Pardon the typos--writing at the library...

Okay, here is another serious question for Tricia Powers or anyone else that extensive WD experience (why is it I fear that Atty Gen Gonzalez is not comfortable with the use of "WD?")

To wit: Are male water dragons really compatible? Most literature says yes--far more compatible than say, male bearded dragons, iguanas or chameleons. I think that comedian who goes by the name of Henry Lizardlover has multiple male Wds; and I am sure we have all seen zoo exhibits with more than one male.

HOW-EV-AH--and I of all people should have remembered this--these are reptiles, and some aspects of their behaviors are seasonal, such as increased breeding interest when the days get longer. For those who read my other thread where I wuz crying like a little b***h over my show specimen with clipped spines, it was not really "nasty"--the Aussie WD was bobbing his head; the green WD ignored him; the Aussie WD grabbed the green WDs nuchal crest; the green shrugged him off; they bobbed their heads; I told em to knock it off. End of story... Except, you know those stories of those nutjob models who get one scar and want to kill themselves? Well, with apologies to Chris Rock, I'm not saying they should--BUT I UNDERSTAND...)

So, considering my limited space: I feel that I rescue enough herps, and I want just one piece of green arm candy. Can I get another male and avoid occasional spats? Or if want another one, the safest bet is isolated spaces?

How say you guys?

To keep it simple and short you cannot put two terretorial species in the same enclosure for any length of time and expect them to never interact with each other. Plainly put: there is no guarantee

Agreed. You can get 2 males of course, but, they can not cohabitat. They will need seperate enclosures and most likely to be taken out one at a time.

I have also had several male bearded dragons that were just as compatible as my females Bearded Dragons.

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MARSHA
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Generally speaking males have a harder time cohabitating than 2 females or a male female pair (if you can tollerate breeding)

I would set up a separate space for each dragon, better safe than sorry. Especially if you are so concerned with its looks.

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The main consern with cohabitating 2 or more males is with territory. Think of it as placing 2 male iguanas in a cardboard box each containing a powerful tail and aggressive attitudes. especially in the presence of a female. Ever seen the movie preditor.? Yeah really not a good thing to have.

And you have to realize that most of the people who keep multiple males together are not using cages but actually huge room sized environments where the competing animals have room enough to evade each other. Most of us do not have that option.

A better description of him I don't believe I have ever heard!

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Merlin,
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I think they do get along better than, say, two male iguanas housed together. They probably won't kill each other. But they are solitary and territorial in the wild, which means that they will fight if housed together.

Because one of the males would have to establish dominance, you also have potential health issues with the dragon who's not dominant. They can get nervous and stop eating or develop other health problems. Not that it happens all the time, but it's something you'd definitely have to watch out for.

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