By Margaret A. Wissman, DVM, DABVP
I have one male and one female beardie in a very large cage. I was wondering if I could keep a frilled dragon in with them. If I can, would it have to be a female? Would they try to crossbreed?
I would have several questions for you regarding your setup, but regardless of your answers, my answer would be “no.” I don’t think that you should try to house a frilled dragon with your pair of bearded dragons.
First off, if you were planning to breed your beardies, adding another species to the habitat would be a very bad idea. Even if you are not planning to breed the bearded dragons, nature has a funny way of deciding things like this, and they may decide to reproduce on their own.
While it is true that frilled dragons and bearded dragons do have similar heat requirements, both come from Australia (or surrounding islands) and some frilleds are omnivores (some will consume a variety of vegetables and greens, but some won’t), it is not recommended to house frilleds with other species. This could cause undue stress on the dragons and could even pass parasites between the species.
Because different species won’t usually recognize the other’s behaviors and displays, this could result in aggression and stress. While beardies are generally considered to be nonaggressive usually, frilled dragons can be aggressive towards other dragons, as well as other species of lizards and amphibians. This can result in harm to other species housed with frilleds, especially if there is a size difference between the species.
So, if you are really interested in frilled dragons, perhaps you should consider a separate habitat for them. It would be much safer for all species involved.