Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I currently have two males (at least we think) housed together. They were housed together as babies (when we were caring for them because they each had an arm bit off by another baby). The two were the same size as babies, they are growing up now. One is approximately 11 inches (head to tip of tail) and the other is about 6 (he is missing probably an inch of his tail). Anyway, they get along fine for now. The little one gets to eat first every morning (the big one doesn't care), so the larger one is not dominating the smaller one. In fact the opposite happens. Usually the little one sits on top of the bigger one and they sun together. But sometimes, the little one starts bobbing his head, jumps ontop of the big one and bites his head. The big one doesn't care and lets him do it. How long can they stay together until they should be separated. I tried taking the big one out and he seems unuslly skiddish, but as soon as I put him back with the little one he is normal again. It seems like they are attached to each other. I guess my concern is when the little one might actually start to hurt the bigger one.

I suggest separating them now. Unless you have a very large cage for these two males, they will soon start to fight as they reach sexual maturity. There probably will be some separation anxiety for the first week or two but both will get over it.

A good way to know for sure if your smaller dragon is indeed undersized, is measure the snout to vent length and compare it to the longer male. If this distance is nearly the same, then they will be the same size. But if the distance is significantly different, the small one may be stressed and not eating properly. Even if it is the first one to eat and seems to be dominant, doesn't mean it isn't stressed. But since the small one is starting to show signs of aggression towards the larger one, best to separate before he injuries the other.
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PHLdyPayne