Dragon Help!

i have one male bearded dragon and one female. when they are in their cage they get along fine, but whenever i let them free-roam my bedroom they start doing circles around eachother and biting eachother. then when i put them back in their cage they stop. what the hell is up with that??????????

also, my female started bobbing her head recently; i thought only males did that?

thanks,
chain_smkr13@yahoo.com

Both males and females can headbob, its a show of dominance. It's actually a pretty bad idea to keep a male and female together. The male will want to mate and this can stress out and physically injure the female, as well as result in many eggs and babies for you to deal with. Beyond this, any two (or more) dragons put together will form a hierarchy where you have one dragon at the top who's the boss and gets what he wants when he wants it and then a dragon at the bottom who is stressed out and doesn't get any of the good food or basking spots. Even if one doesn't outright kill the other (which does happen) the less dominant animal will still suffer. Since you are already seeing signs of aggression / possible mating behaviour I'd definately separate them as soon as possible.

Mark, how old are these dragons? I'm assuming if she is just starting the head-bobbing behavior, they are juveniles. They can and will breed at too young of an age for her to safely be producing eggs, therefore they should be separated, at least at this point. If you are planning on breeding in the future, pairs of dragons can do well housed as a pair, provided they have plenty of space, and get along well....just like with people, some dragons just don't live well together, but some do very well. If you do not plan on breeding, it is better in the long run to keep them separate.

they are both about four years old, and no i wasn't planning on breeding them.

I'm surprised 2 adult dragons housed together haven't bred yet. How sure are you that you have a male and a female?

If they are indeed a pair and you don't want babies, you need to separate them asap. What you witnessed them doing was courting each other.

about how long would you say before she is pregnant, or lays her eggs????

Originally Posted by chain smoker

about how long would you say before she is pregnant, or lays her eggs????

It's possible that they have locked up and she is gravid right now. If that's the case, she will be laying egss in about 22 days +/- a day or 2. In 14 days or so you should be able to feel the eggs in her belly if she is gravid.

We know you can candle the eggs to see if they are fertile or not. If they are yellow then they are infertile and if they are red then they are fertile. But when she lays the eggs, will you be able to tell right off the bat if they are fertile or not? Or does it take some time to tell, like in Veiled Chameleon eggs?

Yes, you can definitely tell if the eggs are fertile or not the second they are laid. Fertile eggs will be a nice solid white and be firm and full looking. Infertile eggs are yellowish in color, dried up looking and odd shaped.