Curious about time and cage mates

[RealSpiderMan89]

I been wondering about cage mates. I've had my beardie for about a year and been wondering how he would act if another were to come along. would they get along? Just curious not planning on it.

 

[railroadwife]

I am far from an expert but from what I've read on other posts, it would depend on their sex and their age. You don't want to mix older beardies with babies or littler ones, and two males is not a good idea. I would think it would also depend on temperment of the beardies too. Some are just loners; they don't want a buddy. I've heard that you can put females of similar size together without much trouble. Never tried and don't want to either. One is enough for me. Oh yeah, you can put babies together but still would have to watch them as they grow older for signs of aggression. Just what I've read.

 

[peera]

In general, putting more than one dragon per enclosure is a no. They are solitary by nature and very territorial. One will almost always dominate the other and end up hurting them. Males should never, ever be housed with another- with another male they'll fight, and with a female they'll fight and overbreed. Some people say it's ok to house similarly sized females together, but I wouldn't recommend that either. Even if they didn't fight, consider the size of the enclosure you'd need. One dragon optimally needs 8 sq ft, and that would need to increase for additional dragons.

Frankly, mine find each other's presence irritating enough when they're not sharing a cage. Gibby isn't even in the same room as my girls and ends up black bearding and getting pissy when he smells them.

 

[Ethelia]

Its really not recommended.
The worst part about this is 90% of reptile stores will insist that this is perfectly fine. Generally it isnt.

Housing two together usually leads to stressed dragons, alot of babies, one dominant dragon and the other dragon eating less and not thriving and growing properly.
Dragons are territorial creatures and would think nothing to biting off a toe or the end of a tail to make sure the other beardie didnt steal the best basking spot.
I rescued a girl from a tank of multiple lizards and she is missing a whole hand and foot.

Im sure you only considered this because you were keen to give another little dragon a happy home, but housing two together is a risk that neednt be taken.

Holly x