How to SAFELY introduce my male and female beardies

teeta999

Member
Beardie name(s)
Mustard, Sriracha
Hey guys!
Somehow I’ve searched this website and still can’t find an answer. The last time I tried to introduce my almost 2-year-old female bearded dragon mustard to a male she killed him, which I NEVER want to experience again. So I come to you guys asking for the absolute safest way to introduce these two. I’ve been terrified to let them even see each other since I got Sriracha almost 7 months to a year ago. I’ve waited Until Sriracha was almost a year and until mustard was almost 2 years as that’s when they’re both sexually active and able to breed. Even now thinking about it I’m very very scared.

So my question is what is the safest way to introduce them. I have let them see each other through the reflection in the mirror on the other side of the room since I got Sriracha and they’ve gotten very very used to seeing each other in that reflection but every time I have one out and the other in the enclosure they can still see each other. Mustard has always been very chill with this but sriracha is always a little bit standoffish when he can see mustard.

If anyone needs any more information then I am happy to give it I just can’t think of anything right now but I would like to introduce them so any advice will help :)))

Thank you in advance
 

xp29

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Beardie name(s)
Zen , Ruby ,Snicker Doodles, Sweet Pea, Sinatra
Are you absolutely positive Mustard is female? A female killing a male is not you would expect. If anyone can help you it would be AHBD or Claudiusx. I'll flag them for you.
@AHBD
@Claudiusx
 

teeta999

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Mustard, Sriracha
Are you absolutely positive Mustard is female? A female killing a male is not you would expect. If anyone can help you it would be AHBD or Claudiusx. I'll flag them for you.
@AHBD
@Claudiusx
Not absolutely positive but pretty sure. I'm pretty sure she only killed him because he was really really young (I was very uninformed then)
 

xp29

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Beardie name(s)
Zen , Ruby ,Snicker Doodles, Sweet Pea, Sinatra
You can candle light their tails to sex them. Just be careful not to burn them with the light.
 

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AHBD

BD.org Sicko
It is possible for a female to kill another full sized dragon but it the question is how long did you leave then together ? If you put them in the same enclosure and they were just hanging out but then you left them, that would give one time to deliver a killing bite to the head. That's about the only scenario that a dragon could kill another. If you were right there you could have separated them as soon as she clamped down on him. It's just very unlikely to have happened with one bite but it's not impossible if she's very large + strong.

That being said, it doesn't sound like she's a good candidate for breeding. You will have to hover over the 2 like a referee at a boxing match. I just wouldn't chance it with her. Do you have any pics of her and of the other males , both the one that died and the new one ? And are you positive that she is really a female ?
 

teeta999

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Mustard, Sriracha
It is possible for a female to kill another full sized dragon but it the question is how long did you leave then together ? If you put them in the same enclosure and they were just hanging out but then you left them, that would give one time to deliver a killing bite to the head. That's about the only scenario that a dragon could kill another. If you were right there you could have separated them as soon as she clamped down on him. It's just very unlikely to have happened with one bite but it's not impossible if she's very large + strong.

That being said, it doesn't sound like she's a good candidate for breeding. You will have to hover over the 2 like a referee at a boxing match. I just wouldn't chance it with her. Do you have any pics of her and of the other males , both the one that died and the new one ? And are you positive that she is really a female ?
The one that passed was named ketchup. He was considerably smaller than mustard at the time. I was hovering over them at the time of the bite. She only had his head for a second, maybe two but I separated them immediately, however the damage was done. It was stupid of me and I will never put my beardies in a position where they are in danger.

I'm totally fine with not breeding them, I just want to be able to have them out to chill with me at the same time because I always feel bad for spending time with one but not the other. If thats not possible I understand but I wanted to see if (using a safe method) they would interact well or if its just not in the cards.
 

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KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
The one that passed was named ketchup. He was considerably smaller than mustard at the time. I was hovering over them at the time of the bite. She only had his head for a second, maybe two but I separated them immediately, however the damage was done. It was stupid of me and I will never put my beardies in a position where they are in danger.

I'm totally fine with not breeding them, I just want to be able to have them out to chill with me at the same time because I always feel bad for spending time with one but not the other. If thats not possible I understand but I wanted to see if (using a safe method) they would interact well or if its just not in the cards.
Looks like one female and one male to me--- I would recommend not putting them together unless you want babies
 

xp29

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Beardie name(s)
Zen , Ruby ,Snicker Doodles, Sweet Pea, Sinatra
Those two are way to different in size to have them anywhere near each other. Mustard very well might actuaaly try to eat the little one.
 

xp29

BD.org Addict
Photo Comp Winner
Beardie name(s)
Zen , Ruby ,Snicker Doodles, Sweet Pea, Sinatra
Oh i see the names now, the little one was Ketchup. If he was that small when she killed him, she was probably trying to eat him.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Oh wow, Ketchup was just a little guy, I thought he was a young male as in sub adult. You didn't know but yeah, big dragons can and will attack little ones. Poor guy.
 

teeta999

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Mustard, Sriracha
Oh wow, Ketchup was just a little guy, I thought he was a young male as in sub adult. You didn't know but yeah, big dragons can and will attack little ones. Poor guy.
I know. Even looking for that photo made me cry, I don't think I'll ever not feel guilty for letting her be so close to him.

Anyway, Sriracha is now only a few cm smaller than Mustard now, in a few months they'll be the same size. What is the best way to introduce them? I've put them both on my bed under the supervision of me and my brother with a big plastic pane in between them and neither seemed to care about the other, although sriracha did go a bit dark. Recently I had sriracha out and mustard was tapping the glass (how she shows me she wants to get out and roam) so I took the chance to put sriracha 30+ cm away from mustard (who I was holding) so they could see each other but couldn't get to eachother faster than I could move them. This is the first time I've seen sriracha head bob. It was directed at mustard but she didn't wave or anything, maybe because I was holding her. After that, I just put them both away as mustard started moving back to her enclosure and sriracha was trying to get away from mustard. I just don't know the safest way to get them used to each other.
 

xp29

BD.org Addict
Photo Comp Winner
Beardie name(s)
Zen , Ruby ,Snicker Doodles, Sweet Pea, Sinatra
Thats really about the only way, they need to see each other and get acclimated to there being another dragon around. Keep it short at first, then start letting them see each other longer at a time. I honestly think she went after Ketchup because of size. But don't take unnecessary risk. Also don't give them prolonged line of site, it's stressful for them, even after they are used to each other.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
I know. Even looking for that photo made me cry, I don't think I'll ever not feel guilty for letting her be so close to him.

Anyway, Sriracha is now only a few cm smaller than Mustard now, in a few months they'll be the same size. What is the best way to introduce them? I've put them both on my bed under the supervision of me and my brother with a big plastic pane in between them and neither seemed to care about the other, although sriracha did go a bit dark. Recently I had sriracha out and mustard was tapping the glass (how she shows me she wants to get out and roam) so I took the chance to put sriracha 30+ cm away from mustard (who I was holding) so they could see each other but couldn't get to eachother faster than I could move them. This is the first time I've seen sriracha head bob. It was directed at mustard but she didn't wave or anything, maybe because I was holding her. After that, I just put them both away as mustard started moving back to her enclosure and sriracha was trying to get away from mustard. I just don't know the safest way to get them used to each other.
Dragons should not see each other -- it causes too much stress --
 

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