beardy bullying

[Reptilegirl]

Hello
I'm just wondering what you would class as bullying in central bearded dragon hatchlings?? Any help would be great
Cheers.
Megan.

 

[sam]

I unfortunatly lost a beary to this so called 'bullying'. The main thing i noticed was during feeding time the dominant one would run to the food, stop, turn around, and have ago at the smaller one. He would then help himself to as much food as he would like and then let the other have a feed. Also when the smaller one was basking in a particular spot it would come and lie directly on top of it just for the sake of annoying her. I also observed a bit of chasing and jumping on its back. What types of problems are you having with yours Megan?

 

[africancichlidau]

Any help would be great

By this statement I feel you may have a problem behaviourily with your Beardeds, am I right Megan? If so it would be a lot easier for people to help if you described the behaviour that is concerning you. Bullying can take many forms with beardies so let us know what yours are are doing and the help you receive will be far more accurate.

 

[beknluke]

I agree with Afro Megs - explain what you're seeing and we'll diagnose

 

[Reptilegirl]

i hate computers.... i had just finished writing a response when i had to log back on again so sorry but i'm not putting as much effort into this one :evil:

first i'll tell you a bit about my little fellas... i have four...
1st one is the bigest... but she's a sweetie.. she lets the others eat with her... she even steps back and lets them have a go sometimes... the 2nd and 3rd mum calls the twins... they are almost always the same colour and are alsmost the same size.... if one goes to get food the other isnt far behind... and last but not least my baby... hes half the size of the 1st one (seriously thinking of seperating) i havent seen him eat roaches by himself only salad/vegies... but i feed him roaches with the tweesers.
ok now onto bullying... are any of these bullying??

* lying on top of each other (wasnt sure if this was for warmth or what)

* if the baby one goes to get food the twins (or at least one of them) will try and beat it to the food bowl (the baby's still allowed to eat)

* i only just caught this one out of the corner of my eye... the baby was either getting licked repetitively or nipped at...

*also if i were to seperate the baby should i just put him by himself or 2 and 2???

* any other signs of bullying that i should be looking out for??
Cheers
Megz.

 

[Menagerie]

The nipping would concern me a lot Megan.

 

[beknluke]

Yep - separate them, it's the only way to be sure.
The lying on top of each other - not a concern (IMO) coz mine just see each other as convenient logs to laze upon!! lol
The 'twins' racing in front of the baby, I would see that more as 'they're hungry too', BUT, it could be them going 'get lost dweeb'.
As for the 'licking/nipping' - it could be either. But I would be separate them immediately.
And the baby will be FINE on his own and you can keep the other 3 together.
Bex

(Other bullying type things is head bobbing, puffing themselves up and leaning on an angle {making themselves look bigger}, etc etc)

 

[NoOne]

If they are nipping you would see signs of it, check toes and tail tips carefully, sometimes beardies will nip but not actually bite off.

I would definatly separate them until they are about 5 months old, I raise beardies on their own until they are around 4-5months old and then they can be paired off into adult cages.
IMO it's easier to keep them apart while they are young then theres no way they can hurt each other.