Bringing out the colours

[bundysnake]

Hello,

Just wondering who here houses their dragons in trios? 2 females & 1 male?

I have been doing this for a while and the dragons are around 18months old now, they all get along fine but what i have noticed is that the 2 females never show any of there true red colours and are generally just dark grey but the male is always glowing bright yellow. I know for a fact that the 2 females i have are bright blood red as i have seen it a few times.

Is there any way to make them all show their colours?

Cheers,
Bundysnake

 

[egg 80]

hi and welcome to the mad house lol only joking.
tbh unless your looking into or want to breed housing your females with your male isnt a good idea,beardies are loners and usualy only contact other beardies to breed, the females you have in there may be stressed out with the male causing hassle constantly, the male will be taking best pick of the food and basking spots etc thus causing your females health to go down hill and stressing them out. if your looking into or want to breed there are alot of factors to look into:
time (how much time do you have to give the baby beardies to give them a good start in life).
have you done research into beardie husbandry.
cost to feed the little fellas. staple 2-3 times a day as many as will eat in 15 mins and fresh salad everyday.
cost to house the little fellas (no more than 5 to a viv). so thats multiple setups x amount of uv lights and starters, x amount of basking lights, vivs and spare ones incase you get some fighters or nippers
being there to keep the vivs clean and bactirea free.
and incubation
on top of all that you gotta keep the little fellas for as long as it takes to sell them
and cost of doing all of the above plus leccy bills etc.
im not wanting to put you off at all i am giving you a bit of construcive critisim to help prepare you, im sure some more experianced people on here will add more to the info given

paul

 

[zebraflavencs]

Hi there and welcome to our little corner of sanity !

Now I do know that multiples were housed together in the past, however I think Paul hit it on the nail... the girls could be stressed, and not showing their colors due to the male. They are all of breeding age, and he may just be all colored up due to the ladies.. They may not share that same... feeling. Try to separate at least the ladies from the male, and see if that doesn't help out a bit.

Also, what size enclosure are they all sharing ? Do each of them have a separate basking area that has uvb ?
Also, how old and what kind/brand of uvb are you using ?
Hope this helps out !
Janie

 

[renich]

I have to agree with everyone. I think the females are stressed therefore not showing their colors.

 

[bundysnake]

they are in a 1800x600x600 enclosure, UV is supplied by a Megaray in the warm end and a 5.0 UV compact fluro in the cool end. The enclosure has 2 basking spots and the male actually sits in the cool end with the compact uv whilst the 2 females bask up under the Megaray.

Thanks for all you info, i have done quite a bit of research into breeding already. All my hatchling beardies will be kept in outdoor enclosures as i live in Sunny QLD Australia.

 

[egg 80]

so your viv is 6' x 2' x 2' had to get calculator out lol to convert from mm-inch and feet, the 5%uvb isnt much use as they need a higher uvb rate and the compacts are a bit usless even if was the right rate what are your temps in there?
oh yeh pics please they are essential on here lol and could you please post some pics of the outdoor enclosures as im sure some will have questions about them

paul

 

[crypticdragons]

they are in a 1800x600x600 enclosure, UV is supplied by a Megaray in the warm end and a 5.0 UV compact fluro in the cool end. The enclosure has 2 basking spots and the male actually sits in the cool end with the compact uv whilst the 2 females bask up under the Megaray.

Thanks for all you info, i have done quite a bit of research into breeding already. All my hatchling beardies will be kept in outdoor enclosures as i live in Sunny QLD Australia.

Though I am not completely spun up on the care practices used in Australia, im fairly certain its universally accepted that its not a good idea for the health and general being of the females to be permanently housed with a male. I would suggest partitioning tank off to give the male and the two females separate areas or build a tank for the male and leave the females in their current tank. The reason you really arent seeing their colors is due to stress. When dragons are stressed they get dark splotches on their underbellies and their colors tend to be very dull, while when they are happy the stomachs are creamy white and their colors are more vibrant. Not trying to tell you how to do things but even for breeding purposes they should still not permanently live together. They should only be together for the purposes of breeding and then the male should be separated from the females.