Territorial Water Dragons

Right now I have 2 baby Chinese water Dragons both unsexable as for now, but one is being aggressive towards the other, while the smaller of the two just runs away all the time. I'm just wondering when and if this aggressive behavior ever ends. If it does, about how long should it be?

Its hard to say when and if it will end. The best thing you could do is separate them because the one that is getting picked on is most likely very stressed out and doesn't eat as much. This isn't something that you should just wait and see what happens. Separation is the easy fix here.

Originally Posted by UwabamiReptiles

This isn't something that you should just wait and see what happens. Separation is the easy fix here.

But separation isn't really a ready option for me, as for now, the smaller fella actually seems to have an even larger appetite than his bigger friend! Weird! Do you guys have any other suggestions?

Originally Posted by Lee415andee

But separation isn't really a ready option for me, as for now, the smaller fella actually seems to have an even larger appetite than his bigger friend! Weird! Do you guys have any other suggestions?

Not really. Just observe both animals very closely. May want to start hand-feeding to ensure both animals are getting the proper amount of food they need.

My only other suggestion is on the meantimem, start saving up for another enclosure so that separation WILL be an option soon enough. Because to answer your original question, the aggression will likely not get better, and it may only worsen as both lizards mature.

I've actually been in this same situation a while ago when I first started keeping reptiles. I had two water dragons in the same cage and the same thing started to happen. Everything was fine at first, then slowly one of the dragons started to not eat as much and wasn't coming out to bask as much until it got to the point where I did have to hand feed. Then he stopped eating when I was hand feeding and well long story short, I ended up with one dragon. I was still fairly new to reptiles and just made a novice mistake. Some advice I wish I could have gotten in the beginning is if you're going to keep multiple animals together, you should house them separately first(I'd do a few months just to be sure) to make sure they are healthy and feeding well. Second thing I wish I would've known is that it is always a great idea to have a separate tank available in case something happens. One can mature before the other and that can be a recipe for disaster if they aren't monitored closely. Just take my experience into consideration, I would hate for you to go through the same experience I did.

I've raised water dragons for years,bread them by the 100s and what your describing is an action between to males because when they are born the males want to grow to sexual maturity as fast as possible females don't really care as much they just lay around and take it easy.If you have one that is larger than the other the little one thinks the other one is going to eat him,they are canabolistick and will eat each other if they can.If they are close to the same size then they are at battle for food to out grow the other.At about 8 inches long you can tell the Ms from the FMs the Ms will have a short blunt crest as to the FMs will have a longer crest thats as early as I have been able to tell.They are way cool lizards I would love to have more but I can not have them and 6 5ft balls and 5 3ft ones and 5 yearlings because my wife would go """""""" know what I mean.good luck with them and separate them ASAP before they get injured or worse

The larger lizard I have is 9 months old and has almost no crest, I've also heard that females do try to be territorial as well, but I'm not sure of anything!

Yea'I've heard that to,but I had 6 adult FMs in with 1 M and they would bicker a little but never fought.I could take the M out and put him in his own cage and they would just lay around and not do nothing at all but eat and bask.I had a cage system built out of 4 by 4 sheets all the way around and 2 ft thick I used for breeding and had different ones for seperration when needed.anyway,are they growing fast or slow and how big is the small one.and its getting about time were you can tell if there M or FM.If you look real good at them you can see the M features and the FM features.The M will have a bigger head structure than a FM as to were a FM will have a small soft layed back look.If you would like I can send you a pic or 2 so you can see what i'm saying.You don't know how many times I have regretted selling my lizards.I miss them so bad,their hilly addictive.Send me an email if you want to see them.

The larger of the two will try to dominate over the food supply,survival of the fittest so to speak. When you feed them you can seperate them by using a shoebox or a small bucket even a 5 gal bucket will work it is just to feed to ensure they both get to eat.The bigger they are to the others will naturally push the others away just like birds do. The stronger sibling always wins.It's just natures way.The simple seperation sollution should help you out. Also they should have femoral poors on the inside of the thigh. If you see the row of scales there on the inside of the thigh,if they are real noticeable it is male if they appear to be small and kind of faint it is female. Hope this helps a little more for you.