The big question here is why? Why house multiple males and females together in an enclosure when there’s really no need to and can pose a serious risk to your animals. I guess I’m just not seeing reward outweighing the risk here.
As someone who’s seen animals rip each other’s literal faces off, Good luck with that. 
Correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s 1 male and 3 females.
Now I myself know people who’ve kept together and they’ve been amazing and others who didn’t get on and had to be separated.
But these all seem to get along fine, no marks, no proof of fighting etc…
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Like I said, the risks vastly outweigh any perceived reward. We’ve been breeding beardeds for well over 2 decades and would never keep males in any other situation but solo. It’s usually “fine” until it’s not. To promote this because “in the wild there is social structure” is pretty feeble. Multiple animals if both sexes kept in what amounts to a climate controlled box, forced to coexist I really don’t think is fair.
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I would agree with you if he was housing males together, but I don’t think he is. Additionally, he is very experienced with beardies and would be able to identify any problems and separate them if they started.
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The man had a donation link on his Facebook profile wanting people to pay for his “multiple dragon setup”
I don’t know if I would call that experienced.
At the end of the day, it’s not really my problem. I just hope no one else sees this and thinks it’s a great idea.
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I don’t think funding has anything to do with experience. I think I remember him mentioning that he was planning on a large setup, I don’t know if that’s the same thing or not, but I don’t have a problem with that.
I agree, I enjoy these updates watching an experienced person provide updates. It’s not the same if a beginner sees this and thinks it’s a good idea. I personally don’t know enough to advocate for it or recommend it. It’s necessary to be able to identify the warning signs before attempting this.
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Funding is absolutely an issue. Getting animals and then soliciting donations for enclosures sets a bad example.
If he already has enclosures he’s keeping the animals in and correct husbandry in those enclosures, why is he building a slightly larger enclosure to house 4+ animals together in, when it would be safer for the animals themselves to remain separate and independent of eachother?
What happens when he introduces these females and that male? I have a pretty solid idea of what will happen myself, and it’s nothing that someone looking to prove a point would ever admit to happening.
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To my knowledge he’s not deceiving or misleading people to donate, so it’s someone’s choice if they want to contribute or not. From my understanding he would be able to provide the enclosure anyways and the donations would just speed up the process.
The purpose of cohabitation them is to provide unique mental enrichment. If he was encouraging people to do this themself and saying that there were no risks involved (which I don’t recall happening in this thread) then I would have a different opinion. If I thought that he wouldn’t be able to provide separate, isolated enclosures if there was a problem I would have a different opinion. Anytime that someone shows examples of alternate methods of keeping (like cohabitation, as long as they aren’t dangerous like outrageous temperatures) I try to learn more about it from them and see examples of it. The only time that I might question their methods is if they are encouraging other people to try it.
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It’s a solid no from me and like I said; the risks heavily outweigh any preceved reward. This isn’t enriching for the animals. It’s stressful. Especially for females being housed constantly with a male. If I was aware that someone was going to do this with animals they were going to try to purchase from me, I would pass on the sale.
I guess we will have to agree to disagree.
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I think it’s a very fine line. I think the stress on the female is reduced when there are multiple females. The only reason I don’t think it’s bad in this case is because of the keeper. I trust that he is making sure that stress is reduced and can identify signs of stress. But, agree to disagree.
The only thing ill say about the funding is this. I had a decent paying job until i didn’t. Now i still have my animals who are still healthy and cared for but that doesn’t mean i wouldn’t still like to do something bigger and better. Along with that i had several folks reachout to me and either ask how they could help or suggest that i should do something like a go fund me which i felt was too much. So I put up a couple of links where people can help if they choose. I have not pushed it other than the original post. But, have you ever heard the phrase, “closed mouths don’t get fed”? As for how I keep them it is based on what i have experienced to be successful and in my 20+ years of keeping beardies this is what has worked for me. I have said numerous times that it doesn’t work for every animal and even with animals where it does work it doesnt mean it will always work. Relationship dynamics between animals change over time and i keep a close eye on my animals. Nobody is missing toes or tail tips they are all of a healthy weight and none are displaying signs of being overly stressed. If they do at any point i have spare enclosures to separate them when and if it becomes necessary to do so.
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One more thing. The enclosure that I will be building is more than “slightly larger”. It will be 2.5 to 3 times the size of the current.
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He’s lookin good!
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M U N C H the innocent plant!
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New to this page but as a long time reptile owner and also a long time cohabber its nice to see some other keepers that know it can be done and do it.
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