Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi. I know beardies are usually solitary, but when we bought our babies, my daughter chose 2 that were hanging out together. (The pet store guessed they are about 4 months old.) When we got them home, they both waved at eachother & 1 always basked on the back of or very near the other. Sadly, 1 of our cats broke into my daughter's room & killed Serenity, the one that was usually on the back of the other; Citrus. Citrus was really skiddish for a few days, but has settled down & seems to be eating like "her" (we aren't sure yet) usual piggish self. She is often seen scratching at her reflection on the tank. She will go in a corner & stand up with her tail as a kick stand & try to cuddle up to her reflection with her belly pressed against the glass. She will stay that way for a long time. It is sooooo pathetic!!!! There is plenty of room for her to climb & hide. She seems very drawn to her reflection...especially at "her" bedtime. Should we get another one? Pet stores say no, but it seems as though "she" really misses her pal. We have only had the beardie about 3-4 weeks & are newbies with these awesome creatures. We just want to do whatever is best for Citrus now that Serenity is gone.

Thank you in advice for your advice!!

Jumpin' Bean

Sorry to hear about your cat killing your other bearded dragon. Have to make sure the lids are very secure when cats are around (or just keep them out of the room, if the lizards can be kept in a separate room).

Your remaining bearded dragon doesn't need another friend to live in the cage. They are solitary and are better off kept separate. The leaning against the cage and scratching is normal bearded dragon behavior, many do this even in large enclosures. They see the reflection of their cage, behind them, and think they can go forward. Eventually they figure out they can't.

The 'stacking' of bearded dragons is done not because the dragons like to be sitting ontop of eachother but because they are both trying to bask in the same location and most often, the 'bottom' bearded dragon is the submissive one, being dominated by the one on top and also isn't getting enough heat/light because it is being shaded by the dragon ontop of it. The arm waving and head bobbing is all part of the domination/submission behavior of bearded dragons, smaller or more timid dragons will arm wave when a more dominating dragon is nearby. During mating, females often use the arm waving for the same reasons, or to show willingness to mate with the male (or to show she isn't another male and wants the male to know she is a 'her' and not to attack her as a male would a rival male).

All that said, dragons who are used to having another around the cage may feel a bit of separation anxiety for a few weeks after the other is gone. This is normal and will go away. Adding a new dragon won't solve this problem at all. The new one may not get along with your current dragon, you may wind up with two males or a male and female and this just leads to problems later on, requiring separate cages anyway. Two females do generally get along but there is no guarentee one won't decide to attack the other one day. However, once you have two adult dragons in teh same cage, that cage does need to be at least 5'x2'x2' in size with a foot added in floor space, per additional dragon. Other reasons why it's not good to house multiple dragons is health. For any health issue, be it parasites, respiratory infections etc, then instead of treating just one dragon, you have to treat them all, as even if one doesn't show signs there is a very high probability she will show symtoms anyway and if it's staggered enough, the second one getting sick, can reinfect the recently treated one...and vise versa, making it that much harder to keep them healthy. So treatment cost will always be twice as much as you will have to treat both at the same time to be save.

Thanks for all of the awesome info!! Funny that Citrus (the one we still have) would have been the submissive one since she was always on the bottom of the dragon pile in the basking spot. Their basking log is really big & there was plenty of room for both of them without having to pile on top of one another. The other one always let Citrus chase the crickets 1st & they waved at eachother. Never any biting or hurtful behavior, but they are/were just babies. I thought the dragon pile was funny, because I was a massage therapist & it looked like Serenity was giving Citrus a massage when they did that! LOL!!

The cat wasn't suppose to be in my daughter's room where the dragons were. She is polydaxl (has thumbs) & can open doors. She jumped on top of the screen top & fell through & got our sweet Serenity. We will be having a family funeral in the yard as soon as we get done with our week & a half of rainy weather.

Today, Citrus has started gaping at us a little when we try to pick her up. She opens her mouth a little & give a hiss. She has never done this before. I just put a hammock in her cage yesterday...is she mad at the new addition or just developing an attitude?

Having a cat fall through the roof of her cage, her cage mate eaten or at least killed by the cat, will put any bearded dragon out of sorts. I suspect she may be feeling more defensive both with the changes in her world and having some big hairy predator fall ontop of her. It's good that she is hissing and gaping, she is remembering her defensive bluffs. However, don't let it deter you from handling her for brief periods etc. She will get over it and realize you are not going to harm her. Approaching her from the side or below her level, if possible, will help as well.