Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just wanted to know if it matters. I have a male and I wanted to know if beardies interact with eachother? Are they happier in pairs(male-female)or would they rather be alone? I know that 2 males can never be together, and I don't want to breed them, but would my beardie be happier if he had a friend?

Oh, and also, do temps and UVB output in the cage need to stay the same even when the beardie is burmation?

Thanks!
Emily

I house my dragons in pairs. I feel they have a better quality of life but there can be issues. It is best if they grow up together. Dragons housed alone are difficult to acclimate to shared quarters but it can be done. Keep in mind that a pair here is in no smaller than a 4' x 3.5' enclosure with 4 hides.

I reduce the ambient but maintain a basking spot close to 105. I leave the lights and UVB on a timer and just reduce the daytime hours. My hard brumators go under a 1/2 log on the cool side and dig the sand out to close the entrance. I still feel their aware of the days and nights though.

The tough call is when a male is dug in for brumation but his mate in the same enclosure wants to lay in the hottest spot possible for a 14 hour day. Oh well, she my favorite and spoiled so she gets what she wants. lol.

Okay, so I know the cage is big enough, but the one large hide he has takes up half of the cage, because I used large rocks from outside(after cleaning them, of course). If I added a shelf for more floor space, should it be on the hot side(providing it's not too close to the UVB light)or on the cool side?

Also, if I can find one, should the female be older than him or younger? Or does it matter? I know she can't be a baby, but he's about 11 months old, so should she be about that age, too?

Thanks so much for your patient help answering all of my questions!

The trick to housing dragons together is to reduce or eliminate the competition for resources. Breeders do this by putting nothing in their enclosures generally. That way their is no best spot or best hide etc. I've posted a picture of one of my enclosures. The basking shelf is 1' x 3.5' and has 4 hides beneath. These are nice enclosure but not quite the showpiece some are looking for. Time has taught me, function over form in the dragon world. lol.

The shelf idea is fine but I doubt they will spend much time under it as dragons spend most of their time in the basking light. Personally I'd get rid of the hide that takes up 1/2 the enclosure. I hate it when there are 2 dragons in one hide and I don't think they enjoy it all the time either so it can become a point of competition.

Keep in mind that every dragon cannot live with every dragon. But if you want to try I'd get an adult female. Preferrably one that has lived with other dragons. Then after quarentine, introduce her into his enclosure, cross your fingers and keep an eye on them. This is the best time of year to do it since he's not in full breeding mode.

Personally I feel dragons do quite fine on their own. As you have a male, keeping him alone is perfectly fine. He certainly doesn't need company. Once fully mature he will have some urge to mate but with no females around he will be fine.

If you do want to house them together, BDLvr explained most of the housing concerns.

I really don't think it matters too much the ages of the dragons, the size does have some impact though. IF there is a large difference in size, dominance issues can arise. However I would go for a female that is older than your male. At least then if they do breed she is more mature and grown to handle the egg bearing. Of course by the time quarantine is over, he will be a few months older as well, so basically you want your female to be at least 14 months when you put them together. It is also a good ideal to introduce them on neutral ground (ie living room floor of your house, under close supervision by you).

As you do not want to breed, any eggs produce, just put them in your freezer for several hours or over night, then toss them. Flushing down the toilet will work to. The ideal is you dont' want to just toss them in the garbage as you do not want them hatching out in some landfill to either suffer a slow death of starvation or freezing etc. Or to actually establish a colony (the government really does not like non native species getting a foothold, even though bearded dragons are not as destructive as other reptiles careless owners have let loose, such as burmese pythons, green iguanas and others in Florida). Besides, properly disposing of the fertile eggs is just being a responsible and caring pet owner.

Other issues in keeping dragons in the same cage.

Competition for hides/food/basking areas. BDLvr explained ways to get around this. Multiple hides, hot spots, more than one food dish etc.

Spread of Disease/Parasites: If one gets sick, the other is almost guarenteed to be sick too. Same with parasites. Not to mention, unless you actually catch one in the act, you wont' know who's poo is who's, so if parasites are found in the sample, both dragons will need to be treated. Then again, even if you know which dragon who's poop fecal was positive, it is likely the other one will have parasites too, or could still catch it from the infected one and even reinfect him, so both will need to be treated to ensure they don't cross contaminate each other.

If anything is thrown up, you won't know which dragon regurgitated or pooped, so hard to keep track of who did what on a daily basis.

Stress and fighting. IF the dragons don't get along well they can fight and severely injure each other. Even long time cage mates can suddenly have a bad day and you discover one has a missing foot or worse. If they only slightly hate eachother, they can both be stressed by the others presence, which can lead ot secondary medical concerns, such as parasite, coccidia flare ups, lack of appetite etc.

Many dragons do live together and never have problems at all, but some do, so there is that risk. Also you must be prepared to separate your dragons at any given time when you do notice a problem. If the male is obsessively mating your female, she can be over stressed and stop eating etc, so you may have to take him out or her out of the cage till breeding season is over. If they suddenly fight or one is injured you will have to separate them etc. So you pretty much need to keep an appropriate sized cage handy just in case so its almost better just to keep them separated all the time.

If you do decide you want to try keeping a male and female together make sure you a large cage, at least 5'x2'x2' for a pair. IF you want three, then I will give an extra foot of length or width. 2' of height is all you need.
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PHLdyPayne

The only thing I disagree on is that width is far more important than length. A longer cage is better for temperature separation only. The difference between a 5 foot and a six foot long cage will be worthless to more dragons. Most dragons spend nearly all of their time on the hot side so a large hot area with a large basking area is a must for multiples.

In my experience males seem to do better on their own. Allowing them to mate with a female during the spring is a real plus but not a good idea if you don't want to have a bunch of babies to feed. My males have always seemed to be much more comfortable spending time with me than with another dragon. Whenever they see another dragon they always go into their hyper aggressive stance. The females on the other hand seem to get along fine with one another, but there are exceptions to that rule too. If you raise a couple of babies together they will be more likely to get along into adulthood, but there is always a risk of aggression rearing its ugly head at any time.

If you do decide to get another companion for your beardie, you should make sure you will be able to maintain two separate enclosures just in case they don't get along.
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1.4.20 Bearded Dragons (Frodo, Red Sonya, Galadriel, Arwen, Lakis & babies)
0.1.0 Peacock Day Gecko
0.1.0 Columbian Red-Tail Boa (Bilbo)
0.1.0 Ball Python (Daisy)
0.1.0 California King Snake (Cali)
1.1.0 Honduran Milk Snakes
1.0.0 Timor Monitor (Timmy)
2.1.0 Red Ear Sliders (Pilot, Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum)
0.1.0 PacMan Frog (Jabba The Hutt)
0.0.2 Grey Tree Frogs
0.0.2 Fire Belly Toads
0.2.0 Cats (Mollie & Nermel)
1.0.0 Mini Pinscher x Chihuahua (Pepper)

My single males will bob, etc. whenever they see another dragon. The males that live with their mate don't bother to display for her anymore and rarely even have black beards except when they first awaken from brumation in the spring.

Thanks to all of you for your info and input.

I'm thinking over everything you all said and am carefully considering my decision.

Again, thank everyone!

I do always have other enclosures available and have had to separate pairs occasionally when the male is just too worked up or I need the female to focus on eating during egg laying season.