my dragon has flipped it's lid

[Mkizzzle90]

ok so I just last night bought 2 bearded dragons, the person I bought them from had them together in the same cage for almost 2 years. I brought them home in a 15 gallon bucket with their logs and water and sand and a hiding spot. I also have a heat lamp and fluorescent light. They were doing fine together in the smaller home, even considering the 50 mile trip to my home. Today I got them a glass terrarium which is approximately 30 gallons. And all of the sudden in this new home one of my dragons has started to attack one side of the glass and jumping trying to get out, while the other is being over domineering bobbing his head and charging the skittish one, also mounting and biting. WHATS GOING ON? I also have tons of questions on lighting and feeding. Please Help! Thanks Mike

 

[nesta's mommy]

sounds like you need to separate them asap

 

[npedersen]

30 gallons is too small for one dragon 2 years old let alone two. I would, at a minimum, get another tank to seperate them. Then start to save money for two large tanks/viv's etc.

Just my .02
Nick

 

[Elora]

Oh yeah 30 gallons is surely too small for 2 bearded dragons. You really need to separate them as soon as you can. I know how hard that will be becuase you will have to get double the light fixtures and bulbs. But if you want your beardies to be happy and healthy it needs to be done. Even if they calm down for a while and you think they are okay you dont know what is going on whenyou are not there. I thought my two beardies where okay together until one day i walked slowly into my room and peeked in only to see them fighting! Eventually one of them stopped eating and became really sick so I had to put in the time and money to separate them and buy new fixtures and bulbs for the other ones tank. These little guys are now your responsability and they depend on you to keep them safe and healthy. And when you do that it pays off! Happy lizards = happy owner :love5: :love5:

 

[Mkizzzle90]

okay that helps alot guys. the behavior is just liked you described the submissive one is eating less and hiding more. but my main concern is i need to know exactly what bulbs to buy for light and how many to use when to use them? All i have is what came from the previous owner and they didn't seem to know alot about them. im really in the dark on alot of Enviroment/Care issues.
Help!
I Want to Be A Good Owner

 

[beardie parents]

The lights you decide to use depend on the size of your tank. The best uvb to get is the mega ray, for two reasons, one it gives off light, heat and uvb. However to use this you need to have, at the minimum, a 40 breeder tank. If I remember reading correctly, you need a 100 watt one for that size tank. You can go to this site: http://www.reptileuv.com You can find any information on that site about the mega ray and also a link to the uv site about the dangers regarding the coil/compact uvb bulbs and all the damage they have done to various reptiles. The Mega ray's need to be about 12" to 18" from the basking spot of your dragons. To be fair, I've never used one of the Mercury Vapor Bulbs (MVB, which the mega ray is the best one of).

If you decide to use the fluorescent uvb's, get the Reptisun 10, this is the best of those. The MVB's are better than the fluorescent uvb's. You can also use the reptisun 5 or the reptiglo 8. DO NOT USE the reptiglo 10 or any zilla uvb's or any coil/compact uvb's.

I suggest getting 2 40 breeder tanks, or maybe 2 60 tanks. Just make sure they are wide enough for them to turn around in. Such as: Redrock was just under 17" long, we needed one that was at least 18" wide. It's important to get a tank that's longer and wider than it is tall.

I hope I haven't confused you to much. If I have, feel free to post and ask.

 

[Mkizzzle90]

thanks! now if i need to separate them i will get those but maybe i don't have to separate them? the male is over dominate and has a blue beard most of the day so i figured he was trying to mate with the female but he isn't he just sits on top of her wherever she goes. this it seems to me is depressing the female. Do i have no choice but to separate them?

 

[atreyu917]

no, you don't really have a choice. He will probably keep harrassing your female. And even if he doesn't do it all the time, it'll make your female very uncomfortable, possibly to the point where she won't eat....etc....

 

[diamc]

This is very serious and I'm afraid if you don't act very quickly, a serious injury or death will occur to your female. It is only going to get worse. If he is sitting on top of her wherever she goes, he is dominating every step she takes and that is NOT good at all and has to be stressing her out very badly. Sounds like he isn't allowing her to do anything she wants. Stress alone can kill not to mention injuries. If she is eating less and hiding more, then she is stressed very badly which can cause all kinds of health problems. I think your best bet would be to get a big plastic storage container (like they sell at Walmart) with a separate basking & UVB strip light and place them on top of a screen. I would put the male in there rather than the female because she has suffered too much already. You will also need to purchase either a temperature gun or a digital thermometer with a long wire & probe end if you don't have one of those already. It's important that the temps are correct for them and any type of stickon thermometer can be as much as 20 degrees off. What wattage bulb are you using now as a basking bulb & please give us the specifics of the UVB light, is it a strip fluorescent, coil or compact bulb, what brand is it, how old is it and how close do you have it to the beardies.

Please act quickly in separating them before it's too late.

 

[Mkizzzle90]

ok. i have a seperate bucket that is big enough for the male but i do not have extra lighting as far as the current setup goes, the heating bulb is 18-19 inches away from the basking spot, it is a rather old lamp.... i just went to read the bulb it says Reflector 250w 120v Infrared Heat Lamp. is 250 too much? I also have a uvb light about 15 inches higher than cooler side of the cage, i dont have the money to purchase all of the things needed for a separation should i consider giving up the male beardie? i dont want to risk the females death

 

[atreyu917]

ok. i have a seperate bucket that is big enough for the male but i do not have extra lighting as far as the current setup goes, the heating bulb is 18-19 inches away from the basking spot, it is a rather old lamp.... i just went to read the bulb it says Reflector 250w 120v Infrared Heat Lamp. is 250 too much? I also have a uvb light about 15 inches higher than cooler side of the cage, i dont have the money to purchase all of the things needed for a separation should i consider giving up the male beardie? i dont want to risk the females death

If I were in your position, I would. You already said that you don't have the money for another seperate set of lights, so it would probably be best if you found another home for one of them. and the 250 probably is too hot for a 30 gallon. I have 2 75 watts on my 40 gallon breeder and it gets 100+ on the warm side. But they need a UVB bulb as well as basking bulbs. Reptisun 10.0 is what I have and it runs about $45 for the 24" that I buy my male. Do you have enough room in the tank for a cool side and a warm side?

 

[Mkizzzle90]

yes i belive to on the cool side the temp is around 80 and on the basking side is 100 ish. i possibly will donate one of them to the daycare i work at i would still have to invest in lights food and sand but at least it would give the female her space and comfort away from the male. I Did not realize a M/F pair wasnt supposed to be housed together because the previous owner had them in the same terrarium for almot 2 years

 

[atreyu917]

Its a common mistake I have noticed. I used to think it'd probably be ok too. But males just think about doing the dirty all the time. (not much different from human men...geez haha) They just aren't the most social with their own kind. There are exceptions to the rule like my friend who has 2 males and a female all together. As much as I have tried to get him to seperate them, he won't and so far he has been lucky and no one has been hurt. It's not your fault that the previous owner kept them together, but we're just trying to help

But hey, if you're going to end up buying a whole new setup anyway to donate one of them, why dont you just keep both? Just want to seperate them in different tanks, not different homes

 

[diamc]

Wow, a 250w 120v Infrared Heat Lamp on a 30 gallon tank? That seems like WAY too much heat. I have a 100 watt mercury vapor bulb (which gets very hot) on a 55 gallon and have a basking temp of 106. Are you using a type of stick-on thermometer like a strip or round gauge to get the temp reading? If so, they are very inaccurate, so the beardies are more than likely way too hot which may be part of the reason the male is acting aggressive toward the female. The only 2 ways to get an accurate reading are with either a temperature gun or a digital thermometer that has a probe on the end. Could you fill us in on the UVB light, what brand and what type is it?

I hope you can figure out a way to keep both of them in separate tanks. We can help save you some money on the bulbs, fixtures, etc by providing links to order them online which are much cheaper than buying them at a petstore.

 

[Elora]

Just make sure you really have enough money to buy them the proper things if you plan on keeping them both!