Can anyone please help me...

[lewisres]

Twitch is now 15inches and this past week he has been extremely grumpy and trying to bite me this past week when I try to take him out of his viv, so I took him to Repticon this weekend and one of the vendors told me that he might need a friend. Since Twitch is a boy I took him to another vendor and let him sit on the counter while the "Professional" picked him out a female companion. We found the perfect one, a female Orange German Giant she is absolutely beautiful. She is only about 6 1/2 inches tho. The "Professional" told me that this would be ok and since Twitch wasn't acting negative toward her and letting her ride on his back. Well when I put her in his tank he puffed his beard all the way out got black and started headbutting her while trying to bite her, I put my hand in-front of his attack and pushed him away while I pulled her out to safety. Seeing as she was going to be able to live in Twitchs' 40Gal tank I do not have any lights nor another tank to place her and all the pet shops closed early because its Sunday, I have no clue what to do, nor why he attacked. The only thing I can think of is that she is too small for him and he will be better with her when she gets bigger, but I am not sure and I dont know what to do. Can anyone please help me I would be very greatful

 

[LoveMyHarper]

Heat is the main thing if you can't get a light but be careful not to just use anything. Worse case keep a warm towel and box or newspaper to retain heat and make sure she can't climb out and you should be ok till the morning. She'll probably be stress from the incident and lack of tank ect but it can be fixed sounds like tomorrow. The size issue is a huge factor, if she is smaller by nature he's had his tank and used to it being his "domain" his reaction is totally normal.

Hope this will help a little.

 

[lewisres]

Thank you so much! When she gets bigger do you think he will be ok with her?

 

[LoveMyHarper]

It's totally possible if you have a large enclosure, I have heard a minimum of 80 working but most I have heard with no issues is 125 gallon with basking spots for both and you just have to make sure they are fed properly, one goes hungry they are liable to snap at the other one out of aggression.

The one main problem you will have is about the 6-9 month mark I hear they can start showing the signs for mating. Depending on weight of the dragon ect will all be the determining factor but you have to consider the fact you will end up with a pregnant female who can have several clutches of 20-30 eggs at a time. Or the higher chance of laying infertile eggs in which you need to be on her calcium and feeding because she will be losing them in the gravid cycle. I house 2 beardies that are male and appear to be female. She is a bit smaller and I always keep an eye on their eating, we tried to separate them but that was really stressing them both out more than what it was worth so they eat at the same time and it kind of has become a routine where for breakfast one will eat more and then at dinner the other one is more full from pigging out and so the other one get's to eat first this time.

Keep in mind I got them at 2 weeks (yes I was a total newbie and just read the old outdated books and was too busy being a mom and didn't go online like I should of and researched) so I had the tiny creatures which were spoiled housing wise ect but as far as realizing how many kinds, the in depth into food and vitamins and bulbs, well let's just say I have spent several hundreds and made many exchanged till I found out what worked best as far as their needs, to what they liked. It's a compromise and trial and error. Now my little babies are 7 weeks and have grown so big, yet the girl is still a tad behind yet recently she has become more aggressive in the eating dept. It's a constant worry with housing them. They have never hissed at us, snapped at each other or anything aggressive but I know it's short lived and eventually they will have to be separated due to genetics, no inbred babies for me thank you. You don't have that worry, just make sure you keep that in mind. Either way if you need any info on the housing or ideas ask away. I am still new but have really been doing my research and have had the pleasure of attending a recent reptile talk by Josh Dovenbarger of Phantom Dragons and also spoke with him at the show in San Diego. while I have years of learning and trial and error to go, by helping you I am helping myself learn as well.

Hope this helped and sorry if I rambled

 

[LoveMyHarper]

I also wanted to say I neglected to see what a size difference they were I read her size wrong...there is no way I would ever put her in with him unless they were the same size. I heard something basic about them, if it's smaller it's food, if it's bigger it's an enemy. He'll totally try and eat her. So you could always start her in a 30 gallon long tank and that will keep her in something small enough where catching her food wont be a problem, yet you wont have to rush out and buy another tank right away so it will buy you time as well if you go that size. Ok hope this was better help.

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

I am glad to hear that you removed the female from the tank before something serious happened. Shame on that "professional" breeder for selling you that beardie and telling you it was okay to house them together. Surely if this breeder has been in the breeding business long enough, he would know better. Some people will do anything for a few extra bucks.
I hope you are able to find another enclosure for the female asap. You could look on craigslist to see if you can find an inexpensive one, if money is an issue. You will definitely need to get her under some heat at the very least. You can use a rubbermaid tote/tub and put a regular white household bulb over her for heat while searching for a new viv.
Please do keep them separated, especially seeing how the older beardie reacted. As the above poster mentioned, with their size difference, the larger one will kill or eat the smaller one.
Beardies are very territorial by nature. Even if you were to wait until the female got older, there could still be problems. There could be fighting(which has already occured), dominance issues and overbreeding with a male and female. The risks of housing them together is just not worth taking.
Good luck with finding a new tank for the little one.

 

[lewisres]

Thank you all for your help, I am going to buy her a new viv as soon as I post this lol. I Just got off the phone with the man and he just informed me that Twitch is 10-11mon old instead of 5mon. he said this would explain the quick growth rate twitch grew once in proper lighting and food intake(From 3-4in to 15in in a couple of months). He said that most likely when i bought Twitch from the store he was already around 5-6mon if not older and they were not taking proper care of him. This would put Twitch in the proper age to mate with a female beardie, witch explains his grumpiness over the past week. He also said that Twitch wasn't attacking her he was staring a mating ritual, I don't know much about mating ill have to read more on that to see if he is telling the truth. He said that if i separate them for a few months everything will be fine and if its not he will be happy to reimburse me or send me a new beardie, he even offered to do it now, and even tho I have only had Peach for a day I cannot part with her. He sad to call him at anytime if I have any problems. Again thank you all and please keep giving me input on weather you agree with him.

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Did this breeder happen to ask you if you wanted to breed these two beardies? Why on earth would he suggest putting them together unless this was the reason? That infuriates me to no end.
Unless you are wanting to breed them at a MUCH later time(because the female is of course too young right now), please do not house them together. The male will try to mate with the female, this much is true. Generally when you are trying to breed a pair of dragons, you only put them together for that purpose "the act of mating". Then you separate them. Keeping them together can lead to overbreeding and cause alot of undue stress on the female.
I am glad you came here and did not listen to the breeder. It may have very well saved the life of your new female.
Good luck with your new beardie, Peaches. If you have any further questions just let us know.

 

[bandit27]

Hi

I agree they should not be kept together. When i got my guys they were together, but after a week of seeing him constantly biting an grabbing her, i seperated them.

Unfortunatly, they had already done the deed before i got them, and she laid a clutch of eggs 10 days later. She is about to lay her 2nd clutch of eggs anytime now.

Amongst other things this has really taken it's toll on her. So please do not keep them together, as i am glad i didn't, because i really think he would of killed her by now had they stayed together.

 

[lewisres]

No I didn't want to breed them. not until way in the future. I just wanted him to have a friend because I have recently been working alot of hours, needless to say I have learned my lesson and just got her a new 40gal Viv from Petco with the works, I happened to get extremely lucky. They were having their Dollar a Gal sale today so instead of 110+30 for the lid it was only 40+30 allowing me to get her everything she needs in the same trip! =) I will post a pic of the lovely Peaches in her new viv in a few mins =). Again I cant thank you all enough, I was freaking out last night, and I called my mom and she had an old 5Gal fish tank that Peaches stayed in for the night with some warmth! Thank you all again!

 

[Atrax]

You did the right thing separating them! :notworthy:

 

[bandit27]

can't wait to see pictures

 

[lewisres]

Peach!!! =)

Her ViV =)

-------------------------------

Twitch right after i took her out...

Thank you all again, And if you need me to move this thread I will thank you all =))

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Peaches is a cutie and Twitch is a handsome fella as well.
No need to move the thread, it is fine. It is actually good to have threads as yours posted here. You never know when it may help another member from making the same mistake.... and I don't mean that you made a mistake, I put all the blame on the breeder for giving you misleading information.

 

[LoveMyHarper]

Ya! You did the right thing, and they will both be happy and safe. Thanks for the info on the tank! I have my little Harper in a 30 and wanted to upgrade and have been waiting on the sale in case I couldn't find a decent one on craigslist.

She's super cute and he is too. Sorry you got a lot of misinformation, unfortunately it's heard of all too much. Keep up on her progress I can't wait to see how she changes. I like your other Beardies name too BTW.