No for many reasons.

One, the cage is not even big enough for a bearded dragon. It should have a floor space of 4'x2' or more.

Two: a bearded dragon will eat that collard lizard the first time it can catch it, which probably be when it run into the side of the cage in a frantic effort to get away from your dragon.

Three: just because a pet store crams as many animals into a 10 gal cage as they can..doesn't mean its the correct way to house reptiles. A sad truth is most pet stores have no clue how to care for a dog (short of give it water and dog food), much less the much more demanding needs of exotic pets, such as reptiles. Well, ok, pet store may know how to proper train and care for a dog...but definitely don't know much about anything they sell other than cats and dogs.

Now, all that said, is it possible to house bearded dragons with another type of similar environment animal? Yes it is possible. Do I recommend it, No...not unless you had a few years experience at least, raising and caring for each animal you want to put into the same cage. Creating a natural vivarium with more than one animal, is not an easy task and definitely not a task for a beginner.

Out of the three animals, I would recommend the uro and bearded dragon together. The collard lizard is too small (it is all tail, very small body, and I am pretty sure they don't get as long as a a bearded dragon or uro). Collard lizards are flighty lizards that need alot of open space for running, plus rocky outcrops to hide and bask in/on. They are insect eaters exclusively. Unfortunately that is about all I know about these lizards.

Uros and dragons have similar enough requirements it could be possible to house one with a bearded dragon. If they are the same size and if the cage is sufficiently large enough (ie I wouldn't recommend anything less than 5'x2' of floor with 6'x2' (or 5'x3' would be better) or larger ultimate. This will ensure you can have plenty of multi leveled basking spots reaching as hot as 130 F to ensure both the uro and dragon can reach temps they are comfortable with. Though 130F is way to high for a bearded dragon, provide plenty of lower basking temps in the cage and the dragon will bask within a comfortable range. Hence why the extra size and width of the 5'x3' or even 6'x3' is so much better.

Though it is still possibility of cross contamination of diseases or parasites or bacterial from one species to another, most pathogens are pretty species specific, so the risks are not as high, providing both animals are completely healthy to start with and are maintained in perfect conditions.

Given the need to have extra large cages, cages bigger than needed to house two of the same species together, it is often more feasible to just have separate cages for each type of lizard you want to own. It is more work to have multiple species housed together, great care has to be made to ensure all the requirements of each species is being met and neither animal is stressed by the other or because something is missing in its environment it needs to thrive. Thus why it is important to be very familiar with each specie's requirements and being able to spot early signs of distress and illness in each individual animal.

Deciding to do a bit more research on collard lizards, these are definitely not suited to be housed with bearded dragons (or any other lizard for that matter). They tend to be flighty, grow to about 12-13" with 14" being a very large size. Their temperature range for ambient and basking is pretty much the same as bearded dragons and uros, sort of in between the two. But they would be the bearded dragon's lunch as soon as it moved into reach.
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PHLdyPayne

[ Hide Replies ]

• Mixing Beardie, Uromastyx, or Collard - LobsterOfJustice, Mon Jun 18 08:46:56 2007
• RE: Mixing Beardie, Uromastyx, or Collard - eminart, Mon Jun 18 10:26:42 2007
• RE: Mixing Beardie, Uromastyx, or Collar - BDlvr, Mon Jun 18 10:35:32 2007
• RE: Mixing Beardie, Uromastyx, or Collard - caz223, Mon Jun 18 18:20:17 2007
• RE: Mixing Beardie, Uromastyx, or Collar - PHLdyPayne, Mon Jun 18 21:43:47 2007