Beardie friends a possibility?

[Corty]

I currently have two juvenile beardies (Jiminy and Goomba) housed seperately. From what I can tell so far, Jiminy is a male and Goomba is my little girlie. At the moment, Jiminy is quite a bit bigger than my little Goomba but I see lots of pictures of bearded dragons in the bath together or hanging out on beds, etc. I would like to know what the safest way (if there is one) for them to get to know each other with the least stress possible on the babies, myself, and my boyfriend. Basically, we get home at about the same time every day and we only take one out of the tank at a time. I'd like to have them both out...but I fear stress on the lizards and I don't want giant Jiminy to take a bite out of my little Goomba baby. He's not aggressive, ever, so far, but I'm cautious. Any advice?

 

[Loz333]

When I first got my beardies I housed them together as they were together at the pet store and I thought they might not like to be separated. When I started to learn more about them I learnt that they prefer to be kept alone so I separated them. They never showed any signs of aggression and seemed to like each other.
Then one time I let them out on the carpet at the same time. The smaller one ran up to the larger one (I never saw her move so fast!!) and bit her on the side. Then the larger one started bearding and tail whipping. Luckily neither of them were hurt, but now they can't even stand the sight of each other. I have to put cardboard across the table so they can't see each other because if they do they star head bobbing and black bearding.
I'm sure some people's beardies get along fine, and so did mine, until all of a sudden...they didn't. It's not a risk I would take again, but I guess I had to learn the hard way!

 

[Taterbug]

I see quite a few people who have either extreme.
Some have several dragons who are all pretty chill and can be around each other, on the same person or what have you.
Some have dragons who can't stand the sight of the other dragon from across the room in seperate cages. Usually it's two males. They can be pretty territorial and will get into head bobbing fights.

You would need to know them both well enough to read any signs of aggression or distress, and of course supervise them. The safest bet would be to have one or both undercontrol (held or within arms reach and a few feet from each other) and not just mingling. You could try to introduce them through the glass (one is in it's cage) to gauge initial reaction.

It will really depend on your individuals, and like Loz experienced animals can be unpredictable.

 

[JenFid]

Hi Corty,

Like Naz said, there's really no telling when or if one of your beardies will decide to become aggressive. If one is male and the other female it's guaranteed to happen at some point. If you have 2 females there's a chance they might get along, but even then that can change for seemingly no reason at all.

I have 2 girls and a boy. My boy can't be out at all if my girls are somewhere he can see them (his tank is in a separate room). My girls get along for the most part, but for whatever reason this time of year they both get hormonal or something and headbob at each other and have chased each other out of the blue. I'm always there to watch them so fortunately no one has been hurt. Normally they can sit together for hours and stare out the window or ride in the car with 0 issues.

It's good that you have them in separate enclosures already. If you really want to see how they react, you hold one and your boyfriend hold the other in sight of each other and just see what they do. If someone starts getting upset you're there to remove them from the situation

 

[Corty]

Thank you guys for the advice, I didn't plan to lock them in a room together or anything, lol, I was just nervous to have them around each other. My big guy is more curious and running around more when we let him out but when he catches sight of the baby he seems slightly inquisitive but not threatening. Kind of like hmmmmm, who's that? The little one puffs up and tries to look bigger but has no stress marks or anything. She's more reserved and likes to cuddle without wandering off too far. I just want to be able to take them out in the sun if the snow ever stops but if it looks like a a problem could develop it'll just have to be seperate trips.

 

[PeppersGirl]

If you're wanting to take them out, how about a harness for each of them? That way you and your boyfriend can have them out together but restrained so they can't reach each other if something happens. It also prevents them running off.

 

[bunnyrut]

i find it best to take them out one at a time, yeah bathing takes longer but it's worth it.

i did put them in the bath at the same time at one point. but since neither one of them were crazy about the bath they would try to climb on top of each other to get out of the water. to me that proved a drowning risk.
plus i am pretty sure the both coordinated an escape plan, they both jumped on one of my arms and hung on to my forearms. i couldn't get one off without the other one being dropped. clever.

and being out at the same time. some are pretty calm. and when they get cold they really slow down, so they can't be bothered with another dragon. i now people will have them both out to cuddle when they are sleeping, but my male woke up long enough to latch onto my female when i was transporting them. so i don't even trust that anymore.

they can run around for so long until the get cold and need to be put under their basking light. so you can let one run around while the other is warming up.