I am getting 2 dragons and have both the space and finances to give them their own cage. I am doing this because I dont want to take a chance and the majority say "one dragon per enclosure". I will say that I have spoken to 2 very large and well respected breeders and both of them say there is no problem with a male/female, or female/female. Both of these breeders also have dozens of pairs caged together and have 40 years dragon experience between them. So who do you believe?
The one problem I have with caging them apart is if you go to breed there may be worse results than if they grew up together????? I dont know.
This debate will never have a definative conclusion.
Whether there is a definitive answer or not, I deeply love my animals so I would not do anything that could put them in harm's way, thus I keep them in separate cages.
Aside from the possible danger of overbreeding or aggression, I feel that it is harder to monitor who's leaving which poo's in case a fecal is needed and making sure that they are both getting enough good UVB and basking...I personally think it's not worth it...I have 8 dragons, 8 vivs...And boy would it be easier to double them up but I just can't do it...
Statement like this just annoy Me.
You can also do surgery with a butcher knife, but surgeons dont because there is a better way.
There is a huge difference between what you CAN do and what you should do. Now someone mentioned 2 large breeders that have housed together with what seems to be minimal problems. It is possible. no one is saying it isnt. I will promise you those breeders did not just randomly put those groups together, and im positive that there where problems they found a group that will tolerate each other. There is a huge case in the industry right now of what we KNEW 10 years ago to what we KNOW now. Things are learned and husbandry changes. In the long run if a reptiles life in general it is better to house separately.
Thanks for adding that Tom. It's obvious that you care about each & every beardie and watch them closely. Perhaps some breeders don't know what signs of stress or dominance issues to watch for, the signs are there if owners just look for them.
Even if 2 beardies grew up together, we have read multiple horror stories here where one turned on the other very quickly. So, if you want them to breed (or they decide to breed), it doesn't matter if they grew up together or are only put together just for the breeding purpose, the male or female may not be willing or ready, which can cause conflicts in the tank, injury or death.