Domestic Dispute

Status
Not open for further replies.
Hi there, I'm new to the forum and I have a question for you resident expert beardie behaviorists. :) I have two bearded dragons who are both around three years old. Kezzy, my male, was a petstore buy when he was just a hatchling, and has always been a little sickly (a topic for another post!). He's always been a little small and skinny. Aurelia, my female, was bought from a breeder a few months later, and she has always been strong and healthy. She's twice the size of the male-- long and thick, with bright yellow and orange coloring. They live in a 75 gallon aquarium, but also are taken out daily to run around the reptile room at leisure.

For three years, these two have been inseperable. They would sleep side by side, play side by side, and bask, well, you get the idea. Kezzy's favourite perch has always been stretched out on top of Aurelia. Every summer we get several clutches of eggs, which I destroy humanely because I am not interested in breeding them with Kezzy's questionable genes. They've never had so much as a squabble.... until now.

I have no idea what has changed between them, but suddenly Aurelia cannot stand the sight of Kezzy. It started a few weeks ago, when they were both basking on their favorite perches next to one another, and they both started head bobbing. I didn't think much of it, until I came back a few minutes later and they were locked in mortal combat. Aurelia kept slamming into Kezzy and biting his tail, legs, every part of him she could reach, while he waved his arm frantically in surrender. I quickly seperated them, and thankfully there were no injuries. Ever since then, Aurelia cannot even look at Kezzy through the glass without trying to attack him, with Kezzy desperately circling his arm in defeat. They've had to be seperated in different tanks in different rooms to keep from upsetting them!

I'd like to understand what happened here, and if there is anything that can be done to reconcile the two. I have the space to keep them seperately, but they seemed so content together that I hate to part them forever. Any insights or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!
 

LJean

Extreme Poster
Honestly I have nothing to help you explain what happened. I know it happens often ,sooner or later, but can't understand why now with your two.
 

vickson420

BD.org Addict
Retired Moderator
Hello,
Unfortunately this is something that is totally common.Beardies are not meant to be housed together long term,they are solitary animals.In this case your femal probably was no longer interested in mating and when you male made advances she fought back.Actually when you said his favorite perch was basking on her that in actually a sign of dominance not a sign of affection.I would recommend you house them seperately from here on there is no way to ensure that this will not happen again and thankfully you were home this time because if you were not it would have most likely ended terribly.One more quick tip you may want to pay a little more attention to them individually right now because although its in their best interests to remain seperate beardies easily suffer from relocation stress when there is a change to their surroundings of any kind.Do not mistake this as them missing eachother truthfully I have had beardies suffer this just from relocating a few pieces in their tank.

-Vicky
 

protiemama

Gray-bearded Member
Beardies are solitary creatures, the real surprise is that they have enjoyed each other for so long. I'm happy there was no permanent damage. :D
Look at it as a messy divorce- they loved each other once and now can't stand the sight of one another. At least there are no lawyers involved. :lol:

Sandy H
 

Ethelia

Extreme Poster
Hi there,

The general belief on this matter is that beardies are solitary and territorial creatures and so should always be housed alone, as other members have expressed.
So really the behaviour you are describing was highly likely to start sooner or later. Infact the basking ontop of eachother isnt companionship, its competition and dominance. No matter how loving and interactive beardies seem, they are not like dogs or humans who bond with others of their species.
Males + females especially shouldnt be housed together because they can overbreed.

When beardies are housed together one usually becomes dominant causing the other beardie to not grow properly due to stress, which sounds exactly like what has happened in your case. They thrive apart and their health can dwindle together.
Beardies can and do attack eachother, unfortunatly dragons are not like dogs, who can be taught about naughty aggressive behaviour. If this has happened once, unfortunatly it will happen again.
Dragons will think nothing of nipping off a chunk or tail/toe in order to defend their basking spot.

I rescued a dragon from a viv with multiple beardies in. She was small for her age and was missing a bit of her tail, most of her right arm, most of her right foot and alot of her toes.

Dont beat yourself up about not knowing, most ignorant pet store workers will insist that having two beardies is fine, but please seperate them perminantly.
Your dragons will lead much happier healthier lives apart after an adjustment period.


Holly

PS. I am actually a lawyer so if you need someone to draw up divorce papers regarding custody of the family's best hide or their tank in the bahamas I can do that for you no problem /wink
 

whiskersmom

BD.org Addict
Retired Moderator
I have to agree with all that was said above....but with a big congratulations that this is the first time you've seen domestic abuse (Holly, that was just adorable! :lol: ), by now there is almost always fighting between a male and female. Not meaning to say that males can live together either but females are the only one's I've ever heard of having any success in cohabiting together. But whose to say it won't eventually happen then either.
The best and truely only thing you can do is permanently seperate them.

By the way, would you mind if we use this thread in the future for reference to people who think that beardies are pack animals? :wink:
 

turtlelady170

Member
Original Poster
Thank you so much for all of your input! I realise now how grossly misinformed I was, since I was under the impression that beardies were colony animals. In fact after I purchased Kezzy, the male, several self-professed 'experts' convinced me to purchase a female since one would be 'lonely' by himself. Even my veterinarian, who is a so-called herp vet, has never told me to seperate them even though I have spent countless dollars trying to get to the bottom of Kezzy's chronic bouts of anorexia-- bloodwork and fecal cultures and oodles of deworming, nothing has helped. Which now looks like it is probably most likely caused by stress and dominance issues, because he's started eating well now that Aurelia is out of sight. A simple fix! Thank you for helping me understand my pets needs better. I am more of a turtle and a snake person, so learning to live with lizards has been a humbling experience as well as a fun adventure. ;)

And yes, I think Kezzy would like to file for compensation for emotional damages. Not to mention Aurelia took his favourite basking rock with her when she left. Hag!

Oh and yes please, do use this thread to help inform others. It really is not well broadcast enough, I think, that beardies are solitary creatures, as in all my attempts at research I found nothing that told me so until now. Thanks again!
 

Ethelia

Extreme Poster
Not to worry.
All the 'lizard specialists' around here also insist on trying to sell me another beardie because mine would get depressed alone.
Lets just say they only tried that one once with me /cackle.
 

LJean

Extreme Poster
I often get told that housing more than one together is fine too. I just don't want to take the chance because it seems there are many instances that it does not go well. Besides, Oscar doesn't even like having another lizard in the house, let alone his enclosure, LOL
He's a spoiled boy.

Kudos to those who do have success with it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Members online

Latest resources

Latest posts

Latest profile posts

Mirage is feeling sPiCy
Does this look like a healthy beardie
LarryTheLizard wrote on ForLeonard!'s profile.
Aww your profile picture is precious ❤️‍🩹
Hey! I'm planning on ordering a 4x2x2 for my next beardie but I'm worried about lighting. I have a UVA and a UVB but they are small (the UVA just being a bulb and the UVB being 12 ish inches?) My house is drafty so I need a strong light that puts off quite a good amount of heat, any suggestions?

Forum statistics

Threads
157,664
Messages
1,277,254
Members
77,005
Latest member
Jilly Beans
Top Bottom