Beardies living and/or playing together

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HankJrsMom

New member
Hi. I am a newbie so I apologize up front if I am posting this in the wrong forum.

I currently have a 2 1/2 year old hypo leatherback beardie. I recently purchased another terrarium. My beardie will remain in his "home" but I am looking to purchase a beardie(s) for the new terrarium. I have seen many videos and pictures of adult beardies in the same terrarium but in my search to buy, I have seen a lot of people say they must live seperately. I would really like to purchase a pair. Do you have any beardies that live together? Do "pairs" only live in the same terrarium during their mating season? Also, would a new beardie(s) be able to roam around in the floor and play with the one I already have? Please give me your opinions or experiences. Thanks in advance.
 

Mistyck

Extreme Poster
No, beardies are solitary creatures and do not need play pals, nor do they need a live-in buddy.

2 beardies - 2 tanks

They could possibly maim each other, or kill each other if they are allowed to "Play". Same reason they shouldn't be housed together.
 

BeardieMommy3991

Sub-Adult Member
Hey! There are very few pairs of female/females on here, but they are few and far between. The general rule is 1 to a vivarium. They are solitary, teritorial creatures, so they don't really do well in multiples. Males will fight, girls might fight, and male/female will mate until the female dies o_O

Here is a topic that discusses the risks of cohabitation.

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=154908&hilit=cohabitation

I wouldn't house them together, just to be safe. :)

And as I said, some beardies can play/tolerate each other in play time, but it just takes a second for someone to get hurt.
 

ClydesGirl

Sub-Adult Member
Beardies won't "play" together. They will fight and injure and possibly kill each other. I assure you, they get no "fun" out of that process.
 

LLLReptile

Juvie Member
HankJrsMom":1rzqavi8 said:
Hi. I am a newbie so I apologize up front if I am posting this in the wrong forum.

I currently have a 2 1/2 year old hypo leatherback beardie. I recently purchased another terrarium. My beardie will remain in his "home" but I am looking to purchase a beardie(s) for the new terrarium. I have seen many videos and pictures of adult beardies in the same terrarium but in my search to buy, I have seen a lot of people say they must live seperately. I would really like to purchase a pair. Do you have any beardies that live together? Do "pairs" only live in the same terrarium during their mating season? Also, would a new beardie(s) be able to roam around in the floor and play with the one I already have? Please give me your opinions or experiences. Thanks in advance.


Adults can be housed together if it is one male to one or more females. On these forums, this is an extremely unpopular opinion, however...My experience with several hundred adults and juveniles (and several thousand babies) combined with what I have encountered with several (well known) breeders and advanced keepers indicates that housing them in groups is just fine if they are provided with adequate basking spots and a large enough cage. Naturally, keep them well fed, if one isn't thriving then separate them, etc, but if you monitor them and they continue to feed and thrive as they did when housed alone, there is no reason not to keep them together.

Breeding behaviors can sometimes be somewhat rough, but aside from that there are rarely issues. As far as "play time" goes, it could be considered for short periods of time, but reptiles don't really play or frolic about the same way mammals do. If you are going to house them separately, keep them separate, if not, then don't worry about it - but you don't need to go out of your way to provide them time to interact with each other if you are not already housing them together.

-Jen
 

BeardieMommy3991

Sub-Adult Member
Wouldn't he get tons and tons of babies though? o_O male and female and all?

I know you breed dragons, but for someone not intending to breed, i would think this would be a bad idea.
 

bunnyrut

Gray-bearded Member
bearded dragons are solitary creatures.
in the wild they only meet up to mate, but are very territorial otherwise. females can be just as aggressive as males.

i have 2 dragons, in separate vivs on opposite sides of the room. they do not need to play together, they don't really play.
they are curious and love to explore, so if your beardie looks bored just bringing them into a room they haven't been in before with stimulate their curiosity.

i know others have their own opinions, and breeders will often try to sell you a pair, but it just takes one instance to cause heartache. i don't know about you, but that chance of one of them becoming seriously maimed or dying is not worth it to me.
 

LLLReptile

Juvie Member
BeardieMommy3991":3lclluvg said:
Wouldn't he get tons and tons of babies though? o_O male and female and all?

I know you breed dragons, but for someone not intending to breed, i would think this would be a bad idea.

They'll breed, and the female will lay eggs, but if you feed them correctly during the breeding season it will not be too extreme of a drain on the female.

You'll only get babies if you incubate the eggs. If you don't want babies, don't hatch the eggs. :)

As mentioned numerous times elsewhere, every one has their own preference. If he wants to house a pair of beardies together, my point was that it is possible - I've seen this hundreds of times to know that it is possible and that the beardies will thrive. I was answering that aspect of the question: yes, it is possible. To completely avoid breeding, you'd have to house them separately all the time. If you don't mind breeding, and feeding the female extra during the breeding season to accommodate it, you do not need to incubate the eggs if you don't want babies.

If you do want a few clutches of babies, well, incubate the eggs. :)

-Jen
 

BeardieMommy3991

Sub-Adult Member
Good point. I wouldn't- personally- just because I would be way to protective of my little boy and girl, and I wouldn't have it in me to freeze their babies. :roll:

To each their own though! :)
 

esn

Hatchling Member
LLLReptile":3w2hqf2z said:
As mentioned numerous times elsewhere, every one has their own preference. If he wants to house a pair of beardies together, my point was that it is possible - I've seen this hundreds of times to know that it is possible and that the beardies will thrive. I was answering that aspect of the question: yes, it is possible. To completely avoid breeding, you'd have to house them separately all the time. If you don't mind breeding, and feeding the female extra during the breeding season to accommodate it, you do not need to incubate the eggs if you don't want babies.

If you do want a few clutches of babies, well, incubate the eggs. :)

-Jen

That's an interesting idea that I have been wondering about for a while, given that most "solitary" desert animals are usually very successfully kept in a harem style, and many reptiles (not including snakes) in general. I do the same with leopard geckos, desert iguanas, and crested geckos - I had been wondering recently why it was not considered the same for bearded dragons, as long as ample space and food is provided.

What would you consider to be the smallest amount of space for a small harem (one male to two females)? I would consider a 5 foot by 18 inches habitat to be the bare minimum, but preferably at 6 feet. That's my reckoning based off of beardie size, however activity is probably taken into account as well, considering that beardies don't move as often as, say, my desert iguanas. So I'm not sure - what would you say there?

Also, it seems to me that just like any harem setting, properly fed females will be perfectly fine mating in breeding season, and if they are set to brumate every year, they should not be mating "all the time". And it is the keeper's choice to hatch the eggs or not.

It seems to me that the submissive nature of a female bearded dragon (that mine will do frequent arm waving to any male she sees, even if he is half her size), has always seemed to me a possible indicator of the ability to keep harem housing. I've also seen that many professional breeders do choose that option. I've never had the chance to try it myself - and I've never been quite brave enough, considering that bearded dragons are not my area of expertise. I tend to stick with what I know until I learn from someone else.
 

bunnyrut

Gray-bearded Member
esn":g4o1i3ak said:
LLLReptile":g4o1i3ak said:
As mentioned numerous times elsewhere, every one has their own preference. If he wants to house a pair of beardies together, my point was that it is possible - I've seen this hundreds of times to know that it is possible and that the beardies will thrive. I was answering that aspect of the question: yes, it is possible. To completely avoid breeding, you'd have to house them separately all the time. If you don't mind breeding, and feeding the female extra during the breeding season to accommodate it, you do not need to incubate the eggs if you don't want babies.

If you do want a few clutches of babies, well, incubate the eggs. :)

-Jen

That's an interesting idea that I have been wondering about for a while, given that most "solitary" desert animals are usually very successfully kept in a harem style, and many reptiles (not including snakes) in general. I do the same with leopard geckos, desert iguanas, and crested geckos - I had been wondering recently why it was not considered the same for bearded dragons, as long as ample space and food is provided.

What would you consider to be the smallest amount of space for a small harem (one male to two females)? I would consider a 5 foot by 18 inches habitat to be the bare minimum, but preferably at 6 feet. That's my reckoning based off of beardie size, however activity is probably taken into account as well, considering that beardies don't move as often as, say, my desert iguanas. So I'm not sure - what would you say there?

Also, it seems to me that just like any harem setting, properly fed females will be perfectly fine mating in breeding season, and if they are set to brumate every year, they should not be mating "all the time". And it is the keeper's choice to hatch the eggs or not.

It seems to me that the submissive nature of a female bearded dragon (that mine will do frequent arm waving to any male she sees, even if he is half her size), has always seemed to me a possible indicator of the ability to keep harem housing. I've also seen that many professional breeders do choose that option. I've never had the chance to try it myself - and I've never been quite brave enough, considering that bearded dragons are not my area of expertise. I tend to stick with what I know until I learn from someone else.

from a breeder perspective, yes - housing them together would be preferable if i wanted eggs. i would love to breed my beardies, but i feel that there are so many people selling beardies that i wouldn't want to add to it. (what happens to the beardies no one buys?)

good point on the tank size, i think a lot of people are under the impression that they would just house the 2 in a 40 gallon breeder tank. that tank is big enough for 1 beardie (minimum in my opinion, i would love to get a much bigger tank), so more than 1 beardie would mean at least double the size.
 

uk23

Member
I have kept 2 females together without issues. Just make sure the enclosure is big enough. There might be one female who takes charge, but as long as there's no fighting and everyone's healthy I don't see a problem with it. If one starts picking on the other, separate them. I never keep males together, even juvies. I don't want to risk it, so each male has his own enclosure. I know most of the top breeders keep 2-4 females in large enclosures just fine. So females together, and males kept individually in my opinion is okay. And like I said, if one female becomes aggressive, move her into her own enclosure. Everyone has their own opinion, you just have to see what works best for you.
 

ClydesGirl

Sub-Adult Member
I think the problem is it depends a lot on the specific females involved and the owner has to be ready to go with a second enclosure at the very first sign of trouble. Even if there's no outright fighting (which is common even with two females), there can be dominance that causes undue stress to the dominated female. It may affect her ability to get sufficient basking time, sufficient food, etc. For a lay person, having an entire second enclosure with adequate size, lighting, etc. or throwing one together on very short notice can be a challenge. The sentiment around these forums seems to be a general "why take the risk?" For breeders who have significant experience, resources, and the need to house multiples together, it's a completely different story. But for the average user on these forums that just wants a beardie as a pet, it just makes far more sense to err on the side of caution and follow the one beardie to an enclosure rule.
 

Phoenix17June2009

Gray-bearded Member
hello there,
my personal preferance is one beardie per enclosure, as others have said, there are those that house togehter and have been successful. but again in my personal opinion seperate is best (for me) and the reason is first of all i have a male and a female and have no want for beardie eggs or babies lol, second, about 2 months ago we got some new furnature, needless to say we had to rearrage somethings... well to make a long story short we moved the lizard vivs and sat them on the floor. they were in plain view of one another and both of them froze. Juuji (female) looked terrified, i cant describe it but she actually looked scared. she began to creep slowly along hte bottom of her viv as close to the floor as she could get and went and got in her cave and didnt come back out, all the while Phoenix (male) ran at the glass, began flairing his beard, open mouth, beard as black as i have ever seen and maye i read it wron but that dindt look "friendly" to me lol! that was the first and the last time they have really seen each other. now when i let one out on the floor the other can of course see the other at one point or another, if juuji is in her viv waiting on her outside play time she will quickly run over to her cave and hide. if phoenix is waiting his play time and juuji is out juuji will run at phoenix's viv mouth wide open hissing and bearding... again it just doenst look good to me lol! :p but that is my perosnal opinion.

if you decide to house together just make sure you watch very closly for signs that things arent going well and (again this is just me) if you cant be home to supervise i would seperate them just to be safe :D

good luck
Jordan, phoenix and juuji
 
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