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Stop Breeding!

L

Lydia270

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I want a bearded dragon but have a few problems!
In books and internet pages i have looked at it tells me bearded dragons are best kept in pairs or groups, i know i can't have to males, but i have also read that females get lots of ovary problems and die young, so i then thought a male and a female(s) (as what i read suggests this is the best) but how would you stop them breeding? Theres no point of getting 2(+) together if they are going to have be sparated most of the time. Is it possible to stop them breeding - i have heard alot about temperature starting the breeding, wont they breed unless it is the right temp? Are there other ways of stopping them breeding?
HELP!
 
My Son has kept just one male dragon for several years. He's a great buddy to my son and has done well by himself. He hands out on the couch and watches TV with us and doesn't seem to be lonely.
My suggestion would be just get one male and enjoy him.
Hockeymom
 
Groups are nice but not necessary IMO unless you're breeding. I can't recall having any females or hearing about any females in particular that died from being eggbound without first breeding, but all things are possible. Get one of either sex and enjoy it, beardies make great pets. :)
 
I wouldn't want to sell the eggs and i dont have the equipment to keep them, a guy said at the pet shop that they wont hatch under a certain tempeature and just to put the eggs in a freezer! - that seems cruel
 
Female bearded dragons can be kept in groups. They do better if they are raised together from babies but I have successfully introduced adults together and keep them together at all times. Sometimes there is slight aggression in the cage. They go through stages of "who's the boss". I also have photos of two females in the breeding position. I'm talking tail lifted, one under the other, the whole deal. Both females have since laid eggs after being placed with males so no doubts on the sexes. You do not have to have beardies in groups. One will do just fine by itself. I have noticed that when they are caged together they do interact with each other. Two females are great. I'm not sure where you read that it is best to keep a male and female together though. That is not really that good of advice. I know people who house pairs together year round successfully but I think the female would lay eggs far too early to be healthy for her.
 
There is absolutely nothing wrong with 2 or even 3 females being housed together. They will sometimes go through a bit of an adjustment period but once they find their place all calms down. An occasional flare up will occur from time to time, but nothing major.

A male and female beardie kept together will eventually breed. Even without brumation it will eventually happen. Most often at too young of an age which could lead to health issues.

A lone dragon does great too, male or female. They can live their entire lives without ever seeing nother dragon and won't effect them at all.
 
It is *ok* to keep a dragon alone. But, IMO, they do better in groups (whether composed of just females or a male and several *adult* females). If you kept two, even if both were females, you would see more natural "dragon behavior" going on. Another benefit I have noticed from keeping groups of BDs is that they tend to be more active then when kept in groups compared to when kept alone, activity is always healthy (and dragons do need excercise to prevent fatty liver and other health problems). I would go ahead and get two females if I were you (keep in mind though that young dragons are harder to sex properly, so be wary of people selling sexed babies).
 
If you don't want to breed them, then keeping 2-3 females together in the same, appropriate sized cage should not be a problem. :) My females have always done well together in groups of 2-3.
 
Typically if I have a customer looking for one dragon, as a pet, and doesn't want any more in the future I sell them a male. I charge a premium for my females due to demand from other breeders so it's the cheapest way to go for the customer. If they want 2 or more at that time or plan to get a second in the future I always recommend 2 females. I keep my breeding and sub-adult females in pairs for the most part except after they've been introduced to a male, then I keep them alone to give them space to lay without worries of the other female causing issues. I've kept many males and females alone in cages, none have ever seem particularly lonely. If someone wants to buy 2 juvies and is intent on breeding them in the future I make sure they know that they should be seperate until they are of good breeding age and size. I generally provide a good number of reasons why it's not a good idea to keep 2 dragons that are capable of breeding but not ready to breed together.
 
I am new to the fauna forums but I have been keeping herps for most of my life. I currently have 3 beardies (2 females and a male) and all of them have separte enclosures. The younger two I got at the same time but had to separate them around 3 months old as they started to show signs of teritoriality and one ate less, grew less and generally didnt thrive. My older beardie has always been alone and always been healthy and active. I am sort of shocked that people recommend groups of beardies and mixed sex groups at that. I have no interest in breeding as none of my beardies are gentically sound enough to be bred but still. Laying eggs infertile or not take alot out of a female. I would think you would want to avoid that pressure on a pet if possible. Besides reptiles in general and Beardies in particular are not social animals. The interactions they have in the wild are due to competition for resources not any type of social order.
 
Liza

Your post caused me to read through this thread again. No where within it do I see anyone encouraging males and females being housed together. As far as you keeping yours separate I think most people have said they will do fine by themselves. For someone who has not housed a group of females together how can you say it is not appropriate? While they may be more solitary in the wild they certainly do interact with each other in captivity.

Mike
 
i agree with most of you in housing the females in groups, my single female rarely did much of anything until i got her a cagemate of the same size, like 11 inches. After the introduction, she began to display communal behaviors, and her activity and food intake increased, as did her growth rate.
 
The poster said she had read in caresheets and books that males and females should be kept together and that is what I was refering to. As for housing females, just because its possible does not make it the best possible setting for keeping wild animals. The interaction people talk about is competition not communal behaviors, which depending on your mind set may or may not be acceptable to you. But I totally disagree with anthropomorphizing a reptile into having mammalian needs for social interaction.
 
I have definately noticed an increased appetite in beardies housed together. Once one starts to eat they all have to follow suit. The exception to this is when they are not similar sized and and the smaller is stressed.
 
Well I have also heard many stories of hatchlings kept together were one didnt thrive and the others out competed them. My two were the exact same size when I brought them home from the breeder, one did great and the other did much better when they were separated. For every piece of anecdotal data there is one with the exact opposite point. The reality is their is a risk of one not thriving when raising them in groups and their is no down side to raising them separatly.
 
Liza

I agree completely as I think I stated before. There is no inherent "need" for them to be housed together. I also agree that "most" of their intereaction is based on competition. I don't necessarily find this to be harmful. Most animals (mammals) that live in groups have behavior based on competition. While I don't consider this to be completely the same in reptiles I don't consider it to be harmful. I think you will also find throughout the thread that the concensus was to keep them together as long as there was no ill side effects.
 
Hmmm...I think we will just have to agree to disagree. I tend to err on the side of extreme caution with respect to people new to BDs and think watching for the subtle signs of territoriality and not thriving can be overwhelming for alot of new owners.
 
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