Housing two bearded dragons, male and female, in the same aquarium?

Question

A friend and I bought bearded dragons a few months back. After the "newness" went away he doesn't pay much attention to his, and he is trying to sell it either to the local pet shop, or to a guy he works with. I am trying to convince him to let me take care of it.

I just got my hands on a 55 gallon tank, my beardie is currently in a 20, and I was wondering about housing the two together. Size wise, they'd have plenty of room, but I have read that you shouldn't keep two in the same cage because they are territorial, and because a male will stress a female to death. However, at the pet store they always keep the dragons together and they seem to do just fine, so not from opinion, but from expertise, what's the real deal?

Answer 1

It think it would be fine to ut them together. Mine where put together (one male and one female) the only difference was we where trying to get them to mate.

Ours did fine though.

Answer 2

I honestly don't recommend housing dragons together.  I've seen (firsthand and also from reports of others) too many incidents of aggression and dominance which has led to injury, or in the worst cases, death.

Male/Male combos should never, ever be attempted.  Once males hit sexual maturity around 18 months of age, they become extremely voiltile personalities and can maime, injure or kill another dragon.  They can, will and have fight to the death...even if they're been "OK for a while", things can change in an instant!

Male/Female combos present it's own special set of problems.  Malesa are typically by far more pushy and dominant.  Oh, it may be "Cute" to watch them "cuddle and lay with one another"....truth is that laying on top of one another is a dominant display of subtle aggression...the one on top is actually preventing the other from moving or raising their internal body temp by basking.  I've also seen one or the other keep the less dominant dragon from eating.  Males will also breed with the female regardless of her rejections; and mating is a violent affair.  Stress in a female can lead to whats known as egg-binding, and even under the best circumstances this is dangerous and often proves deadly.  You also have the added complication of possibly dealing with a gravid (pregnant) female, which has it's own care and special needs.  

Female/Female (PROVEN females, and no "hot females") can *sometimes* with adequate experiance and husbandry factors taken into account work out.  Mine sure didn't!  I kept (at first) my two breeder females together when I first purchased them.  Within 2 weeks, though they are clutch mates, pruchased at the came time form the same breeder and had been kept together prior to my obtaining them, I noticed the first signs of dominance from my Caliel.  I seperated them and actually have to keep my dragons from even seeing each other as it appears I have 4 extremely dominant personalities!

I really don't recommend if; it's easier and safer to keep them in their own enclosures.  Also, a 55 is a little shallow in width for 1, let alone 2 being only 13" in depth.  I would recommend a 40B+ for a single small adult, or graduating to a 75 wide tank.  I intend on building my own with the instructions from Russ at Crossfire Dragons; he has a neat set of custom tank enclosures if you google his website!  Good luck~Michelle

Answer 3

You should go to the pet shop you were talking about and ask.

Answer 4

a 55 gallon is far too small for 2 beardies and barely is good for one as they are too shallow. You need a 40 gallon breeder for EACH beardie so at the minimum you would need an 80 gallon breeder to house two beardies.

Pet shops are pretty much almost always the exact opposite of how to keep reptiles. You should never house a male and female together, the male will constantly harass the female to mate and she can become severely stressed from the ordeal.