I cant tell if my beardies are fighting or mating !

[lyndahh]

Hey guys, I bought two beardies from the store the other day Spike and pancake before I begin to list what they have been doing ill just let you guys know on some background information.
Pancake and spike are from the same litter are about 8 months old, about 20cm long each. I place them in a 3 x 2.5 x 2.5, I use a night light and a Basking light for heating hot end at about 32 degrees and a UVA UVB flue scent light.
When i placed them in on their first day they were fine eating great found their spots, but just today they were doing alot of head bopping violently (because i have seen them slow bop) and my pancake chased my spike everywhere and he/she jumped on spike and I really have no idea whats going on. Spike runs away and waves her/his front arms. I called up the place where I bought my beardies from and they said they never had a problem with them being in the same enclosure.
I dont Know if i got a female or male, they both look very similar.
I have a video and some pictures ill add in soon.

 

[Grogshla]

Ok first things first.
You need to get rid of the night light. Provided your room temp doesn't drop below 15degrees celcius just switch off all heating lights. The basking spot should be 40-45 degrees celcius and they should have a uvb light with a 10.0 rating which should be 15-20cm away from the dragons.
Head bobbping is a male dominance action and arm waving is a female submissive action.
Sounds like they are ready to mate. Can you post up a picture of them or something?

 

[animal805]

Sounds like you have one of each. I strongly recommend separating them as they are too young to be producing youngens. Males become sexually mature at about 8 months where it is not good for females to reproduce/mate before the age of 2 years as teir little bodies and bones just are not up to the task. I totally agree with the post above as well

 

[lyndahh]

View attachment 259051 Pancake is the Beardie on top, and Spike is the beardie on the bottom. My thermostat only goes to 35 degrees so in following your advice I will take out the thermostat and have my bulb used for only day time.

 

[animal805]

View attachment 259051 Pancake is the Beardie on top, and Spike is the beardie on the bottom. My thermostat only goes to 35 degrees so in following your advice I will take out the thermostat and have my bulb used for only day time.

Pics not working

 

[Chris1]

youre attachment doesnt work, ill PM u a link that shows how to sex them.

6-8 months is when they hit puberty, if you have 2 boys it could well end very badly, missing limbs or maybe even a dead dragon.

its a good idea to seperate them before you end up with broken limbs and vet bills, and like animal said, theyre far too young to breed if they are m/f.
housing beardies together is very risky, and not recommended.

 

[loungelizard]

Why not sex them and see definately what you have.Its easy with bearded dragons.

 

[dragonlover1]

Why not sex them and see definately what you have.Its easy with bearded dragons.

at that age it will be easy to sex them ,take them back to the reptile shop you bought them from if their not capable find a reptile vet or breeder near you

 

[lyndahh]

ImageShack? - Online Photo and Video Hosting
Theres a photo of the two, I just tried to sex them and I noticed some differences, One has a dimple so .. two bulges .. and one has one bulges?
So i think they are different sexes but the one with the two bulges which is suggested to be the male is the one that runs away and the one that has the one bulge is the one that is chasing .. is this normal ? I cant seem to figure it out

I just checked the site chris gave me (thank you very much btw) and i Double checked, and pancake is a male and spike is a female =/
- So from here I believe that i should separate them because spike is too young to start producing eggs?
This is real upsetting, I'm an ecology student and i've spent all my savings on this enclosure so I think I may need to sell one.
If i was to find a new enclosure at what age would it be alright to rehouse them together to start breeding?

 

[moussaka]

Definitely separate them, regardless of their sexes. It's not really a good idea to house beardies together in any case, they are not social animals, and they don't usually deal well with it (fighting, dominance problems etc). Even when of breeding age you should only really keep them together while they're actually breeding, it's best for them to be separated the rest of the year.

 

[Bluetongue1]

I can appreciate your problem. Given the dimensions of you enclosure, there is an alternative possibility you may wish to consider…

You can put a divider down the middle of the length of the cage, such as plywood. You will need to provide heating and UV on both sides but that will be a lot cheaper than a whole new enclosure. Use a block of wood say 15 cm long, 5 cm wide and 5 cm high and cut a slot in it to within 0.5 cm of the base. The plywood will sit stabile in that. If you need to have two pieces of plywood to make them fit, the join can sit in the same groove and a bulldog clip can be used to hold the top edges in line.

Blue

 

[dragonlover1]

ImageShack� - Online Photo and Video Hosting

I just checked the site chris gave me (thank you very much btw) and i Double checked, and pancake is a male and spike is a female =/
- So from here I believe that i should separate them because spike is too young to start producing eggs?
This is real upsetting, I'm an ecology student and i've spent all my savings on this enclosure so I think I may need to sell one.
If i was to find a new enclosure at what age would it be alright to rehouse them together to start breeding?

Sorry but from what I've read females should not breed till about 2 years of age

Definitely separate them, regardless of their sexes. It's not really a good idea to house beardies together in any case, they are not social animals, and they don't usually deal well with it (fighting, dominance problems etc). Even when of breeding age you should only really keep them together while they're actually breeding, it's best for them to be separated the rest of the year.

I don't wish to knock your ideas but quite often beardies that grow up together tend to get on better than those introduced at later ages.I bought a pair of centrals (not related) 5 1/2 years ago and they got on well,unfortunately 1 died in a heat wave and I bought a replacement boy a year ago and he does nothing but bash up the female all the time (no it's not mating).
I also have 2 juvie pygmies who I bought at the same time and have never shown any agro towards each each other.I think if there is enough room for them to have their own space then they can live in harmony.

 

[Wally]

ImageShack� - Online Photo and Video Hosting
Theres a photo of the two, I just tried to sex them and I noticed some differences, One has a dimple so .. two bulges .. and one has one bulges?
So i think they are different sexes but the one with the two bulges which is suggested to be the male is the one that runs away and the one that has the one bulge is the one that is chasing .. is this normal ? I cant seem to figure it out

I just checked the site chris gave me (thank you very much btw) and i Double checked, and pancake is a male and spike is a female =/
- So from here I believe that i should separate them because spike is too young to start producing eggs?
This is real upsetting, I'm an ecology student and i've spent all my savings on this enclosure so I think I may need to sell one.
If i was to find a new enclosure at what age would it be alright to rehouse them together to start breeding?

It certainly doesn't get any cheaper if you bred more of them.

 

[animal805]

ImageShack� - Online Photo and Video Hosting
Theres a photo of the two, I just tried to sex them and I noticed some differences, One has a dimple so .. two bulges .. and one has one bulges?
So i think they are different sexes but the one with the two bulges which is suggested to be the male is the one that runs away and the one that has the one bulge is the one that is chasing .. is this normal ? I cant seem to figure it out

I just checked the site chris gave me (thank you very much btw) and i Double checked, and pancake is a male and spike is a female =/
- So from here I believe that i should separate them because spike is too young to start producing eggs?
This is real upsetting, I'm an ecology student and i've spent all my savings on this enclosure so I think I may need to sell one.
If i was to find a new enclosure at what age would it be alright to rehouse them together to start breeding?

How much for the little girrl

 

[Nathan_T]

I also have 2 juvie pygmies who I bought at the same time and have never shown any agro towards each each other.I think if there is enough room for them to have their own space then they can live in harmony.

Most reptile keepers prefer not to risk the lives of our pets on maybes. Sure, yes, you can raise two beardies together and they'll get along fantastically. That doesn't mean they won't literally rip the legs off of each other tomorrow.

 

[Chris1]

i think she meant put them together just to mate, not introduce them with the intentions of housing them together.

how awful that ur boy just beats ur girl up all the time, dont know how u can sit by and watch that.
(im really hoping you've just forgotten to add the part where theyre also seperated)

Sorry but from what I've read females should not breed till about 2 years of age



I don't wish to knock your ideas but quite often beardies that grow up together tend to get on better than those introduced at later ages.I bought a pair of centrals (not related) 5 1/2 years ago and they got on well,unfortunately 1 died in a heat wave and I bought a replacement boy a year ago and he does nothing but bash up the female all the time (no it's not mating).
I also have 2 juvie pygmies who I bought at the same time and have never shown any agro towards each each other.I think if there is enough room for them to have their own space then they can live in harmony.

 

[moussaka]

I don't wish to knock your ideas but quite often beardies that grow up together tend to get on better than those introduced at later ages.

But these two aren't​ getting along, which is why the thread exists in the first place.

 

[lyndahh]

For the moment i think Ima try deviding the enclosure until I can organise housing for poor pancake or spike =[. Thanks guys for all the help.

 

[mareebapython]

Definitely separate them, regardless of their sexes. It's not really a good idea to house beardies together in any case, they are not social animals, and they don't usually deal well with it (fighting, dominance problems etc). Even when of breeding age you should only really keep them together while they're actually breeding, it's best for them to be separated the rest of the year.

i disagree with that.. when my brother had his they were together for about 4 years before he got rid of them and my mate has his together and hasnt had any problems

 

[moussaka]

i disagree with that.. when my brother had his they were together for about 4 years before he got rid of them and my mate has his together and hasnt had any problems

Yes, but the OP has been having problems. And while you do get some beardies which are fine, it is always a risk, and furthermore there can be dominance issues which are stressing one or more of the lizards out which nevertheless aren't necessarily obvious to the keeper.