Housing More Than One Dragon Together

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Jewly

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Hi all,

I was just wondering what people's opinions were on housing 2 beardies together. I currently have 4 little ones all in together (2 central and 2 pygmy) in a 3 ft enclosure and 3 of them are doing really well, but the last little guy I got (central) isn't doing so well so on the weekend I'm going to put him in his own enclosure. He's not been eating and was getting so skinny so I've had to syringe feed him over the last couple of days. He's not hiding away from the others or anything and right now is sitting up on the log sunny himself with the rest of them but I haven't seen him eat much. I say 'him' but at this stage I'm not sure if they are male or female.

I'm having an enclosure built soon which was meant to house the 2 centrals together and so then the 2 pygmy's would be on their own. I know it's not a good idea to house 2 males together, but if it turns out that I have 2 females or 1 male and 1 female, is it alright to house them together as they get older. At the moment they get on well and there doesn't seem to be any problems with the first 3 I got. I got them all from the same pet store, around the same time, but the last one I got only 2 weeks ago from a different store.
 
i would separate the 2 species asap
the one not doing well...could be the only female....pure trouble!

i personally am pro community habitating
it takes allot of work...making sure the personalties dont collide
also issue of multiple basking sites
i do not use hides in a habitat with more than 1 dragon
feeding........should alway be separate,in a separate habitat or feeding tub
feeding charts are a must...knowing how much each dragon consumes

ive worked on my community for 18mnths...have 2 males,4 females....
no dominance to do with feeding issues...
habitat is 6ft long...3ft tall..2ft deep...glass...both U.V & heat are at the same end

pm anytime
 
Beardies

Firstly I would definately quarantine your skinny one from the others for a while, for one it might be sick, but also just to try and fatten it up. And yes eventually the pygmy's should be seperate from the centrals.
Alot of people have different opinions about housing, but I have housed central bearded dragon pairs together for years without any problems. As long as they stay around the same size, they are both eating well and there is no evidence one is getting bullied then it is fine. As for sexes, as you mentioned if it turns out to be 2 females that will be fine, if it is 1 male and 1 female that is usually fine too (unless they are related and if so you may have to dispose of any eggs), but if they turn out to be 2 males it is usually highly advisable not to house them together, as they will most likely fight and can really damage each other! Hope this helps. :)
 
I have tried feeding them separately in a different habitat, but they don’t seem to like it and will just stand there looking at the crickets. I have a ceramic globe on 24 hrs, so they are warm first thing in the morning and I just wait about 15 mins after I turn on the UV light (so they have time to wake up) before I put the crickets in and they eat them straight away. I remove their log so that any crickets can’t hide underneath it and I watch them carefully and make sure they are all getting an equal amount of cricket. I also leave some veges and a small amount of dog food in their bowl all day which they are eating. I’m also going to pick up some juvenile bearded dragon pellets today and I will offer that instead of the dog food.

Personality wise they seem to all get on well and I’ve never witnessed any fighting. They all love to lie up on their log during the day basking together but at night they all have their own routine, two sleep under the log, one sleeps in the corner and the other sleeps up in the fake plant.
 
Firstly I would definately quarantine your skinny one from the others for a while, for one it might be sick, but also just to try and fatten it up. And yes eventually the pygmy's should be seperate from the centrals.
Alot of people have different opinions about housing, but I have housed central bearded dragon pairs together for years without any problems. As long as they stay around the same size, they are both eating well and there is no evidence one is getting bullied then it is fine. As for sexes, as you mentioned if it turns out to be 2 females that will be fine, if it is 1 male and 1 female that is usually fine too (unless they are related and if so you may have to dispose of any eggs), but if they turn out to be 2 males it is usually highly advisable not to house them together, as they will most likely fight and can really damage each other! Hope this helps. :)


At what age are they able to be sexed? There is a reptile vet in my area and eventually I want to take them in for a check up and find out their sex.
 
with feeding..be more patient..even try hand feeding in the feed tub...
it will work

how old are they?
leaving any live food in their habitat...will lead to stress & health problems
you havnt witnessed any dominance...but one is smaller!
 
They are all about 4-5 months old at the moment (5-6 cms long in body length). I don't leave crickets in their enclosure after they have finished eating. I get them out, and then put their log back in.

Just because one is smaller doesn't necessarily mean there are any dominance issues going on. There could be a number of reasons why this little guy isn't doing as well.
 
Just because one is smaller doesn't necessarily mean there are any dominance issues going on. There could be a number of reasons why this little guy isn't doing as well.

It's the most common reason for a noticeable size difference between beardies housed communally. Just because they all 'seem' content doesn't really mean anything - beardie dominance/submission is very subtle and at times, even mistaken for affection.
 
Miss B...true........
so by feeding separately you are ensuring that feed isnt a issue
multiple basking sites...& climbing structures help
its a full time job.....& so worth it!
 
You should definately be able to sex them by about 8 months, or even quite a bit earlier with a keen eye. I have never taken my beardies out and into a seperate tub for feeding. However it might possibly be a dominance thing with your skinny one and it might be worth taking the other 3 out and feeding the skinny one alone in the tank. Also it might be worth collecting a faecal sample of all 4 and getting them tested for parasites, especially the skinny one.
 
gregcranston
(unless they are related and if so you may have to dispose of any eggs),

why would eggs from a related pair have to be disposed of ?:?
 
5-6 cm in body length??????

ok...please give measure ments..chin to tail tip.
..across the head
& weight in grams

please;)
 
why would eggs from a related pair have to be disposed of ?:?

The obvious of course, the hatchlings will most probably be unhealthy and have genetic disorders caused by inbreeding. They would most probably be sterile and therefore no-one would want to buy them and in the worst case, they could have physical abnormalities.
 
The obvious of course, the hatchlings will most probably be unhealthy and have genetic disorders caused by inbreeding. They would most probably be sterile and therefore no-one would want to buy them and in the worst case, they could have physical abnormalities.
I think you need to do a bit more research;). Breeding siblings and offspring back to parents has no more chance of producing young with defects than an unrelated pairing. You must continuely breed related animals(siblings ect) for approxamately several generations before the likely-hood of defects is increased.
 
I think you need to do a bit more research;). Breeding siblings and offspring back to parents has no more chance of producing young with defects than an unrelated pairing. You must continuely breed related animals(siblings ect) for approxamately several generations before the likely-hood of defects is increased.


You can't be serious, it is just basic genetics, inbreeding for even 1 generation will increase the chances of genetic problems in the offspring, its because siblings (or parents) will have similar heterozygous recessive genes and breeding them would highly increase the chances of some of the offspring from being homozygous for these genes and therefore have the disorder!
 
We are talking about reptiles not humans. How can you seriously tell someon that if their related beardies produce eggs they should be thrown out. Sterile, abnormal offspring, what rubbish.
 
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