Introducing two adults m/f

[redwithenvy]

I have had a male for 5 years. He's got some neurological problems from his egg being turned and he's improved greatly over the last four years (once he was out of the inclosure with his dominant brother - I adopted him for that reason.) But he still gets a little unsteady and confused from time to time.

I have a friend with an adult female who wants to give her to someone who can take more time with her, who has room for her and who can love her. She's in an office right now which doesn't get much traffic. I imagine she is bored and doesn't get much attention.

I want to take her. I want to put her enclosure in my apartment and put it close to my male's so that they can see each other. I'm hesitant to put them together, for obvious reasons.

My question is this - is it going to stress him out having a new female moving in next door? I figure when they're young it might not be as bad, but he's pretty settled in his domain and they're both several years old. Also, she'll get loads more attention and love from me, and I want to keep her in her current enclosure to reduce her stress. But I don't want to adopt her if it's going to make it worse for either of them.

Any thoughts, suggestions, advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

- Parker's mommy

 

[AllanonsWrath]

I would try and keep them where they can't see each other. Hormones will bad since it is coming up on Spring. And, males will want to mate with females pretty much all the time from what I understand.

 

[redwithenvy]

That might be nearly impossible.. I have a small studio. Plus, I was kind of hoping that a little socialization might be healthy.

 

[RandyMarsh]

just put some cardboard over the side of the tank they could see each other from and move it every so often so they can see each other

 

[redwithenvy]

That's not possible either. The tanks are both pretty large and I live in a small space. They'll both be able to see each other - it's not an option otherwise, which is why I want to know how much it will stress out either, and whether it's worth it for both.

 

[BaskingBaby]

In my experience with males and females in the same room, it drove me nuts. When I had Zander he turned into a miserable, grumpy, black-bearding bully. Constantly glass dancing and trying to get to the girl. It stressed out my female seeing him that worked up. I eventually put them in separate rooms.

Really there is no good side of "socializing" them together. They come together to breed, and that's about it in the wild. I find male/females just tend to stress each other out. My silkback male is a very timid dragon, and he stops eating if he knows another dragon is housed in the same room with him. I have white paper surrounding the sides of his tank so he can't see my females. I guess it all depends on the dragon's personality, but in my case I've had one male who went nuts, and the other got very stressed. My females are okay being outside of the cage and walking around together though. If you can "rescue" the other dragon, I say go for it. All you need do to is cover up the sides of the cage that they can see each other. You can use cardboard or just plain paper. It's not like you have to constantly worry about them not seeing each other, but I would make sure each of them feels secure in their own "territory" so they aren't constantly stressed about another dragon possibly coming in their cage/within view. I'm sure there's a way you could make it work.

 

[redwithenvy]

Thank you - that helps a lot. I really hoped someone who had been through the same thing would have some input.

Due to the size of my apartment, their enclosures would be perpendicular to each other coming out on either wall from a corner. I would have to cover the fronts of both cages, which obviously isn't workable.

I'm disheartened, but I'm glad I know that it may stress both of them out. Thanks again for sharing your experience with me..

Best,
Sharon

 

[jjh1]

I have 4 big tanks in my living room and my male can see one of my females sort of even if you were to cover the sides of the cage they can still smell each other.

Mind you giving a beardie a good home isnt a bad idea, I mean hormones will be less in alittle bit and if you can handle the head bobbing or the glass dancing then I say go for it.

My juvie is the one that loves to wave at my male where as the adult female just turns her back at him as if to say wtf... then she goes back to watching tv.

If you can give the beardie a good home awesome

Joanne slave to 4 beardies 2 Leo's 2 Cresties 1 dog 1 hamster and a bunch of fish

 

[RandyMarsh]

That's not possible either. The tanks are both pretty large and I live in a small space. They'll both be able to see each other - it's not an option otherwise, which is why I want to know how much it will stress out either, and whether it's worth it for both.

it's totally possible to stick something (paper/carboard) over their tanks. Doesn't matter how large they are. You can baffle them off. If you don't think it's possible I don't really know if you can be helped.

 

[jabronie]

your best bet would be to get vivs that you can stack because constantly seeing another dragon can stress them out pretty badly.

 

[lauraj1055]

If my males could constantly see my females, they would be bashing their heads off their glass all day long. They go wild when one is just out of the viv. I have 3 males and 3 females, and every one of my males goes nuts when they see a female.

 

[DragonsNDoodles]

Some males will even become so obsessed with the female they can see that they will refuse food, like they are ignoring everything except the girl.

I'd recommend covering one of the tanks or putting an opaque barrier between the two tanks. I keep a Rubbermaid tub's lid between some of my dragons, and they are all girls. It just reduces stress for everyone when they aren't worried about the dragon across the room.