Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
I own a 7-year old male and female dragon that live together in a 75-gallon tank. My female is healthy, but my male is unfortunately sick for life. I've taken him to countless vets, and none of these many "reptile specialists" here in NY are able to heal him. But that's neither here nor there. He has many different bacteria living inside of him. He sleeps most of the day, can barely see, doesn't have any energy, walks like a drunkard because he can't use his front arms well anymore, no longer mates, but he eats like a champ. I would like to buy an additional male dragon for mating purposes, so I would have 3 dragons living in the same tank. But, here's my question: Knowing in general that if you put 2 healthy male dragons together they will fight with each other, what would happen in my situation if I bought a new healthy male dragon and put him in the same tank to live with my sick male dragon? Would the new healthy dragon kill my sick dragon, or would he notice that he's sick and decide that he's not a threat? If I had to guess what would happen, I would imagine the new male dragon would try to fight with the sick dragon, but because my sick dragon is too weak to lift a finger, the healthy male would backoff and no fights would occur. But, that is only a guess. Does anyone have any experience with this, or know someone who has? The last thing I would want to do is put my poor sick dragon in a dangerous situation. My parents will not allow another tank in the house, so they would have to permanently live together in the same tank. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your help.

John

sorry this is off topic but have they been together their whole life cuz i wanna get a female for my male and people say i shouldnt mix em and some say its fine

Looking for the answer to that question, will never end, everyone has a different view, and different results...
short answer, YES they can live together
long answer, NO they can not live together indeffinetly, or maybe at all,
you play poker?
play a hand, and hope its a winner, but be prepared to back out on the river, before you go all in

so basicly its a chance im jus wonderin how the results were of the people who tried it

BDLvr has posted many times about his experiences...
Do a search, and you will find alot of opinnions.
None will agree with each other...
you will hear
they are solitary animals, they do not need company
they will say mine have lived together for 5 years perfectly happy
they will say, Mine live together, but I seperate them during mating season or wut ever...
Good luck

My female has been living together with my male in the same tank since they were babies for 7 years now, and she was never stressed by him - she produced 2 clutches of eggs/year with him for years. They love each other's company, and sleep on top of each other most nights. I'm not sure what experience anyone else has, as I'm sure every dragon has a different temperament/personality. If you decide to go through with it and notice that they are attacking each other (not just mating), just make sure that you seperate them immediately.

John

I took in a sick male dragon about a year ago. He built up bone around his vertebra in the past and it has reduced his ability to to use his back legs. He drags himself around. He also needs to be assist fed and helped to go to the bathroom.

But, the bottom line is he is still a male and goes crazy to try to be king when another male is present. It would be cruel to leave him defenseless with another male. He either doesn't understand or accept his disabilities and I doubt yours will either.

You'd be best waitng for the inevitable. Also consider how you will handle it if you get a male that doesn't get along with your female. I have 21 dragons and believe me it's the exception to the rule whem m/f pairs work out long term.

TO be honest, I would put the sick male in his own separate cage completely. Being in with a female could be why he's not recovering, constant stress etc may be why he never fully recovers from what ails him.

Adding a young healthy male (I am assuming an adult not a baby) will most likely result in the death of your weaker sick male. Males will fight and it doesn't matter to them if the other male is sick, they will drive it out of their territory. Since they are in a cage, best that sick male can do is hide. As he is not very mobile from your description, I can just see it become picked upon till its torn to bits by the healthy male, or forced to always be hidden till it slowly deteriorates from lack of food, basking and UVB and it dies that way.

This is assuming the new male even gets along with your female. She could just as easily pick on him and cause you to have two sick males.

Another question, if your current male is 7 years old, if your female is also that old, she's pretty much finished for breeding purposes and a new young male could stress her out as he'll be raring to go but she will not be as receptive.

It may be best to just keep the dragons you have to both die of old age, then purchase new ones.
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PHLdyPayne

Hi all,
Thanks for your feedback! My male is pretty out of it, so he wouldn't be stressed by others being in the tank, unless he was attacked. My female has been living with him for 7 years, and she was never stressed either - she produced 2 clutches/year with him for years. They love each other's company, and sleep on top of each other most nights. I already own several additional small tanks to house the babies in when I sold my hundreds of babies throughout the years. It's another large tank that my parents would not approve of. All the vets I had brought my male dragon to don't think the bacterias living behind his eyes are contagious. I've been using 100W Powersun mercury vapor bulbs for years. I fill my female's stomach prior to my male's feeding. The reason why my male got sick was because one day after one of the dragons defecated into the sand, the female kicked it up right into his face, planting many different types of bacteria in his eyes. This is the reason why I NEVER suggest the use of sand to anyone. I've been using shelf liner for the past 5 years now with no further problems. The poor guy has had every test done for him that the vets could think of, and I spent thousands on all of it while administering every type of eye drop, injection and oral solution, so I'm just going to let him be and let nature take its course. All the vets agreed that the damage on him is permanent because it's been so many years. If I had bought an additional male and he did attack my sick male, I would just sell the new dragon to a new owner. But because I had placed this post on multiple websites and 100% of the people think a new male dragon would attack my sick dragon, I will not pursue the purchase. After all, I don't want what's best for me - I want what's best for my dragon. Thank you again!

John