Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering if two male uromastyx can go together if there is no female present. i have two and wanted to combine them into one large area and was wondering if they would fight or be okay. All help is greatly appreciated.

housing 2 males together will cause problems whether or not a female is present. maybe not at first but, eventually there will be.

either one male will be dominant over the other male and he will constantly bully the other one out of food and out of hiding spots, basking spots, and in everything else...the one thats bullied will stop eating and generally start to dehydrate and not be active....eventually becoming critically ill if not removed.

or, they will fight from the beginning and end up either hurting both of eachother or one killing the other. it's generally not a good idea.

how big is your new bigger cage gonna be? how many hides will there be? and how many basking spots?

i ask because i have seen people go against better judgement and if the cage was big enough with enough basking spots and hide spots, have put together 2 males before. they just watched carefully for signs of health problems. most will have a small fight when placed together or slightly after...watch to make sure they don't get hurt. if they don't fight and they just live together they will set up seperate territories....the other won't cross into the others area, so you will have to have 2 basking spots, 2 food dishes, and lots of hides. just watch for signs of one or the other losing weight or not eating. also watch for cuts, if any are seen they should be seperated emediately. introduce both animals to the cage at the same time...and see what happens if you want to, but i wouldn't recommend it. i would say to go get a female if you want to house 2 together. even though i have gone through possibilities that could work.....please don't house males together...for their sake.

these are EXTREMES sometimes lesser variations occur.

hope this helps.

trevor

I know a pair of mali males that live together just fine in a 40 gal breeder. It depends on the species and on the actual animal.

n/p

I am houseing a 300 gram malis male with a 115 gram moroccan male. And there are also 2 other females in the cage. I thought that the moroccan male was a female so i put the moroccan in for future breeding purposes, but after a few weeks the moroccan started to excrete wax out of its pores, started to spin to mark its territory, and then started mounting my alpha female. At first i thought that maybe the moroccan was just showing its dominancy but, now i can see the hemipenises bulges at the base of the tale. The small moroccan male has been with the malis male for about 3 months and there are no signs of agression towards eachother. No bite marks, and everyone is basking and gaining weight so i am not going to remove the moroccan male because he is starting to thrive and is gaining weight fast. He did become impacted and gave me a scare last week, but other than that he has been thriving and has had no problems. Also, even though both males marked their territory they bask together, eat together and always sleep under the same rock. Also, the small moroccan male marked the alpha female and always chases her around the cage. I know some of you are thinking i am nuts housing two males with that big of a size difference together, but the only way to put it is they are all thriving together so why should i change that. I really dont think that there is an alpha male. Basically the 300 gram malis male is just a nice easy going lazy uro, but the small 115 gram moroccan is very active, loves his ladies, always marks his territory, and is also very nice towards me an his cage mates. The only thing these two males have in common is they are both very tame, and aren't agressive towards cagemates. When i say the large male is lazy i mean when compared to the sub-adult male he is more calm and mellow, he is not lazy in an unhealthy way. What i am trying to say here is i think that uros do great in small colonies with a few females and 1-2 males for instance I have a 2.2, but when housing males together you really have to make sure everything is fine and that no one gets hurt or gives up on life. The only thing i am worried about is maybe my 300 gram male doesn't care for the small moroccan male because of the size difference, but when the moroccan starts to get bigger and becomes compitition for the larger male i might have a problem. So even to this day, every day i weigh them, Look for any signs of bites or hardening on the sides. So just because i said i think it is ok to house males together in a small colony with a few females that doesn't mean buy another male, throw him in the cage and think everything is going to be fine. You have to make sure they aren't agressive towards cagemates, and it would be a good idea to put a divider in a cage if it is big enough so they can somewhat get to know eachother, and so you would be able to see any weight lose due to being submissive. My cage is 5 X 3 X 3. just in case you wanted to know.
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Mike
1.1.1 maliensis (Spike, Marshmellow, Hummer)
1.1 acanthinurus-werneri (Mongas, LS)
0.1 ornata (Chubs)
0.1 Pit Bull/German Shephard/Lab/ect. mix (Kodak) - looks like an over grown toco bell dog.

Uromastyx Pics

that was what i was trying to get across in my post that most of the time its not. whether it's because they don't have enough space or just the animals themselves.

your cage is great for housing more than one male if need be....i'm very glad to hear that they get along so very well!!! you obviously check them quite often for any signs of problems and if they are growing and thriving...theres no reason to seperate. i don't think your crazy for doing what you are doing....i think its very cool.

i know that uros are happier in small colonies...gives them something to do, someone to play with.

sounds like your doing great and i would love to see a picture of your set up....sounds interesting.

trevor

I have 2 Malis and i would be very happy if i could cage them together.To say the true i tried several times based on the fact that they shared the same cage when both were in the petshop without fights!After they arrived home everything was perfect.For the first 2 weeks no fights at all.Then one day i found one hurt and i noticed they were fight on my back!lol! I separated them and now each time i try to put them together one will cover the other with bites!