Introduce a HEALTHY male with a SICK male dragon?

Hi,
I own a 7-year old male and female dragon that live together in a 75-gallon tank. My female is healthy, but my male is unfortunately sick for life. I've taken him to countless vets, and none of these many "reptile specialists" here in NY are able to heal him. But that's neither here nor there. He has many different bacteria living inside of him. He sleeps most of the day, can barely see, doesn't have any energy, walks like a drunkard because he can't use his front arms well anymore, no longer mates, but he eats like a champ. I would like to buy an additional male dragon for mating purposes, so I would have 3 dragons living in the same tank. But, here's my question: Knowing in general that if you put 2 healthy male dragons together they will fight with each other, what would happen in my situation if I bought a new healthy male dragon and put him in the same tank to live with my sick male dragon? Would the new healthy dragon kill my sick dragon, or would he notice that he's sick and decide that he's not a threat? If I had to guess what would happen, I would imagine the new male dragon would try to fight with the sick dragon, but because my sick dragon is too weak to lift a finger, the healthy male would backoff and no fights would occur. But, that is only a guess. Does anyone have any experience with this, or know someone who has? The last thing I would want to do is put my poor sick dragon in a dangerous situation. My parents will not allow another tank in the house, so they would have to permanently live together in the same tank. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your help.


John

well ill he harsh but honest with ya on this one. if i was you i would accept the fact that you have a sick dragon that you love and will never get rid of cause you love your pet.so with that being said if you cannot seperate the 2 dragons i reallly would not get the other and would suggest you not breed the female with any dragon.just the fact that you have her in with him where he poops/pees and eats in same area whos to say she dosent have the illness just not showing sighns. then what if you breed her or place another dragon in that enclosure whats risk of breeding this illness or getting other dragon sick.no reason to risk healthy dragons life to find out or to breed babys that will mos tlikly die. please forgive me if i seem harsh or mean but if you cant provide a safe place for new dragons you have no place breeding. again please forgive me i dont want people mad at me but think this is a reason we get babies on market that can mess up alot of peoples hard work in bloodlines with hidden illnesses and no one wants this .

I have to agree with Prater on this one. There is no reason to risk the life or health of EITHER dragon just because you want a new breeder male. First, the female is (IMO) too old to be breeding anyhow, and since she lives with the sick male, she is probably not 100% herself. Males will fight, no questions asked, and if your current male cannot defend himself, he will more than likely die from an attack. Plus, your female will be put through countless mating attempts that could cause symptoms of sickness to come up in her, and she could die. And then you would have the new male who would come into contact with whatever the current male has, and you could have another sick animal that could possibly die. 3 sick or dead animals for what?
I would highly suggest finding a new vet, as the ones you are using are apparently useless. There is no reason a good herp vet cannot figure out what is wrong with some tests. IF he is having issues with bacteria, then he needs to be put in a "hospital" setup, and make sure that the care is 100% correct. Keeping him with the female might be stressing HIM, causing him not to be able to get better as well.
Take care of the dragons you have, and be happy with them. Dragons on average live 8-12 years, so honestly, neither of your current dragons have a long time left in this world. Let them live peacefully and wait it out. Even if the current male does pass on, I would also not recommend a new male, as your older female may not fair well with mating attempts on a constant basis.

Hi all,
Thanks for your feedback! My male is pretty out of it, so he wouldn't be stressed by others being in the tank, unless he was attacked. My female has been living with him for 7 years, and she was never stressed either - she produced 2 clutches/year with him for years. They love each other's company, and sleep on top of each other most nights. I already own several additional small tanks to house the babies in when I sold my hundreds of babies throughout the years. It's another large tank that my parents would not approve of. All the vets I had brought my male dragon to don't think the bacterias living behind his eyes are contagious. I disinfect everything inside the tank frequently using Virosan/Nolvasan to kill bacteria. I've been using 100W Powersun mercury vapor bulbs for years. I fill my female's stomach prior to my male's feeding. The reason why my male got sick was because one day after one of the dragons defecated into the sand, the female kicked it up right into his face, planting many different types of bacteria in his eyes. This is the reason why I NEVER suggest the use of sand to anyone. I've been using shelf liner for the past 5 years now with no further problems. The poor guy has had every test done for him that the vets could think of, and I spent thousands on all of it while administering every type of eye drop, injection and oral solution, so I'm just going to let him be and let nature take its course. All the vets agreed that the damage on him is permanent because it's been so many years. If I had bought an additional male and he did attack my sick male, I would just sell the new dragon to a new owner. But because I had placed this post on multiple websites and 100% of the people think a new male dragon would attack my sick dragon, I will not pursue the purchase. After all, I don't want what's best for me - I want what's best for my dragon. Thank you again!


John

well im glad to see you do know your stuff then its just in first message you made self to look like some lil kid who didnt know anything about what you were doing . but if you have that much experiance w dsragons and have bred him w no bad babbies thats awsome.i hope he lives a good life in your care sounds like you have done all you can to help him and for hat i commend you most people find out they have sick dragons try to sell them off and no take care of them but you stuck it out and payed vet bills. thank you again for caring enough about him to leave him be though i think youll find this choice to be best . good luck in future and hope all goes well.
prata

Separate the animals and place them all in their own enclosures. Your sick male could have more problems because it is stressed out.