I have had my Bearded Dragons for awhile, and was forced to bite my tongue after I recently told the vet they haven't been showing signs of aggression. Both Bearded Dragons grew up together, and every time we separate them one will hit his nose on the enclosure or scratch the glass until we reunite them again. So, in order to keep them from stressing out; we keep them together by taking them out at the same time etc. Until recently they did very well together with no signs of being territorial. However, they scared me a bit today when the slightly larger Bearded Dragon (they are both about a year old) threw some headbobs toward the other one, and began snapping at the smaller one after she threw up some submissive waves. They had just finished eating, and I turned on the extra basking spot for them to digest better. After awhile it seems the tank got a little too hot for their liking (about 98 degrees) and the larger one got aggressive for the cooler side of the tank where there was enough room for both of them. After adjusting the temperature they went on without any sign of problems. This is the first time any of this kind of behavior has occurred between the two and I'm wondering if I should separate the two though it's the last thing I would really like to do. Is this normal behavior??

How big is your tank? You need to have room for BOTH of them to be either at the cool end or the warm end. You may need to separate in the end.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

I do not like the idea of Bearded Dragons together. I have alittle girl who lost 4 toes and half her tail becaues she was kept with another dragon before I got her and that other dragon was from the same clutch. I would seperate them if I was you.

The tank's dimensions is a 4 foot length and a 2 foot depth. We made it custom so I'm not sure exactly how many gallons that is, but I'm assuming a little more than 50. The cooler side (which has no basking spots just a weaker a uv light that emits little heat) takes up about a quarter of the left side of the tank so I can't figure it out. I was told by their vet that it should be a very comfortable enclosure for both them. They have been through a lot together and have not been separated since they were hatchlings. They both have scars from an unfortunate attack from a larger Bearded Dragon that the former owner housed with them, but as far the other day; they have done very well together. They annoy each other (the smaller one hops on the larger ones back and always runs toward him to lick him) but despite everything they never showed aggression. Maybe I should figure a way to add more shade??

Bearded dragons need heat all the time, not just occassionally! What are the exact temperatures in the tank cool end warm end and ambient and how are you measuing them?
If you turn off the heat it slows their metabolism down as well as their bodies immune functions! NOT good!
If they are aggressive when they are the proper temperatures you need to separate them. Particularly since one is bigger than the other. The aggression may be why one is growing faster than the other.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

I always have the main basking spot on which keeps the area under it at 95-98 (It's a Ceramic). When the room gets cooler I will sometimes turn on the second basking spot though I get reluctant to do so because it can reach temps over 105 I have 6 temp and humidity readers on the separate sections of the tank (two under the basking spots where the heat is being admitted, two on the farther opposite sides of the tank, and two on the door) I feed them the same amount of live food (crickets, worms, etc) separately and always have fresh veggies and water available in the tank. The smaller one will eat more veggies and the larger one, but she has always been smaller despite her appetite. I keep the food varied. If they are two different genders will one be larger than the other? It's not by much. I am making some plans to for another enclosure.

You need to keep the temperature up! Bearded Dragons need a basking spot of 105-110. Thats a fact. Any vet that tells you different is mistaken!
Also what kind of thermometer you using? A dial guage? A stick on tape?

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

That's pretty upsetting especially since she asked a lot of specifics about the temp of the basking area during different times, and none sounded out as an alarm to her. Maybe I should try getting a second opinion at a different place. I'll keep the temperatures higher and I really appreciate the advice. I use the digital thermometers that you stick to the tank and give off the temp and humidity read on them.

With the growing popularity of keeping herps there area lot of vets who are starting to see them who shouldn't! They may do a little reading and think that the resultiing information is "one size fits all".
I am not sure whether its their greed or their egos that won't let them tell people that they really don't have any experience with reptiles!

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

That's pretty scary...How do I go about finding a reputable herp vet, and validate that they know their stuff. I'm still an learning the essentials at this point and I want to make sure that I do the right research to raise my reptiles appropriately.