Housing Beardies together?

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Now I gather I am going to get some negative feedback about this but there is some conflicting information out there such as..
1) that no Beardies should be housed together, and
2) if they are both females they can be housed together (but obviously separate if they start showing signs of aggression)

I have two Beardies (both are female -bought at same time - they are roughly 5-6 months old) and they are housed together in a 800x800 enclosure.

If I could have some feedback as to whether 2 females can be housed together safely?

Regards
Leanne
 

diamc

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hi. To be quite honest, housing 2 females together depends on the beardies BUT most of the time there are dominance/aggression issues and/or one thrives and the other is much smaller proving that the beardie is stressed from being housed with another.

Have you noticed any arm waving, head bobbing, one laying on the other, one basking more than the other, one larger than the other? Does one of them seem more nervous and lazier?

You have to think about why you want to house 2 together, it certainly won't benefit them at all. I honestly don't feel it's worth the risk, an injury (or worse) can happen VERY quickly.

I read your December thread regarding a tail issue. Did you ever find out what that was from? How did the tail turn out?

Here's a thread you should read: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=154908&p=1548142&hilit=+housing+beardies+together#p1548142
 

DeweysMom

Sub-Adult Member
Personally, I'd never house two beardies of any gender together. They're solitary creatures and generally don't seek out the companionship of one another. As already mentioned they can have dominance issues and the smaller/weaker one usually suffers because of that. There are a lot of stories going around from people who kept beardies together. They always got along and then all of a sudden one turned on the other which can result in some pretty severe injuries. To me, it's just not worth the risk.

If space is an issue, you could always set up a couple of stackable enclosures so you're not taking up more floor space, just vertical room which is usually empty anyway. :)
 

ShockerAndSavage

Member
Original Poster
Hi diamc and deweysMom,
every now and again they will arm wave but generally that Is only when one is out of the enclosure with the other one in their sight, and other times they will arm wave while slowly head bobbing (only doe this once or twice).
One is a bit smaller than the other one however that was due to her being unwell when we got her, she is quickly stacking the weight on now. They both bask the same amount of time together and one day one on will be on top of the other and the next day the other will be on top (half on each other laying in top, never fully). I am aware that when they lay on each other it is a sign of dominance but they only ever seem to have and arm and a head on top of the other beardie.
I am aware that Beardies can suddenly attack other Beardies for no reason but that's what I was confused about as people were saying if it's 2 females it fine and if they have enough room and enough climbing and basking space they are ok together.
In regards to the tail, we found a space on the side of the backdrop where a cricket was hiding out, the vet said the cricket may have bitten the tail during the night or perhaps the other dragon may have nipped it by mistake while eating (as mentioned in my December post the tail was black and dead over night) there was nothing the vet could to and that part of the tail was removed.

The enclosure is quite large and we could easily put it in 2 by putting something down the middle where they couldn't see each other. I just wanted to know if the 2 female theories were correct.

Thanks for your feedback :)
 

LLLReptile

Juvie Member
Bearded dragons can be kept in small groups, no more than one male per group, with multiple females per group being acceptable.

Sometimes, yes, they fight. It is up to you, the owner, to monitor them to be sure they are cohabitating well. However, my experience with large numbers of adults, juveniles, and babies, as well as the experience of numerous staff who've kept and bred them for over a decade... 90% of the time you can house multiple females together. Occasionally there are females (and even male/female pairs) that do not get along, but that is the case for just about any pet animal.

If yours are eating, growing, and otherwise behaving normally, then I wouldn't worry too much about housing them together. :) You'd know by now if yours were not compatible with each other.

-Jen
 

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
LLLReptile":4qus7l19 said:
90% of the time you can house multiple females together.

Really... 90% of the time? So only 10% of your hatchlings ever get nips? Because quite often I see you selling dragons with nips.
In fact, you have a whole section of your website dedicated to selling dragons with nips.

Can you name me one reason, one positive reason for the dragon, to house it with another dragon? The only things I can think up of are reasons for the owner.

I don't have a problem with how you handle your own dragons or business, I only have a problem with telling people it is ok. Which you basically are with your made up 90% figure.

-Brandon
 

Mistyck

Extreme Poster
LLLReptile":3pwmd4ww said:
You'd know by now if yours were not compatible with each other.

-Jen

I call BS. Sometimes they don't attack each other until much later in life. But is that something you really want to look out for their whole lives, just because you choose not to have them in separate tanks? There's many people's accounts of their dragons attacking each other YEARS after living together. They just "turn" and either maim or kill one another. I don't think it wise to be spreading on here that they live happily with one another, and that people would KNOW by now if their dragons were compatible. You don't know them, or their situation, and therefore, you don't know if they're compatible or not.
 

LLLReptile

Juvie Member
Babies nipping fast moving tails or toes due to mistaking them for food are not the same as housing adult dragons of known genders together. This person is asking about known genders of adults; not babies or juveniles.

Yes, when we get in beardies of all sizes, we list beardies with nipped tails/toes separately. Many keepers prefer perfect tailed/toed beardies, but others do not mind getting a pretty dragon at a discount because it has nips. It's fair to list them separately within the bearded dragon category so that those ordering know exactly what they're getting.

We get in babies, juveniles, and adults both with perfect toes and tails, as well as those with nips. We don't sit on perfect babies until they're adults, then put them together, and wait for them to nip at each other and then sell them. How does accurately describing the beardies we have available for sale impact whether or not this particular person can keep his two female beardies that he's raised together in the same cage as mature adults?

I answered his question; yes, in my experience, the females can be housed together, and no, they won't battle to the death over it. If they're eating, thriving, and otherwise behaving normally... I don't see a reason to separate animals that are already cohabitating together successfully.

Disagree, fine; the anecdotal story of one thread does show that yes, sometimes fights happen. But my personal experience (and that of my coworkers, of whom several have been keeping beardies since the 90s) is that in the vast, vast majority of cases, adult females can be housed together just fine. OP was asking about his adults - I answered. OP, if you have further questions, you can always PM me for suggestions on how best to set up your cage for both to thrive.

-Jen
 

Molson

Member
You'll hear different things from different people. Some think it's ok under certain circumstances, some think it should never be done. The only fact is that accidents have happened where normally well-behaved dragons have maimed or killed it's tank-mate.

Even if it is a slim possibility, I will NEVER put my precious dragon in a situation where something like that could happen without me to prevent it. It's just not worth it.
 

DeweysMom

Sub-Adult Member
Molson":3n13n79p said:
You'll hear different things from different people. Some think it's ok under certain circumstances, some think it should never be done. The only fact is that accidents have happened where normally well-behaved dragons have maimed or killed it's tank-mate.

Even if it is a slim possibility, I will NEVER put my precious dragon in a situation where something like that could happen without me to prevent it. It's just not worth it.
I agree 100%. Just not worth the risk to me either.
 
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