Thinking of Getting a Male Beardie, Question for Experts

[mymomma]

Hello,

I have a female beardie 'Momma' and have had her since she was a baby. She is 2 1/2 years old. She is very well taken care of and healthy - see image.

<img src="http://www.woodybobs.com/mom1.jpg"> I have a tank that is about 3 1/2 by 1 1/2 ft high and 14inches wide. Momma of course is used to her own space, should I put both of them together or get a seperate tank about the same size and put it next to her tank? so they can warm up to each other?

Thanks in advance,

Very happy beardie owner,

Patrick

 

[vickson420]

Hi
Most definitely do not house them together. Beardies are by nature solitary.They do not want nor like another invading their space.When talking about M/F the major problem falls upon the female as she will almost certainly be overbred and dominated by the male and will at least stress her out or at most result in her death should she fight back.I strongly recommend you house seperately.Also how sure are you that your female is a female because if you put 2 males together there will without any doubt be a fight.Maybe not right away,you may even believe they are "getting" along and next thing you know there is a maimed or dead beardie.Really I am not trying to scare you so I am sorry if I have but many of us here have learned the hard way and I just dont want you, your girl or your future male have to learn this way as well.

 

[duke11]

I definitely agree with vickson and I was just curious, but what substrate is she on? Looks kinda like calci sand. Sorry for the question.

 

[mymomma]

Great info thanks! I know shes a female like I know I am a male, I looked down my pants.

I think it is a smart decision to house them seperate let them warm up to each other. It's not like how our mom and dad got together, stolling down the love lane of the 60's, pulling the cadilac up to lover's mountain and staring off into the moon light.

 

[mymomma]

Yes it is calcium enriched sand. I use it every 3 months. I switch it up for her. She is used to bark and treated mulch but have noticed when I use sand she is more active instead of trying to hide. It's not silca

 

[Catalyst]

Agreed, definitely house them separately. If you decide you're interested in breeding, then you can put them together to do their thing when you're all set up and ready for babies. Once the deed has been done though, return them to their own homes - generally speaking dragons are solitary animals and do best on their own.

Calcium sand isn't recommended here because when it gets wet it clumps up and can form a rock like substance. This poses a problem for obvious reasons if your dragon ingests enough of it. Plus the calcium makes it more likely that your dragon will lick at it. If your girl does best on sand, you can switch it out for silica free children's playsand. It doesn't clump up and harden the same way and so is somewhat safer for your dragon, not to mention much cheaper for you.