Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
I have an 18" female bearded dragon that is about 2.5 years old. She has been living by herself in a big homemade cage that is 4 by 4 by 2. I want to put my other female dragon in with her. She is 14" and about 5.5 months old. The problem is my older female is much bigger, about 3 times her size, and she gets pretty agressive. A couple days ago, I put a 29 gallon aqaurium with my younger female in it, into the older female's cage. I wanted to see how they would react to each other, and ensure neither one got hurt. The older female frequently does a head bob towards the younger female, and the younger responds with an arm wave. Is this just the usual dominant-submissive gestures, or if I put them together could it get violent? Also, I know they are both females. I bred the older one, and the younger is a a guaranteed female from dachiu.com Any advice is appreciated. Thanks

The head Bobbing and waving is a sign of dominance and submission on the part of the smaller dragon. I personally would wait for the younger one to grow a bit closer in size to the adult before introducing the smaller one into the older established females cage. She could get hurt, and also with the dominance the larger one showed already it could affect her health, and growth. She still has plenty of growing to do, and she'll do better once she has the size and weight of the older dragon. When you do introduce them in the future don't just put the smaller one in with the adult. Give them time out of there cages together and monitor them closely to make sure there is no biting going on. You want the two to be on mutual territory when they first meet, and slowly get them used to each other being out together. After a while and all is good you can try to house them together. Make sure the size is close, and it's always smart to change the cage a bit so they both get used to different surroundings together instead of the older one feeling her territory is being taken. What I did is put up a clear plexi glass divider in a large cage, and had them get used to each other like that before I took down the divider and let them live permanently together. This worked out great and they took to each other very well. Good Luck.
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Definitly wait until they are more or less the same size. Also, if one of the females is aggressive, it might not work out at all, and would definitly need close supervision once they are introduced to each other. Personally, I would keep them separated. I believe they do better on their own.