Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a male BD and he is healthy as he can be I believe. The thing is all he does is bask all day even though I do have a large cage for him to exercise, but he doesn't really utilize it. I feel like he is bored. I was wondering if getting him another dragon to interact with would be a good idea. I have heard of people keeping BDs with eachother. This last year he went really into this phase in the spring where he went all ballistic sort of and decided to head bob at anybody coming by and blacken his beard. I took this as a behavior that would normally be used to attract mates. I just want him to be happy. What do you think I should do?

I wouldn't risk it if I were you. More often than not m/f pairs don't work out. I have m/f pairs and trios but have to separate them at certain times of the year.

If all he does is bask, have you checked your temperatures? A too cold cage would explain why he stays in the hottest place he can find. Check the ambient and surface temp of the basking spot and the rest of the cage.

My female is resting and moving all over the cage regularly and she has a large 5'x2'x2' cage.

How old is your dragon? Older dragons do naturally become less active.

Rearranging the cage furniture or adding something new can also stimulate your dragon to explore and check out the changes (just not too many changes, some dragons may stress out if everything has changed drastically)
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PHLdyPayne

Oh no, he does move around his cage, but he seems to have just a monotonous life to me. I have multiple places in the cage that are hot enough. I mean he will kind of get up and go down his wall (kind of hard to explain, but the cage is custom and has two sections connected by a rock background he likes to climb up) and dig himself a burrow every once in a while. I guess they probably don't experience boredom in the way we do. He is my first dragon so I am not sure exactly how much they are supposed to do. He loves taking a bath every so often, and I usually leave the tub (empty it to where he won't drown) in there and he'll go over and splash around. I guess this is really more of me asking what can I do enrichment wise for him?

and btw he is only like 2 and a half years old, not exactly old. I just thought that a lot of people have multiple dragons together, and thought maybe that would help. I guess it probably works better with multiple females rather than pairs. I just love him dearly.

P.S. I just had a thought. Is it OK for me to let him like go around my house if I monitor him? Like let him out to walk around and sort of explore while I follow. I sometimes set up an enclosed area outside of the cage and throw crickets in there and let him catch them.

Its fine to let him run around the house just make sure u know were he is at all times and becareful if u have other pets or children. I let my dragon run around the whole house and just close the bedroom doors. Just remember if you have central AC the temp in the house wwill be too low for him to stay out of his enclosure for extended periods of time.

Its fine to take your dragon out of the cage to explore, just have to 'beardie-proof' the area. Basically make sure there are not harmful things lying around he could swallow, accidentally or otherwise. Definitely don't let him roam anywhere near where insect poisons have been placed currently or in the past (ie ant traps, earwig and other pest 'sand', rat poison etc) Even if your dragon licks the area with his tongue he could pick up enough toxins to be harmful to him.

Making sure he has no access to vents, or any place you can fit your fingers into easily (basically anything more than an inch wide and a few inches wide) as dragons can squeeze into tight areas if they are determined to do so. Watch baseboard type heaters too, (if you live somewhere that has a need for heat, like I do), as dragons can get up into those things..nearly lost mine when she squeezed into one and up a wall opening for the pipes. Fortunately I heard her scratching by it near a week later and managed to catch her before she could run back inside. I counted myself lucky, as I was sure she was up in somebody else's apartment by then.

It may be easier to section him off in a little used room or just do what you are already doing, sectioning off an area to feed him crickets.
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PHLdyPayne

I have 3 dragons living together and they are doing fine. I did have to take the male out at the peak of mating season due to his um... overzealousness.

I also let my dragons roam my house they enjoy the open space and i find that after a few laps around the house for exersice they like to bunker down on the tile floor in the kitchen where its nice and cool for a nap.
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