Two beardies together

[Lulwade54]

Two beardies together..do they have to be the same sex or opposite sex? I have heard two different stories from people..Can you all help me out?

 

[tarian]

i have yet to see a post, or read an article that is in favor of housing dragons togeather. they are very independant, and only need the love of their owner

 

[LJean]

Housing two males isn't a good idea. They will most likely fight over territory. Housing a male and female can result in his constantly trying to breed with her. If she isn't old enough, he will mature faster, it could compromise her health. May also stress her out with the constant attention. Two females together may work if the enclosure is big enough. But with different personalities they may not get along.

There are many posts on the boards about dragons who were co-housed and now have missing limbs and tails. It's something you have to put a lot of thought into.

 

[tarian]

i have also read if they breed too soon it can kill the female...so sad, if you want two you need two enclosures, they may mingle under your supervision, but they also need their own space, regardless of there gender

 

[andyn11]

hey ive had my female for a while now and just got a new male last night and for now they are in the same viv .... the male is head bobbing like mad (witch i exspect from him being male and dominant) but there seems to be a few confrontations (witch i have quickly stopped) but they sleeped well last night and sat for a good bit this morning in the same basking spot without hassle

am i doin the right thing here or should i seperate them or what?

new male is a snow morph and altho a bit younger he is the same size of my 2 - 3 yr old female ... i dont know the age of the male yet i got him from my friend last night i shall ask tho

 

[Ethelia]

The general belief on this matter is that beardies are solitary and territorial creatures and so should always be housed alone.
It drives us crazy that pet stores and local breeders often insist on it being fine.

Males + females especially shouldnt be housed together because they can overbreed.

Furthermore when beardies are housed together one usually becomes dominant causing the other beardie to not grow properly due to stress, which sounds exactly like what has happened here.
I cannot tell you the amount of times we have read about one beardie not eating well, we advise the owner to seperate and then within a week we get replies saying how much better their dragon is doing.

Also beardies can and do attack eachother, unfortunatly dragons are not like dogs, who can be taught about naughty aggressive behaviour. They can live in apparent harmony for months and then one day snap. Once it has happened once, it will happen again and again.
Dragons will think nothing of nipping off a chunk or tail/toe in order to defend their basking spot, its just in their nature.

I dont mean to scare or scold you, but I want you to appriciate what can happen:
In my time keeping dragons I have rescued two dragons who were living in a viv with other dragons.
Dexter was small for her age and was missing a bit of her tail, most of her right arm, most of her right foot and alot of her toes.

Ruben had his leg and arms ripped off at the joints by his clutchmates.

There are rare cases where dragons show no signs of agression towards eachother, and there isnt too much bullying but it is a risk that is simply not worth taking.

Your dragons will lead much happier healthier lives apart.

Holly

 

[lilrus9]

I know it sounds awesome to house 2 dragons together but it won't work. I housed to male dragons together since they were hatchlings. When they got to about a year and half, one of the dragons went crazy and would bite me and the other dragon. But right when i separated them, the crazy dragon slowly stopped bitig me. So don't try this and if you do keep a close eye on them.

 

[andyn11]

I know it sounds awesome to house 2 dragons together but it won't work. I housed to male dragons together since they were hatchlings. When they got to about a year and half, one of the dragons went crazy and would bite me and the other dragon. But right when i separated them, the crazy dragon slowly stopped bitig me. So don't try this and if you do keep a close eye on them.

yeh everyone says dont house any 2 together but male n female is fine if they take to each other but 2 males is just stupid ... you see males of any kind compete in the wild ... so yeh thats pretty obvious