Should I get a second one?

[alexandra168]

I have a baby beardy that I just bought about 2/3 weeks ago. I am pretty sure she's a girl and she puffs up her beard at me a lot and opens her mouth sometimes. I'm pretty sure this is because she's young and hopefully she will grow out of it. I've been thinking about getting another one (who I think is a girl too). I was wondering if you guys think that would be a good idea. She is roughly the same age as the girl I have now. Any thoughts?

 

[BabySkales]

I have 2 babies. ones about 2.5 months and the other is 3.5.. You have to keep the separately.. or one will out grow the other and steal the other ones food... maybe fight too. but having two babies isnt bad :] just another mouth to feed.

 

[CooperDragon]

A lot of people have multiple dragons and love it. You should be prepared to have/maintain a second setup for the second dragon and have double the food & time for routine available however.

 

[alexandra168]

Would you not recommend having them in the same tank?

 

[CooperDragon]

I wouldn't recommend using the same tank because they are solitary by nature and can get very territorial and aggressive. More often than not I've seen them either dominate the other to prevent eating and cause health problems or outright attack the other. It's not really worth the risk in my opinion.

 

[alexandra168]

Thanks! Very helpful.

Another question: even if my baby beardy doesn't really seem to like me much now (puffing the beard and opening her mouth), does that mean that she will have those same personality traits when she is older too? Or is it just because she is young?

 

[CooperDragon]

They tend to mellow out, but they all have their own personalities. It may take some patients but I'll bet she'll calm down in time. They do tend to like their people =)

 

[herpgirl2510]

I would probably just focus on working with this dragon right now especially since she is a bit feisty :mrgreen: . If you get a second that takes time from her and she might never get the attention she need a to settle down. Then once she is settled more get a second. They definitely cannot be kept together so two means two enclosures.

 

[little_gardener_24]

We waited a year to get our second one, mainly because our first bd was just that - our first; we wanted to give ourselves time to get the hang of things and I think it was a smart decision. We gained a lot over that year, including having learned from inevitable newbie bd owner mistakes, and we now have a good order to feeding schedules etc... If you are not experienced with having multiple hands on animals at once, then I would recommend waiting it out a bit, but if you feel like you've adjusted well enough to having this one and don't think you would be too overwhelmed with a second, then go for it. We love our two :-D

As for tank mates, I would definitely keep them separate. You'd be taking a risk housing them together - one that could possibly be fatal if an attack did happen, and personally that's not a risk we were willing to take with ours, for both of our dragons' sake. Not to mention the emotional turmoil we would have ourselves knowing we could have prevented it. (just my 2 cents)

 

[jenn4turtles]

I am confident that she will quit puffing at you soon. Some BDs take longer to adjust, and focusing on her would probably be the best thing to do, at least for now. My BD still puffs at 2 of our 3 cats, but has gotten used to the 3rd cat. It just took time. Surely, you can't be any scarier than a 16 lb. feline! LOL. Maybe she did not have much in the way of human interaction before you took her in? Soon she will realize that you are the one who takes care of and feeds her, and that you are a friend, not foe.