Help required about my dominant beardie.

[st3raff]

HI

Firstly may i say sorry this is my first post and i have not really figured this forum out yet, but here goes.

I was given 2 bearded dragons 2 days ago by a lady who was too ill to look after them anymore.
Cheeky - 8 Month old male.
Charlie - 8 Month old female.

They are housed together i a 4 foot Viv, but in my 2 days i have noticed Charlie is bigger and seems to bully Cheeky, i have read on certain pages on google search that you should not house dragons together, but obviously the previous owner did not know.
I am desperate to do right by my dragons as Cheeky seems scared of Charlie resulting in him waving his arms, whilst she is bobbing her head and pinning him to the viv floor. Also at feeding time he seems reluctant to eat unless you take him out of the tank away from her.
He will eat in his tank but she is so greedy everytime i try to hand feed him she is running over to him and then he is reluctant to eat.
As i am writing this she his still on top of him from earlier now i do know they will do this but i am scared as the previous owner said she as bitten him before and drew blood.

Sorry to rant on and i hope to get a chance to introduce myself properly when i get time, any help would be appreciated.
Thankyou

 

[MrsHutch]

Hiya and welcome!

You have read correctly - beardies should be housed seperately as what you are describing is typical dominant behaviour and can result in serious injury, stress and trauma for the less dominant one. And by the sounds of it, this is very likely to happen. You have already mentioned that it affects feeding so at the very least I would say you must continue to feed them seperately so they both get a chance to eat, but I think you really need to sort out seperate vivs for them asap before poor Cheeky gets seriously hurt. I am by no means an expert and I hope someone with more knowledge than me will post with more advice for you.

 

[st3raff]

Thankyou for a quick response, ok second question, if i seperate them will they miss each other, as they have always been together?

Also it seems to create more of a problem when i remove him and return him back in after feeds she goes mental running around

I may have to re home one of them if i have to, sometimes you gotta be cruel to be nice, or maybe just maybe get a second viv.

 

[MrsHutch]

Ok, so this is where one of the many very experienced beardie owner should probably step in as I'm not sure whether you will have problems with seperation anxiety or something like that. I hope by replying here I will bump your post up for someone else to help you. Sorry I can't give you any more help

 

[jortiz9758]

No they will not miss each other...Bearded dragons are solitary creatures. You have seen first hand what keeping them together will do ...Please seperate them quickly or you will lose the less dominant of the two. You can put him in a rubbermaid bin in the meantime with some paper towels and a lamp overhead to keep him warm.

 

[st3raff]

OK looks like i've got a difficult choice to make now, but thanks for the speedy responses. I will let you know the outcome.
I will either have to seperate them into different tanks or re home one of them, but which one???
Only had them 2 days and i am really attached to them both already...

Thankyou

 

[st3raff]

Just to let you know i have re homed my female beardie Thanks for the help.

And if anybody is willing to sell a full set up and lives within 60 miles of doncaster (UK) please let me know.

 

[MrsHutch]

Sorry that you had to re-home your female, but you did absolutely the right thing for the welfare of poor Cheeky.

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Yep, you did the right thing!

 

[ghr15]

Ok edit the beardie was already moved never mind should have read more of the thread.