Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know alot of you have heard me ask this question before. but tethys is now 18" long and has no crest and just about invisible femoral pores. Ive been told by another experienced water dragon keeper that i should try and intruduce tethys to saturn for a few minutes with my supervision incase any fighting occurs. should i intruduce them in saturns cage or somewhere else? She has seen pictures of Tethys crests and femoral pores and is bascially positive that tethys is a girl.

Is there any safty precautions i should take before this intruducing takes place?

Is there anything i can do to protect tethys other than break up a fight if it occurs?

Im very sorry about how long this is i just want to be safe then sorry when this intruducing does take place. Thank you to all of you for all your info it's greatly appreciated.

Heres a pic of tethy's femoral pores at 18" i will post a 2nd pic of her crest following this message.

Here it is!!! Isn't she cute!!!

I have reintroduced my male and female, they were separated while they were healing, and I have noticed a couple of things. First, they went through puberty while they were separated, so he is much bigger than her and it used to be the other way around. He occasionally head bobs, tail flicks, and puffs out his chest. I have found he is showing how manly he can be and usually tries to make "lizard love" after this. It looks a little traumatic at first, but he will chase her around the viv until he can get hold of her crest with his mouth. He works his way up her back until he has hold of her crest on the back of her head. It looks like it hurts, but this is normal behavior. Then he spins her and they look like a candy cane twisted up for about a minute. Then SHE follows him around the viv all day. He calms down quite a bit after they mate, but the mating ritual can be confused for fighting. I have found that once they do it the stress level lowers. They did yesterday, it was the third time in about 6 wks. So expect them to chase each other, head bob, tail flick, and do alot of staring. They will until they decide who is getting which shelf etc. Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

If I think they are fighting, I just say NO Neptune very firmly and he looks at me like "shut up b*tch", and then I pick him up and set him on a high shelf. He never bites or anything. If he is trying to mate he just climbs right back down, otherwise he will stay. He is definetly more agressive when he is hungry so offer food everyday until they dont eat anymore, but dont over feed ya know. Just listen for rustling in the viv and check it out when you hear it.

what if he does try and mate with her im sure he will do i break them apart. isnt she a little too small to be breeding.

My vet said that just because they mate does not mean she will have babies. If she is creating eggs then she is ready, it means she went through puberty. You have to think that in a natural habitat they would show the same behavoir. I think it is instinctual to mate after puberty. If it worries you, you can wait. Just wanted to let you know that it was one of the first things my WD's did when I put them back together. If you decide to introduce a male and female, you can sorta expect it. My male is much larger than my female and it used to be the other way around.

I would watch closely. I dont want you to put them together and her get hurt. I am just telling you my experiences. My male is dominant, but I really dont think he would hurt my female.

I got a few more ??? if you dont mind

How do i know when Tethys hits puberty?

Where should i try and intruduce them together?

Yesterday i tried to put them together in saturns cage but then I thought he might be more aggresive since it's his "territory". So then i put them in the bathroom to just roam around. Everytime saturn headbobbed at her and chased her I would always reach in and save her because she was so scared, I just dont think she's ready yet. I also fed them alot before I intruduced them, Saturn had a hopper and 5 superworms and tethys had a fuzzie.

Even though Tethys hasn't laid any eggs yet, should i put an egglaying container in her cage? If I should or even if she doesnt need one can i know how you make one. whats all in it for materials?(sand? moss?) and what is the container itself?(rubbermaid container?)

Thanks For All your help H2oDrgns It's Greatly Appreciated!!!!