Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everybody,
I have 2 bearded dragons that are both housed seperately in their own cages (4'Lx2'Wx2'H) for about 18mos. My female is about 2yrs and my male is 20mos. I have a cage that is 8'Lx2'Wx2'H and am considering placing them both in it. I realize that the male will constantly try to breed with the female so I am considering purchasing another adult/sub-adult female to house with them to deflect some of the attention. After the appropriate quarantine period I would like to house them all together. My intention in housing them together is not necessarily to breed them (although I am interested in trying it once/twice??) but in that I enjoy watching thier interaction together.
My questions are:
1. Is the cage large enough to house 3 adult dragons comfortably ( I am unable to find room enough for a larger one in my house!)?

2. If the cage is large enough then would you recommend that I still seperate the male from the females occasionally (how often/duration?)

3. Since I am not particularly interested in producing viable clutches with my dragons then would it be okay to find an older (beyond breeding age) female as the other female?

4. If so, then I assume the the male will still try to breed with the older female. Could this hurt her?

5. Am I just being selfish and should I just be happy housing my beardies seperatly. I have had them for about 18 mos. and am just addicted to them! Btw my dragons names are Loki (female) and Spike!

Thanks for any info that you may offer!
bubba66

i dont think theres any way around separate housing. if you put in a third beardie, even if that solves the breeding issue (which i doubt, but i dont know much about breeding so i wouldnt swear), youre still going to have dominance issues. plus, even just one act of mating can produce a lot of babies you may not be prepared for. add in two females, potential for a lot of acts....so even if you can avoid the breeding stress issue, and i dont think you can, theres too many other potential problems for it to be a good choice.
sorry
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proud mama to:
1.0.0 ball python (mr snake),0.0.1 albino florida kingsnake (CK),1.1.0 leopard gecko (sebastian and vilma),0.1.0 colombian rainbow boa (luce),1.1.1 bearded dragon (kaipo, dulce, and kellen), 1.1.0 colombian redtailed boas (adam and eve)

As far as I know, most breeders don't even have their breeding dragons together all the time, but get them together for breeding only.

Hi,

There is no way to prevent breeding if you house your male with your female. You will have eggs. If you buy another female to deflect some of the attention you will just get twice as many eggs.

You said that you weren't interested in breeding your bds, except maybe once or twice... If you house them together they will breed and they normally produce 12-20 eggs in a clutch. From one copulation your female could produce up to 5 clutches in a season. With 2 females that is approximately 200 eggs/babies. This isn't taking into consideration that they can lay more than 20 eggs at a time (many of ours have laid clutches of almost 40 eggs!). Are you ready for that responsibility?

Withstanding the attentions of a male, using energy to produce and lay her eggs and repeating that producing/laying monthly takes a LOT out of a female and reduces her life span. Do you want to use her to breed or keep her as a pet? Make the decision before you place them together.

3 years ago my husband and I wondered "What will happen if we put them on the carpet together?" Well, we had babies! EVERYWHERE! We now breed dragons (and other animals) professionally. We house our females separetly from our males in colonies and take them out for controlled breedings. This makes life a lot easier for them.

So, I'd say go ahead and get another girl to keep your girl company... but let your male live the single life in his bachelor pad.

Good Luck!
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Kelly Affonce
DeKeaff Exotics

AIM: DekeaffGrrl