Female biting Male - Bearded Dragons

[Skitzmixer]

Hey Everyone,

I've got 2 bearded dragons each are 18 months old. I've had them sexed by a VET and I’ve been told I definitely have a male and female. My female brumated for about 2 months, occasionally coming out and moving around but usually ends back up in her hidy hole. The male didn’t really brumate to much, he was always out running around. The female is now much more active, eating lots more. However lately i've been noticing the female biting the male on the chin, the neck and on the side of his face. I've been doing alot of reading and searching on the forums to seek some advice but it seems to be that this act is usually done by the male. But i know for sure that it's the female thats biting the male. I can tell the difference between the two from when i took them into the VET to get a check up the male was much light and has always been much lighter than the female, shes always remained quite dark.

Theres plenty of arm waving, head bobing action going on, it swaps as to whos doing what. Sometimes its the male doing the head bobbing and the female doing the waving and vise versa.

Is she just trying to show her dominance? The male seems to just put up with it, he’s getting a few scuff marks under his chin which has prompted me to seek some advice.

Thanks,
Luke

 

[Chris1]

you can never know exactly what is going on, but if youre regularly observing this behaviour, save some money ofr vet bills when one gets seriously injured, or seperate them.

i have 3 females living together that seem to be past their hormonal stage, their ages range frlom 8-10, but in spring 1 tends to turn nasty and gets moved to a seperate cage.

the rest (2 boys and the 2 younger females) do what ur describing and therefore are all housed alone all year round.

 

[JasonL]

Males rarely if ever wave once they have matured, esp to a female, Males do dramatic head bobbing and females do a slower head "dip" in return, and arm wave in response to the males head bobbing. If two females are kept together usually one will take on a males role along with all the head bobbing and mock mating.... I'd also get a second opinion on the sex of the dragons, from a breeder if possible as not all vets have kept bearded dragons.

 

[Skitzmixer]

you can never know exactly what is going on, but if youre regularly observing this behaviour, save some money ofr vet bills when one gets seriously injured, or seperate them.

i have 3 females living together that seem to be past their hormonal stage, their ages range frlom 8-10, but in spring 1 tends to turn nasty and gets moved to a seperate cage.

the rest (2 boys and the 2 younger females) do what ur describing and therefore are all housed alone all year round.

thanks for the advice, lucky i have another enclosure laying around so i'll split them up. I dont want either of them to get injured. I'll just need to get a few things.

Males rarely if ever wave once they have matured, esp to a female, Males do dramatic head bobbing and females do a slower head "dip" in return, and arm wave in response to the males head bobbing. If two females are kept together usually one will take on a males role along with all the head bobbing and mock mating.... I'd also get a second opinion on the sex of the dragons, from a breeder if possible as not all vets have kept bearded dragons.

I went to the VET hospital in Karingal - Victoria, he had a lot of great recommendations from people on this forum. I can remember his last name its simpson, but cant remember the first name
I'll make sure to watch there behaviors closer over the next few days while i get the separate enclosure up and running.

 

[bluey87]

google "sexing bearded dragons"

 

[Skitzmixer]

i have many times.. the vet showed me in depth the difference between the two, he was really good.

 

[ianinoz]

Maybe she's ready to mate and is trying to wake the male ?

 

[Skitzmixer]

haha i hope so, that'd be great.

 

[yeah1526]

i have the same problem, but with southern angle headed dragons. i often catch the female biting the males crest, he actually now has a missing chunk from it. ive spoken with the breeder i got them from, and dr simpson from karingal, both say not to worry about it.
its just odd because i know it is meant to be the other way around (males biting females) during mating season. my dragons are almost 2 years old and have laid one clutch of eggs last year.

 

[Skitzmixer]

i have the same problem, but with southern angle headed dragons. i often catch the female biting the males crest, he actually now has a missing chunk from it. ive spoken with the breeder i got them from, and dr simpson from karingal, both say not to worry about it.
its just odd because i know it is meant to be the other way around (males biting females) during mating season. my dragons are almost 2 years old and have laid one clutch of eggs last year.

Wow, thanks so much for that peice of mind. I dont think i've been this relieved since i started noticing it. So i dare say there hopefully getting ready to mate? That'd be really cool if that was the case. Thanks again for your help. Feeling heaps better right now

 

[Lollypop]

I'd go with what JasonL said on this one!!!!!

 

[Skitzmixer]

well after all that it turns out i have two males! :O
I took them back to the see shayne today (Karingal VET) and he gave them both an ultrasound and sure enough, i have two males. We both had a good laugh as we both thought it was male and female combination, so now i've split them up and im on the market for a female bearded dragon thats ready to lay I got these as an orange phase but pancake (was thought to be the female) has a magic colour pattern on his back, its almost a magenta colour with orange/yellow sides. So pancake would make a great dad.

Might start the search today Wish me luck!