Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I can't seem to get a consistant answer on this subject.
Many different sources point out about the great social behaviours and interactions one can witness if these guys are kept in small colonies, that they'll work out a heirarchy and will live reasonably peacefully if given enough space and basking spots etc.. There also seems to be almost as many people saying that you should just keep them by themselves solo, and put a male and female together just to breed.

Now in trying to search, there's so very little info on this one way or another. No real definitive answers besides many differing opinions and really all make some sense one way or another.

I often wonder if some of it possibly falls into the old trap of one or two well known and successful breeders doing something a certain way, or having an opinion and many others just taking and rehashing it as "known fact" or "common knowledge" after a time?

I honestly don't know if it's true at all in the "beardie world" as i'm a newcomer here, so i'm not hinting at anything or anyone in particular, please don't think that.
I just see it in many other groups of different herp lovers and wonder if it's a possibility?

Any thoughts?

It is greatly recommended to house bearded dragons separately to avoid all problems associated with housing them together. Same size females can be housed together in a large cage (at least 5'x2'x2' for two females, add another foot either in width or length for additional females) but constant watch must be maintained to make sure one doesn't over dominate the other so she doesn't eat. Or if they start fighting, you will have to separate them, probably permanately. Even if they have been getting along fine for a couple years, they can finally have enough of each other.

Other problems associated with housing bearded dragons is stress (dominate members causing others not to eat, unable to get to basking spots), parasites spreading to all in the colony (often related to stress), one or more getting larger than others and becoming a danger (causing stress or even being eaten or attacked by the larger one), winding up with a sexed pair and having females bred to early (under 15 months) or getting two males who will fight for territory and if there is a female in the cage, most likely one or both will fight vigorously to mate her. In both cases, one or both males can be seriously injuried or even killed.

It is possible to house dragons together without any problems, but risks are always present that something could go wrong. You have to watch then daily to look for signs of hostility, illness or not eating properly.

Thanks for the reply.

Really it just seems to follow along with most other herp species it seems, and is pretty much what i figured i s'pose. At any rate i'm now hooked on these little guys so if we get any more it's most likely gonna be just another solo dragon to live on it's own and at best some supervised playtime outside the enclosures.