join her; they went about their quiet beardie ways until about two weeks later when Mocha decided to move out again and went back home of her own accord!

The question is too broad, it could be a good plan,. and it could be a bad plan, if you're trying to house to many in to small of a space,,, that's an issue, if you're trying to house a baby with an adult, that's an issue. though housing adults together in an appropriate enclosure with proper basking is fine, and actually quite rewarding for both the owner and the dragons. we have two females currently living together, we have separated them in the past, when we did one of the females stopped eating. was like three weeks we let her go with out eating , then I tried putting her back in with her sister,,, and she started eating again and being herself.

TroynCindy

I have done the same thing. I have two girls that are really bonded to each other and will stop eating if separated. I NEVER house males together. I only keep my male with my females for about 5 days to a week and I really watch them. However, I am not breeding this year well unless my girls lay eggs. They decided not to apparently.

troyncindy":2843bowv said:

though housing adults together in an appropriate enclosure with proper basking is fine,

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I disagree.

Fine is not the word that comes to mind. Risk is the word that comes to mind.
Unnecessary risk.

-Brandon

life is a risk, I'm pretty sure everybody knows how you feel about it already

But life isn't an unnecessary risk. And it's your life, you control your own risks.

When you're controlling the risks of a creature who has no say in the matter, then you need to start weighing out the risks to rewards.

Lets do this for example

Cohabitation is a risk. You agree with that don't you? As you have countered with saying life is a risk as a justification.

So since we agree its a risk, lets dig a bit deeper.

You buy a dragon. A month goes by and things are going great. You decide to buy another dragon and contemplate housing it with your current dragon, which, is a risk.
Now, will this dragon that was doing so well before, start doing better being housed with another dragon? No, it wont. Will it start acting worse? Well, I'm not going to speculate. It could or it could act just perfectly fine with his/her new tank mate. The only real reward is for the human, not the dragon.

So, for the dragon, there is a risk for no reward. This doesn't mean that the dragon will get mauled to death by its new tankmate, it just means the dragon gets no benefit from this very serious risk. Much like Russian roulette, but without the adrenaline rush.

That, is why I am against it. Not necessarily because its a risk (like you said, life is full of risks), but because its a risk with no reward to the well-being of the dragon.

If you have success housing dragons together (and I say this to all who successfully house together) then i'm happy for you and your dragons. The chamber you fired wasn't loaded. But I do not condone one person who lived after playing Russian roulette telling another to "go ahead and do it, I did it and I was fine!"

-Brandon

I love it, many people house dragons together, check out you tube,,, you'll see them living together, and enjoying it, we have a few housed together, it's not from lack of space/enclosures. It's cause they want to be together, we've tried separating them, it doesn't work. I can find mangled pictures of every animal there is, that doesn't mean every animal on the planet should live in it's own bubble. I don't understand it, a question is asked, all the nay sayers said what they had to say, but everytime somebody says they can be housed together,,, you all jump on them, we heard your side,,, i'm proving you wrong with my own experience and a few videos from you tube. many people on there have them housed together, some even actually keep colonies of them together, Here's a few videos proving housing them together can and does work. I asked no questions in this post, expecting no replies, thank you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOyBPBImCfw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jekBh91ImG0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6992yyjrdGc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFLch0SRRNQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlwPJIg8d_s

I also see people feeding mice and rats and scorpions and anoles and other small lizards on YouTube. That doesn't mean that its ok just because its on YouTube. And it doesn't mean its safe or the best thing just because some people on youtube have done it.

Just like you, I can find dozens of videos of bad experiences with cohabitation. Normally, someone wouldn't use a citation that also contradicts the point they are trying to prove.

I already said that housing dragons together sometimes works. Hence my Russian Roulette comparison. But i'm sure you decided to skip that over and counter with your youtube videos...

This is a discussion forum. So if you say anything, expect it to be discussed.

-Brandon

Brandon is a well respected member of this site.
I've been here a long time (lurking, mostly) and I'm yet to see him provide bad advise.

I've seen him save more dragons than anyone.

There's no harm at ALL in having them in separate tanks. It's a little more expensive, but frankly, what's more valuable - the money, or the safety and happiness of your pets?

nobody said there was any harm in separate tanks, if you choose to keep them that way that's awesome, to tell people it's wrong and irresponsible to house them together is wrong and ignorant, their way is not the only way, there's many right ways to house animals. commenting on Brandons number of posts reminds me of this video, a must watch. you're an extremist if you think your way is the only way, i'm happy you love your animals and think you're housing them in the safest way for them, we love ours and believe we also are housing them the safest way possible., but this is a must watch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMM_whdYNUI

troyncindy":2p860j8l said:

commenting on Brandons number of posts

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Nobody said anything about this. Along with a lot of other false points you are making.

But this is just leading down a road to arguing with eachother instead of over the topic at hand. I've already said everything needed in response to your posts.

-Brandon

that's what you been doing after anybody comments saying they can house them together, you argue with them. you can't argue with peoples experience. they are as individual as the people.

The point is that for every 1 person who says they've had success, there is a dozen more who can say they personally have seen the other side of it.

Now, good for you and good for people who have had success with it. (how many times do I have to say this to you?) but you must realize you are the exception, not the normal. And yes, in my opinion, its irresponsible to recommend it to others unless you first let them know the risks. The risks without any reward.

-Brandon