Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[slate58]

Hi all, sorry for the ungodly hour but I'm on nights and I'm bored . Just a quick query cos my partners getting quite worried .

We bought a juvenile female beardy - Venus (7.5" snout to tail tip) bout two weeks ago and shes flourishing, we've found her so fascinating and fun we couldn't resist pairing her up .

Took my partner off to the same reptile shop and bought her a juvenile male - Hercules of the same size but different colour morph. Got home cleared out viv, scrubbed, changed sand, scrubbed all logs, bark etc, bathed them together then introduced both back into sparkling viv with some crix to distract em. They generally seem to get on well and he is feeding and basking quite happily but my partner's getting worried cos occassionally Venus runs up to Hercules and head buts him, which is making him quite jumpy. Is this normal? Thought perhaps shes just establishing dominance (seems to be working as I've seen him waving to her a few times!).

[Scott W]

hi,

that all sounds like normal behaviour. they will do a fair bit of head bobbing and even neck biting, trying to pin the other one down. So long as they are of similar size they should be fine. place a few visual barriers on the floor too (something to stop them being able to see each other all the time, a log does the trick).
_________________

Please DO NOT pm orders for reptiles, send email instead scott@captivebred.co.uk

[beardie barmy]

you should separate them a male and female should only be paired together if you intend to breed them and then they should be separated once the deed is done he will constantly want to beed her witch is not healthy he wont let her bask wont let her feed she will get stressed so bad that she will eventually die trust me ive had beardies a long time

[beardie barmy]

she might be dominent now but that will soon change if she is alot bigger then him she might even kill him beardies are solitery animals they dont need friends

[Nelson]

Slate, how big is your viv? And are you sure youve got 1.1?


Sorry "beardie barmy" I personaly dont agree with what youve said, from my own experiance keeping Beardies in groups has never been a problem.

To keep beardies in groups, you just need to follow a couple of simple rules (these are things that Ive found to work well).

1. As Scott said "visual barriers". I split my vivs into 3 sections by using rocks/logs aprox 8-10" high and covering 2/3rds of the floor width.

2. Muiltiple hides, my rule of thumb is 2 hides for every 1 Beardie.

3. Muiltiple basking spots. 1 at each end approx the same height is best (if you can, this is depending on the size of viv) If not 1 large one will do just make sure its big enough for 2 adults to comfitably sit next to each other.

Heres a couple of pics for you, this viv is 8x2.5x2.5:

[beardie barmy]

nelson in the wild beardies only meet up to mate and then go there separate ways. i like your tank but there are a few things that i would personally change for the safty of your beardies 1 the basking bulb should be placed in a dome outside the viv 2 your uv light should be positioned so that your beardies can get within 6 inches of it to be of any use 3 sand is a bad subtrate when a beardie is diveing for crix it obiously eats some sand aswell this sand gets clogged up in there intestines they can not pass it it bulds up in there gut till they can no longer feed 4 i would not use the plastic thermomiter they are inaccurate i use a digital thermomiter they are much better. but you will do whatever you feel is right im just trying to give you better options

[Nelson]

beardie barmy Im sorry if you thought that was a personal attack. It wasnt ment to be.

As already stated this are my opinions and what has worked extremley well for me.

How many Dragons do you own/owned? How many years have you kept them? What reserch do you do? As Im open to new ideas.

wild beardies only meet up to mate and then go there separate ways.

Whilst this is true of some beardies that dont have territories, those domminent Males that do normally have several females within this.

the basking bulb should be placed in a dome outside the viv

Is there a reason behind this? Other than the possibility of them touching the bulb? Because if thats the reason unless they can fly mine wont.

your uv light should be positioned so that your beardies can get within 6 inches of it to be of any use

When I get babies I actually put the UV (8.0) within 3". My adults have 2x10.0 + 2x8.0(all 4 are 4ft long) on reflectors (effectivly doubling output). The bulbs get changed with new ones every 6 months (whens the last time you changed yours?). Here is a useful link:
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/

sand is a bad subtrate when a beardie is diveing for crix it obiously eats some sand aswell this sand gets clogged up in there intestines they can not pass it it bulds up in there gut till they can no longer feed

I personally never feed ANY of my beardies Crickets, I feed them hoppers and Locusts of appropreate size. But of course they will eat some of the substrate, its inevetable but then they always pass it. How do you think they survive in the wild? I only know of 1 person that has lost a Dragon due to impactation and that was due to the woodchip.

What do you house yours on?

i would not use the plastic thermomiter they are inaccurate i use a digital thermomiter they are much better.

Whole heartedly agree, I do indead have a digi, that one was in there as I had just finnished moving 1 of the basking spots and needed a guesstimate

but you will do whatever you feel is right im just trying to give you better options

[beardie barmy]

sorry nelson i did not intend to upset you these are just my opinions to im always open to new ideas to you never stop learning. well i have had beardies for 10 years i own a male and a female at the moment i have had many over the years i have bread them for a long time to i have had many a clutch and get alot of fun out of it . well i place my bulb in a dome to obiously keep it out of the reach of the beardies and it also focuses all the heat directly were you want it. i use carpet or paper towels for a subtrate beardies dont live on sand in the wild the live on compacted clay and they lay thire eggs in the srub. and yes i do change all my uv lighting every 6 months thanks for the link were did you get your repti sun 10s from because i carnt get hold of any ? well i hope to hear from you soon and im sure you know what your doing

[Nelson]

sorry nelson i did not intend to upset you these are just my opinions

Dont worry, you didnt. Id like to think I had thicker skin than that!

Reading back through my post it did sound like I was taking the defensive, but thats due to a certain popular UK forum, where the "regulars" will attempt to shout you down if your views are different to theirs.

Got the 10.0s from a local pet store (sorry not much help to you). They do seem to work though, Ive observed an increase in activity levels since their addition.

One thing though, in the wild they live in many areas (they have a range of approx 2x the size of the UK), on many different substrates inc sand and yes clay too, after loads of testing on different substrates i went with sand due to its ability to hold heat well, its ease of cleaning and its asthetics.

Good luck with yours

[beardie barmy]

were abouts do you live nelson are you in the uk ?