Can Two Bearded Dragons Live Happily Together?

There are a lot of things that are commonly discussed and debated on among the reptile community. One of the most common things that you will see among bearded dragon forums is the debate on cohabbing dragons. So, can two bearded dragons live happily together? There really is no cut and dry answer to the question at hand. There are so many different factors that go into the idea of cohabbing and all of these things need to be considered when thinking about getting multiple dragons. Although we believe that there is no reason to put the animals in a possibly dangerous situation, there are some people who have valid arguments on the other side of the argument.

We believe that cohabbing solitary animals is an unnecessary risk to the animal. Injury and death can easily be avoided by simply not housing the bearded dragons together. It is easy to look at your beardie and think that they may be lonely or that maybe they would like to have a friend. In reality, bearded dragons in the wild are solitary animals. Bearded dragons hunt and live alone and only tend to congregate for breeding purposes. Dragons are territorial and in all reality, they do not need or want a friend. Housing bearded dragons together seems like an unnecessary risk to the animal just because it “might” be fine.

And this is true. There are cases of cohabbing that have no negative incidents. Many times, these dragons are housed in huge enclosures with multiple basking spots and plenty of space to stay away from each other. When two dragons are kept together, there is almost always a competition for dominance. One dragon will intimidate or hurt the other. They will fight over food as well as basking spots. When there is a fight for food, one of the dragons will likely not be eating enough. Even if you start with two young dragons that are close to the same size, you will likely notice that one will grow much faster than the other one. Even if they both are getting food, they likely aren’t both getting enough time in their basking spot. If a dragon is unable to bask properly, they may stop eating. If they aren’t able to bask after eating, there is a big risk of your dragon getting sick. When they can’t bask, they can’t digest their food properly. Their food will often begin to rot inside the dragon’s stomach, causing them to become ill. It is very common to see two dragons laying under the basking light with one on top of the other. This may be cute and could be looked at as an act of love but this is far from the truth. The more dominant dragon will lay on top of the less dominant dragon so that they cannot absorb the UVB rays that they need to survive. You may also see one of the dragons “waving” or slowly moving their head up and down. These are both signals that the dragon is being submissive towards the other one. When one dragon is doing these things, you will likely see the other dragon bobbing their head quickly, puffing up their beard or running circles around the other dragon. These are dominant behaviors and could be warning signs that this dragon may try to hurt the other one. Once a fight breaks out, there is really no stopping the fighting and dominant behavior. This is an extremely unsafe environment for both dragons.

For these reasons, we feel that it is always best to keep dragons in separate houses where they have their own personal space. We understand wanting to have more than one dragon. We would have 100 if we could! The most important part of owning beardies is providing them with safe environments where they can live out long happy lives.