Native species for outdoor enclosure

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Gabe_s

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Hey, I have begun the process of building an outdoor enclosure for water dragons but have changed my mind and was wondering what native dragons and skinks in NSW are cohabitable together.
 
Most large skinks do well with each other so long as they are fed well and are from the same area.
 
Blueys and Cunningham’s do well together and so do jackys

I've seen many a Bluey torn to pieces by Cunningham's, and either species will make short work of a Jacky as soon as they manage to catch it!
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Hey, I have begun the process of building an outdoor enclosure for water dragons but have changed my mind and was wondering what native dragons and skinks in NSW are cohabitable together.

Depends where in NSW. NSW is nothing like Gosford, and neither of them are anything like Dubbo.

Beardies and Blueys usually go okay together, Stumpies will go well if you're west of the Great Dividing Range. Usually you'll end up happier and so will your animals if you choose something which appeals to you rather than something which just happens to work with what you have. Generally speaking, mixing species has a tendency to cause heartache.
 
I've seen many a Bluey torn to pieces by Cunningham's, and either species will make short work of a Jacky as soon as they manage to catch it!
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Depends where in NSW. NSW is nothing like Gosford, and neither of them are anything like Dubbo.

Beardies and Blueys usually go okay together, Stumpies will go well if you're west of the Great Dividing Range. Usually you'll end up happier and so will your animals if you choose something which appeals to you rather than something which just happens to work with what you have. Generally speaking, mixing species has a tendency to cause heartache.
Thanks for the feedback. What would you say in terms of monitors for outdoors. Just living solo though of course. I live in Newcastle so it stays pretty consistently warm
 
Thanks for the feedback. What would you say in terms of monitors for outdoors. Just living solo though of course. I live in Newcastle so it stays pretty consistently warm
Lace monitor.
Coolest pet lizard.
Or a sand monitor pit.
 
Lace monitor.
Coolest pet lizard.
Or a sand monitor pit.
Thanks. I’ve been researching sand monitors and was just wondering if you can house a breeding pair together in the same enclosure
 
Thanks for the feedback. What would you say in terms of monitors for outdoors. Just living solo though of course. I live in Newcastle so it stays pretty consistently warm

Lacies are the only really good option for you, unless you can source some Heath Monitors. Sandies might work if you set them up well. Sometimes they'll get along okay, sometimes you'll have problems. It's a little like the whole keeping snakes together situation except that it's probably a bit more risky and there isn't as much stigma for whatever reason. I visited a friend yesterday with a part of Sand Monitors kept together, the female is looking terrible. Last time I was there they both looked fantastic and I was having fun feeding them, but now the male is overweight and the female seriously underweight. Apparently the male steals food she tries to eat and she never ends up getting much of a feed these days. I'd imagine you'd be able to manage this if you were willing to put the time into hand feeding them and keeping one away from the other while it fed, but if time restraints become relevant, which inevitably happens, and you can't allocate as much time to micromanaging your lizards' feeding, you might have issues. And of course there can be aggression issues with some individuals.

Short answer: It will sometimes work, it sometimes won't, and sometimes to make it work will require a lot of time and effort.
 
Lacies are the only really good option for you, unless you can source some Heath Monitors. Sandies might work if you set them up well. Sometimes they'll get along okay, sometimes you'll have problems. It's a little like the whole keeping snakes together situation except that it's probably a bit more risky and there isn't as much stigma for whatever reason. I visited a friend yesterday with a part of Sand Monitors kept together, the female is looking terrible. Last time I was there they both looked fantastic and I was having fun feeding them, but now the male is overweight and the female seriously underweight. Apparently the male steals food she tries to eat and she never ends up getting much of a feed these days. I'd imagine you'd be able to manage this if you were willing to put the time into hand feeding them and keeping one away from the other while it fed, but if time restraints become relevant, which inevitably happens, and you can't allocate as much time to micromanaging your lizards' feeding, you might have issues. And of course there can be aggression issues with some individuals.

Short answer: It will sometimes work, it sometimes won't, and sometimes to make it work will require a lot of time and effort.
ok thanks, i'll do some research on lacies but sounds easier just to have one in there
 
ok thanks, i'll do some research on lacies but sounds easier just to have one in there

Sounds like you might as well make life easier for yourself and get some Water Dragons. They're super cool, easy to care for, much safer than Lacies (literally most people I see who get Lacies without being familiar with monitors first end up terrified of them and get rid of them within a year), have interesting social interactions, etc etc.

If you have a specific reason for wanting a specific species, sure, make it happen, but if you're just feeling around for what would be suitable in terms of large lizards to keep outdoors and you'd be interested in keeping a group rather than just one, Water Dragons are the obvious choice.
 
Sounds like you might as well make life easier for yourself and get some Water Dragons. They're super cool, easy to care for, much safer than Lacies (literally most people I see who get Lacies without being familiar with monitors first end up terrified of them and get rid of them within a year), have interesting social interactions, etc etc.

If you have a specific reason for wanting a specific species, sure, make it happen, but if you're just feeling around for what would be suitable in terms of large lizards to keep outdoors and you'd be interested in keeping a group rather than just one, Water Dragons are the obvious choice.
You should keep water dragons indoors until they are certain age though shouldn’t you?
 
Can I ask you why you changed your mind about the water dragons?
IMO they are the best dragons for an outdoor enclosure. They are active, both arboreal and ground dwelling, and look amazing. I had a breeding pair living outdoors in Adelaide for years. They would go into semi-hibernation during the winter, but for the most part, they thrived outdoors.
 

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