Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have heard from numerous people that caging bearded dragons together is not only beneficial to the dragons' well-being, but is safe as well. I have also heard that you can only cage a female and a male together, if they are the same age, but not male and a male or female and a female.

Yet I have heard from others that bearded dragons are solitary creatures and will either fight the other dragon, or in the case of male and females being caged together, the male will harass the female.

I would like your opinion and experiences with caging beardies together, and your thoughts.

Thanks.

I am one of those people who advise against housing multiple dragons together. I advise against it because bearded dragons tend to be very territorial animals (even the females). No matter the gender combination you use there are risks you are taking when housing multiple dragons together. Some of the possible risks are over breeding when housing a male and female and if under 18 months you also risk the chance of breeding too young and in some cases can be fatal, almost definite chance of one being dominated by another dragon (signs include significant size difference even if the same age, lack of appetite in other dragon, “piling up” on the other dragon under the basking spot and possible wounds or missing digits such as toes, fingers and tail tips and in some cases death to one or both dragons is possible), if a dragon is sick you risk spreading the illness or infection to the other dragon pretty much instantly and you will wind up having to treat both instead of just one. These are some of the risks included and not all the time are there physical signs. Before you ask, yes I have experience in housing them together. In the beginning when I got into dragons I was told it was ok but then soon found out otherwise. I have seen 2 definite females nearly kill each other, babies biting limbs off one another and males and females trying to tear each other limb from limb. I don't house my dragons together but at work my boss makes me. When it comes down to it, it's your choice but I would rather avoid the risk if at all possible.
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1.0.0 Frilled Dragon - Frank
0.0.1 Rhinoceros Iguana - Mo
2.1.1 Bearded Dragons - Magellan, Galileo, Lizzy, & Machiavelli

For the most part it is recommended not to house bearded dragons together at all. Though there are behaviors missed when dragons are housed separately, for the most part, it is not recommended, especially by people new to keeping dragons and/or have limited space or funds to house them individually should multiple dragons not be compatible.

A single adult dragon needs at least 4'x2' of floor space in their cage. Some say you can go smaller but bigger is always better for these reptiles. Thus you need a cage at least 5'x2' to house two dragons, with larger being better. 5'x3' would be a good size for two dragons.

However, male/female pairs will breed. This does put more stress on the female as she ends up having multiple clutches of eggs not to mention you have to decide if you will incubate these eggs, or destroy them. It may sound fun to breed them just once...but to be honest, the amount of work involved, its better to buy a pair of leopard geckos or crested geckos and breed them. Cheaper in the long run and the 'breeding, hatching, raising' experience is the same, except with geckos, you only have maybe 10 babies to deal with in a breeding season, instead of anywhere between 30-100 or more eggs from a single female in a breeding season.

Two females can stay fairly peacefully together but there is always a risk. Even females who have been perfectly fine together for several years can suddenly fight and one or both ends up with missing toes or limbs or worse.

There is also the risks of one dominating the other so badly it prevents the cage mate from accessing the basking area and food. Thus you end up having one dragon thrive while the other fails to thrive, is always hiding etc. This can happen with babies and adults.

The spread of disease and parasites between cage mates is greater. If one is sick with parasites or some disease, the other most likely is too. Thus both have to be treated.

Thus it is best for new owners of bearded dragons to stick with housing them individually till they know alot more and understand dragon behavior and what to look for to know when a dragon is feeling stressed, isn't eating as much as the other etc.

As you have been asking quite a few questions about bearded dragons, I suggest reading the following links, which do give more information about various aspects of Bearded dragon Care:

www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/home.html

(lots of great info on the above page, including a nutrition chart for what greens to feed, common Dragon diseases, etc.)

www.anapsid.org/mbd2.html (more info on MBD)

www.uvguide.co.uk/index.htm (all the info on UVB lighting you could care to know...including the dangers of the compact UVB florescent bulbs)

www.dachiu.com/beardeddragoncare/caresheets.html (good articles here on bearded dragon care and other info. just move the mouse pointer over the beginning of the headings, to see the links)

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PHLdyPayne

Thank you VERY VERY much for all your help, and the links.

This is going to be my first dragon, and it helps to collect all this information. As a result, if we get another (My mom really wants one for herself now that she has seen Youtube videos and pictures of them.) we won't cage them together until we know how beardies act.

Regards,
herpdome