Can 2 dragons be housed together???

[Vacren]

Well I have a horror story to add.

I picked up Jupiter, Juno, and Vesta at a local show. I only intended to get one, but they were all so cute. I had one tank ready, so while I was setting up the other two tanks I had all three in one. Jupiter looked up at me, I looked at him and he bolted across the tank. Within a blink he had Vesta in his mouth and was shaking her. I pried him open and got her out. Her skull was crushed. She layed limp for an hour. Her left eye was swollen shut for a month. I nursed her back to health and she's now active and puffs at him every time she catches sight of him. I got a few nice scrapes for my efforts. If I hadn't been there she would have died and he would have choked on her. They had been housed together for less than five minutes.

 

[TASTIGER]

omg that is so scary. i had my male and female together because i was told at a reptile show by a breeder that it would be fine...it wasnt the female was so stressed she would hide in the cave all day and refused to eat thank god i found this website

 

[drgnfly2265]

Wow Vacren, that is crazy :shock: Good thing you were there and reacted so fast!

 

[fresnowitte]

Thanks for sharing your story Vacren...an I'm glad everyone came out okay in the end.

 

[Vacren]

Anything I can do to drive it home. I'll look to see if I have the pics.

 

[Abe]

Bump

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Ok I appreciate the replies on this thread. My whole purpose is to get people to think about what they are doing. Im not looking to turn this into an OMG thread. I dont use scare tactics to teach people about husbandry. The bottom line is that people are going to house dragons together. The average person is never going to notice the stress it causes unless something goes very wrong. I have been keeping reptiles since I was a child. I will notice things that a new or average keeper will not. This isnt just Me. Its anyone who has kept any type of animal for a long time. Im sharing My thoughts on this topic, simply because it comes up so much.

 

[Vacren]

Tom,

I wasn't trying to steal your thread, but even with you having JUST posted this there were several issues directly related to housing multiple beardies together. It's not ok. One of them said "my breeder said it would be ok". They aren't getting the point and I agree, we need a horror story thread. I had mine together for less than five minutes and Jupiter figured it was lunch time. I haven't seen him move that fast since.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Dont sweat it V,
Im just going in a different direction. I dont think anyone is trying to hijack the thread at all. And by no means do I think its OK to house multiples. Im just saying all the logic, opinions, and horror stories in the world are not going to stop it until someone experiences what you did.

 

[Vacren]

Worst part was that I do know better. It was a temporary thing, I was setting up the lighting in the other tanks. As I'm typing this, another dual housing in ER with possible RI's.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Even a temporary thing can turn ugly. What gets frustrating is people seeing a problem then explaining it away because its just easier.

 

[kl02ell]

hi there!

just a question on the back of this topic...i have 2 dragons - my brother originally bought them about a year and a half ago but due to him having a baby i took them on about 6 months ago - one female and one male, they get on GREAT, totally joint at the hips and happy and healthy looking etc.

Ive been reading up on them alot lately...and alot of people tend to say dont have 2 together like you kind of have in this topic - now i dont know what to do! i obviously dont want either one of them getting hurt or anything...should i seperate them?! would they get sad being seperated after spending a year and a half together?

your thoughts would be much appreciated =)

kerry

 

[spurlee01]

I would separate them. In my opinion it would be better for both in the long run!

 

[Vacren]

Read what Tom wrote in the first post on this thread. Separate them. They aren't attached at the hip, they don't cuddle, one is dominating the other.