LEARNED A SAD & COSTLY LESSON ABOUT BEARDED DRAGONS!

FIRST OF IM A SNAKE GUY & I GUESS ITS MY FAULT HERE'S THE STORY TOOK MY KIDS TO A SHOW TODAY THEY WERE SET ON GETTING SOME TYPE OF LIZARD SO WE BOUGHT A PAIR OF DRAGONS A MALE CITRIS & A HIGH RED FEMALE WHICH WAS HALF THE SIZE OF THE MALE,I HAD THEM IN THE CAGE FOR 5 HOURS WATCHED FOR AGGRESION FROM THE MALE THERE WAS NONE,TOLD MY SON TO WATCH SOME MORE THEY SEEMED FINE TOGETHER,FEED THEM CRICKETS & EVERYTHING WAS COOL,MY SON CAME DOWN STAIRS FOR A FEW MINUTES THEN WENT BACK UP STAIRS & SCREAMED THE RED DRAGON WAS BLEEDING,I RAN UPSTAIRS TO FIND THAT THE MALE BITE THE FEMALE ON THE HEAD CAUSING NEAR DEATH ITS HAGING ON BUT WILL NOT RECOVER IM SURE,NEVER WOULD HAVE THOUGHT HE WOULD KILL THE SMALLER DRAGON,I GUESS ITS MY LACK OF KNOWLAGE OF THE ANIMAL,NOW MY KIDS ARE UPSET & THE LOSS OF $100 FOR THE FEMALE HURTS PRETTY BAD TO.

They say to not put dragons of different sizes together... plus the fact if he was trying to mate they can get aggresive, and sounds like she was going to not want that anyway being so small.
Sorry you lost your new beardie. I hope you put her out of her misery...

Bummer, lesson learned.

Did you get them both from the same person?

YES I DID BUT THE BREEDERS GIRL FRIEND SOLD THEM TO ME,I ASKED IF THEY COULD BE KEPT TOGETHER & SHE SAID NOT REALLY,SO I THOUGHT OK ILL GET TWO CAGES SET UP ,SO WHEN I GOT HOME READ A LITTLE IN THE BOOK SAYING HOW SOCIAL BEARDIES WERE I PUT THEM TOGETHER TEMPORALY BECAUSE MY SONS WANTED THEM IN EACH OF THEIR ROOMS SEPERATE,THEY WERE FINE FOR HOURS,MY STUPID FAULT FOR BEING TO COMPLACIANT TO LIZARD AGGRESSION LESSON LEARNED!

Hello,

Sorry you had to learn that way, alot of people do.
Unfortunately, people misunderstand or misinterpret what "social" behavior means.
In the wild, & yes, even in captivity they do show & display social behavior. However, it usually is only dominance issues, or mating behavior, that is it.
In the wild, they are social & establish a heirarchy which basically means the males establish their so called territorial regions in which they will fight to the death to keep. The females do not hang out together, nor do they hang with the males. They normally only come together during mating season, & possibly to get food or water, that is it.
The arm waving, headbobbing, etc is basically their way of communicating who is who in the realm of their heirarchy. One is usually dominant while the other one is submissive. That is just how nature goes, unfortunately.
In captivity, if they are put together & have a personality difference, there is nowhere for them to escape to & most of the times, it does not end very pretty.
I am very sorry for what happened. Each case is different, & even most breeders do not house together, or if they do, it is usually special circumstances & they are watched constantly.
Is there anything that we can do to help, is she still hanging on, have you taken her to the vet?
Did you take her out of the tank to get her away from the male?

Tracie

Thanks Tracy but I had to destroy her today when the kids were in school,the jaw was completly crushed & it was just living she would have slowly starved to death so I did the right thing kids are better now,next time will do my research I feel like a idiot because I have kept all types of reptile my whole life bred many snakes & also turtles,this bad judgement on my part is a wake up call for me never get a animal till you know all that you need to about habits & behavior of each of the species you intend to keep.

Hello,

Oh I am so sorry you had to put her down. They could not have fixed the jaw being that crushed, was the skull crushed too? That is too bad. I know you must be devastated, too. Are your kids ok?
I am sorry. Let us know if you need anything.
Sometimes you can do all the research in the world, & still make mistakes though.

Tracie

YEAH THE WHOLE SIDE OF ITS HEAD WAS CRUSHED REAL BAD INJURY BLINDED ALSO NO KIND OF HELP COULD HAVE BEEN DONE DISPATCHED HER VERY QUICKLY,I DO DISPATCH MICE BEFORE FEEDINGS ALL THE TIME BUT THIS WAS TUFF !.

Hello,

I am very sorry that happened. How is your other one doing now? Let me know if you need any help.


Tracie