Hey all!

[Renee Hatch]

Hi everyone!
My name is Renee and I am currently a student at Cal State San Marcos. I am an outgoing and outdoorsy girl who is always up for an adventure. I started to get back into climbing recently and look forward to becoming a stronger climber. To keep it short, anything in the outdoors I do it.
I am the owner of two bearded dragons, Mushu and Mulan. They are about two years old and Mulan had her third clutch last night (24 eggs). I absolutely love these guys, but what my main goal is, is to keep the eggs alive. I don't know too much about the breeding or what to do during and after her pregnancy, so, if anyone has helpful tips it would be much appreciated!!

 

[Germ]

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Some good info that may be of use to you,​

LAY BIN SETUP​

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EGG LAYING & THE THINGS THAT YOU WILL NEED​

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TO BREED OR NOT TO BREED: A REALITY CHECK​

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Are you housing Mushu & Mulan together?​

 

[Renee Hatch]

Yes I am housing them together

 

[Germ]

Some more info that you may seriously want/need to consider ...
Is Bearded Dragon Co-habitation a good plan?

 

[Renee Hatch]

I have had my dragons in the same cage for over two years and they seem very happy together. They never fight, more sleep together and follow each other around. If I take one out to play with, hold or let roam around in my room, the other will just sit by the glass and watch the other. As soon as I reunite them they are buddy buddy again.
Thank you so much for the links to look at!

 

[Germ]

There is not only the dominance issues, which can only take once, the first time, for serious injury to occur, but the over breeding & multiple clutching, are not in the best interest of your female's long term life expectancy. 3 clutches in less than a year's time is very hard on the female & it will not stop, housed with the Male.

What you do is entirely up to you, but experience has proven, forced cohabitation is not in the best interests of your BDs' health & wellbeing.

Good Luck

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

Welcome to the BDF Community! Small world as...I once had great hopes and dreams of climbing and actually was quite accomplished. There are few things more exhilarating than a nice solo free climb on a shear face or to be first to be lead climber and point setter on a virgin rock! But alas I had to put my climbing feats behind me after a miss grab on a finger hold followed by 4 dislodged pitons dropped me 185 feet and slammed me back into the face of the cliff I was scaling at the time I have a lot of great memories though and a nifty "bionic" left knee for a souvenir...lol.
I also used to have a pair of Pugs named Mushu and Mulan that to this day I miss very much as they were truly amazing creatures,indeed!

You should really seriously rethink your dragons' living arrangement. I understand that you have had them together in the same tank for two years but the truth of the matter is that you have been extremely lucky in that time if there have been no instances or injuries and I can assure you that that is all it has been...plain and simple luck.
If you will but do a little research into these creatures you will discover that they are not social nor are they communal animals by nature. In the wild they are born and are on their own from day one. There is no nurturing by either parent. They go out and "stake out" their own ground and live solitary lives only coming together for very brief periods of time during mating season to reproduce and as soon as the male and female mate they part ways and go back to their solitary lives. These are also not monogamous creatures and mating is done opportunistically.
By the way in case you have not witnessed bearded dragon mating it is not a very lovey-dovey act and in fact can be quite violent even to the point of serious injury to the female.
I would venture to say that one of the most common mistakes that bearded dragon keepers make is misinterpretation. What I mean by that is that the see their dragon or dragons act and re-act to things and mis-read those actions and reactions for what they truly are. I attribute this to not doing enough research on the creatures before bringing them home from the pet shop. And yes I agree that they are so very adorable and they are so very "friendly" and "docile" that how could they could they possibly have another side to them, right?
Truth is they only have one side to them and it is us as humans who are misinterpreting them.
The facts are that these creatures are dominance based beings that do not view the world as we do. The most dominant dragon is the dragon that gets the best basking spot meaning the best sunlight that they need to grow and thrive. They also get the best and most of the food that is available in the area. They will also defend the territory that they stake out readily and to the death in order to maintain their dominance.

As mentioned before they live their lives solitary by choice. They do not co-habitate in the wild because to do so means a constant source of stress and threat in their territory.

Folks always point to the cute pics that are all over the Net showing two or more dragons basking in the Sun together or "cuddling" together and say "Oh they love each-other's company"....Nothing could be further from the truth. What you are actually seeing is a blatant display of Dominance and Submission between the creatures involved. Whichever dragon is on the top is dominating the one underneath and the one underneath is submitting therefor getting whatever is left over of the prized Sunlight.

Here is another example...The "docile dragon"...when you pick up your dragon and hold him/her and they do that snuggling/cuddling thing that we all love our dragons to do in reality your dragon isn't snuggling and cuddling with you because they love doing it at all. What is really happening is that you are a much larger creature and your dragon recognizes you as such and is submitting to you holding it for a period of time. They "snuggle" to get close to the warmth generated by your body because they are cold-blooded creatures that can't produce their own heat.

I am not trying to disillusion you about your dragon or bearded dragons in general in the least, far from it because I am a firm believer in bearded dragons being one of the most rewarding and pleasurable reptiles that you can own. What my intention is however is to have you re-think how you see your dragons and to start looking at things from their perspective for their well-being and to make you an even better dragon keeper. That directly translates into a longer,happier and healthier adventure that you and your dragons can have together.

Germ provided you with an excellent link pertaining to the dangers of forced co-habitation of these dragons. ANY time that two or more dragons are kept together in the same enclosure is forced co-habitation because they have absolutely no desire to share territory with another dragon at all. To them whether you see it or not another dragon in their space is a potential threat and at best a constant stress for them. It is a volatile situation that can and will eventually lead to serious injury or even death. It is also a situation that can be easily remedied by simply getting a second enclosure and separating them thereby giving them their own house where they have no competition and can be the King or Queen of their territory as they by nature want and need to be in order to truly thrive.

Re-look at the link that Germ provided. Then do a bit more research for yourself to see that what both of us are saying to you is truth. Ask yourself this..."If there is even the most remote possibility of one of my dragons hurting the other that I could have prevented from happening is it worth it to take the chance...to depend on my luck holding out?" Please do the right and best thing for them and separate them as soon as possible.

Again Welcome to the BDF Community Glad to have you aboard!

Enjoy!