Have to house them together :(

[spookyyy]

In the counseling room in my school (that I'm in nearly all the time) we have two bearded dragons that are housed together, I've told the counselor that she needs to house them separately and she said that she knows, but she got them as a rescue and it was more important to get them out of the situation they were in than to get them in separate tanks, basically, we're working on it.

I'm going to take care of them over the next week and I was wondering I there was any way I could reduce the risk of them fighting/trying to breed.

The female one, Milly, isn't a problem, but Spike tries to breed with her and runs around in the tank going crazy all the time, even if Milly isn't in there. Is this just because he wants to breed with Milly? Or is something else stressing him out?

EDIT: Just realized the cage is definitely too small for them too and that's probably why Spike's so stressed I'm not sure what to do to help

 

[KarrieRee]

You definitely need to seperate them ASAP- - I realize you are trying to help but keeping them together in a small tank is bad!! They should not be able to see each other --- at all --- so I would suggest getting a tote another 20 gallon tank from a pet store / good will / Savors anything to get them separated -- your going to need to get another basking light and another UVB - paper towels in the tank for a substrate till you can get them situated -- maybe some one can take one of them in -- like a mom and pops pet store - till you can get them situated -- they are going to need to be in a 40 gallon tank nothing smaller - recommended size for an adult bearded dragon is 75-120 gallon tank -- some one else on here might have some other ideas
Karrie

 

[spookyyy]

You definitely need to seperate them ASAP- - I realize you are trying to help but keeping them together in a small tank is bad!! They should not be able to see each other --- at all --- so I would suggest getting a tote another 20 gallon tank from a pet store / good will / Savors anything to get them separated -- your going to need to get another basking light and another UVB - paper towels in the tank for a substrate till you can get them situated -- maybe some one can take one of them in -- like a mom and pops pet store - till you can get them situated -- they are going to need to be in a 40 gallon tank nothing smaller - recommended size for an adult bearded dragon is 75-120 gallon tank -- some one else on here might have some other ideas
Karrie

They're not mine, I'm only having them for a week. I would love to get them out of the tank they're in but I'm not in a situation where I can do that, I just need any advice to reduce stress for the week I have them.

 

[KarrieRee]

Separate them that is the only way-- if kept together one will start to fall ill I am assuming the female and she will possibly die-- one becomes dominate and takes over the basking area and UVB --
Karrie

 

[spookyyy]

Separate them that is the only way-- if kept together one will start to fall ill I am assuming the female and she will possibly die-- one becomes dominate and takes over the basking area and UVB --
Karrie

Like I said, I can't separate them, they're not mine. The most I could do is take spike out of the tank whilst I have them so Milly could get some time in the basking area, but then I would worry about Spike getting too cold. I'm not sure what to do to be honest.

 

[KarrieRee]

The owner needs to be notified of this concern and addressed- if they r not willing to be responsible then there is nothing you can do

 

[spookyyy]

It doesn't seem like Milly has any signs of MBD or anything like that from what I remember, Spike is a bit thin and my teacher has tried to get him to put on weight but it's just not happening. They were neglected in the past so that could have something to do with it, I'll post pictures of them when I get them tomorrow in a different thread so people here can have a look because you guys will know better than I do.

 

[JessPets]

Hey there, I am so sorry that you are going through this. Are you able to go to like a walmart/home depot type store and pick up a couple of giant rubbermaid tubs? They are really cheap and will work until you can get them something better.

 

[Drache613]

Moved by Moderator from General to Health

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

You could try to put some type of divider in the tank, such as a piece of wood, plastic, etc to
try & keep them separated. Short of getting another tank or a plastic bin for temporary use, that
is about all you can do. He will stress himself out trying to mate & stress her also.
Are they relatively healthy right now?

Tracie

 

[Gormagon]

RESCUED :shock: :shock: :shock: ??????

Rescued means, giving better care than they were getting...not so sure this is happening .

Out of the pan ...into the fire!!!

Can you talk her into letting you take one of them home to separate them, it would be beneficial to both dragons. Dragons are super territorial and, will defend what they claim to the death if need be. The male in this case is scared, this is why it runs all over the viv (he can't find a place too rest).

 

[spookyyy]

Hello,

You could try to put some type of divider in the tank, such as a piece of wood, plastic, etc to
try & keep them separated. Short of getting another tank or a plastic bin for temporary use, that
is about all you can do. He will stress himself out trying to mate & stress her also.
Are they relatively healthy right now?

Tracie

Like I mentioned before, Spike is a bit thin and I'm pretty sure Milly is too but aside from that they seem fine, they don't even have any stress marks most of the time, the end of Milly's tale has been bitten off or something like that, but from what I understand it happened years ago. I'll check what I can later when I'm at home with them. My room is pretty cold so I don't want to keep them out for too long but I'll try to seperate them as much as I can without it affecting them.

 

[spookyyy]

RESCUED :shock: :shock: :shock: ??????

Rescued means, giving better care than they were getting...not so sure this is happening .

Out of the pan ...into the fire!!!

Can you talk her into letting you take one of them home to separate them, it would be beneficial to both dragons. Dragons are super territorial and, will defend what they claim to the death if need be. The male in this case is scared, this is why it runs all over the viv (he can't find a place too rest).

To be fair they were in a much worse situation before, they were neglected and never fed, I do agree that they could definetely be in a better situation but there's only so much I can do, I can''t afford to take care of it over a long period of time, otherwise I would.

 

[Aaradimian]

Is there any chance of getting the larger tote people have mentioned, putting in a piece of plywood or even cardboard between them & putting the available light/UV so that it's right on the dividing line? At least if there's some UV and some heat/light on each side of the barrier, they might be a little more comfortable until a real solution can be found.

 

[AHBD]

Hopefully your teacher will get the new set up for one of them to go in to. Good on you for being concerned about them though. At least you are trying !