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breeding pair

trey23 Feb 20, 2007 10:51 PM

I just bought a breeding pair of dragons. They are about 1 to 1.5 years old. And have been together for most of it. but the male is very dominant and in good health, but the female is not as healthy. I think it is a vitamin defficiency/stress because the last owner i dont think knew alot and fed them correctly.

So I separated the female in another tank next to his, and they have been staring at each other and he has been head bobbing,showing off his black beard and running around like crazy.
But i want to get back to good health. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Replies (6)

KomodoRyu Feb 20, 2007 11:04 PM

I would definitly keep her separated untill she becomes closer to health, and also untill you deside, if you deside to mate them. A male can stress a female out if they're housed together when its not time to mate
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1 amel female corn snake adult
1 Anitheristic male corn snake adult
1 amel female corn snake baby
1 Blood red Hypo female baby
1 phantom blue merle toy australian shepherd
1 black cat (possibly burmese)

BDlvr Feb 21, 2007 06:55 AM

You need to block their view of each other. The male will get worked up just seeing the female. It is also stressful for the female to see him all day.

LeoLady420 Feb 21, 2007 08:31 AM

Yes just put a pice of cardboeard or something between them. I would for sure make her up to weight before i would do anything. Do you know how much they weigh? If you decide to breed they are to be atleast 250g some have breed 200g 8 months old but i wouldn't recommend that. Good luck!!

PHLdyPayne Feb 21, 2007 08:21 PM

Making sure they cannot see eachother through the glass of their cages is the best thing to do. Even better would be to put them in separate rooms. They are more than capable of smelling each other when their cages are side by side.

I will also suggest to take at least a stool sample from the female to a qualified herp vet for a fecal examination. Prolonged stress can cause an overload of internal parasites. It would also be good to take your dragon in for examination, since you feel she may have some form of nutritional deficiency. A vet can do blood work and other tests to determine if your female is suffering from a lack of nutrients.

Making sure she has a proper diet, good UVB light and basking temps will also ensure she regains her health. Make sure to suppliment calcium in her diet to. If she has been with a male for awhile, she could be gravid and if her health is bad, this can put her at even greater risk.

For breeding, females should be at least 350g, not 200g and at least 15 months old (not 8 months old). Breeding dragons any smaller or younger than this puts females at a much higher risk of complications (egg binding, calcium crash etc.) Producing eggs does put a lot of stress on a dragon's body, whether they are fertile or not. Young females can still have infertile clutches but this seems rare compared to older females in their prime breeding age.
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PHLdyPayne

trey23 Feb 21, 2007 11:22 PM

Thanks alot, she started eating more and she is actually acting more sociable....I was also wondering if peaches are good in a diet for dragons, i cut some up and put it in a salad(with other things) and they both went crazy for them. And i was just wondering if it is ok and if it is how much to give them.

BDlvr Feb 22, 2007 07:01 AM

Peaches are fine in small amounts as treats. I've pasted a link below that gives very good info on food.

http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

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