Choosing the best pet is always a tough job for a reptile lover. There is an array of reptiles available that you can keep for pets. Most of them are pretty docile in nature, takes little space and also can be managed by spending few bucks.
Though there are certain varieties of reptiles available, like iguana or anole, but there is quite a close competition between leopard gecko and bearded dragons, as both are equally viable to be the pet of your house. So which one should you choose to keep a pet or can bearded Dragons Live With Leopard Geckos?
The bearded dragons and the leopard gecko both are amazing pets in their own way and totally different from each other, even if they belong to the reptile species. One only thing that is common between them other than the similar species is that they need lots of love and care so that they can live a happy and satisfied life with their owners.
Also, you need to be quite careful with both of them because they are quite territorial in nature. In this guide on reptiles, we will discuss the topic of whether leopard gecko can live together with the bearded dragon or not and what are the various reason behind this. As it is very important to know when you want to put different types of reptiles together that are they compatible with each other or not.
Contents
Can Bearded Dragons and Leopard Geckos be together?
The answer lies in the behaviour and nature of these two reptiles. You can segregate these two creatures on the basis of their attitude and adaptability to the new household when they are brought as a pet.
So you may think of adopting both of them and keeping them together in the same cage. This way you will enjoy the company of both these reptiles and have fun with them.
Most importantly they are not meant to live with each other as both of them are not compatible to live with one another.
Also, it can be very dangerous if we house them together as the bearded dragon causes a threat to the life of the bearded dragon. So because of any reason do not even try to keep the leopard gecko and the bearded dragon together as it is not at all a good idea and also do not try to experiment with this combination because you will regret it later as there are chances that one of them can even die.
Nature of bearded dragon
Bearded dragons are gentle in nature, but they are inquisitive and try to prod on any new things that come in their vicinity. They stay much active during the day but prefer to stay calm during the night. They love to get attention from their owners. They are not much friendly with other reptiles and even two male bearded dragons in the same cage do not live peacefully.
They are passive by nature, but there are differences in them. Not all dragons act the same way. They are not defensive until they find some reason to become irritated. They take a long time to get attached to the owner, but once they are fond of him or her, it will start seeking its attention.
They breed after one year of their birth and their beard turns black when they are tensed for some reason.
Nature of leopard gecko:
The first thing that one should notice about the leopard gecko is, it prefers to live alone. They are often seen living in a group but the group mostly consists of a single male. They are territorial and do not like to share their cage with another male leopard gecko. Even they are not much fond of the gecko of other sex unless it is the time of mating.
They are nocturnal creature, which means, they stay more active when it is night. They have a well-developed body and stout limbs, with the help of which they climb the branches of the trees. They store the excess fat in their tails which helps them to survive through many days without eating any food.
They are typically calm in nature, but sometimes they can bite when they are in a bad mood or are distressed. They show their affection towards the owner and behave in a friendly manner after spending quite a few days with them.
Differences between leopard gecko and the bearded dragon
Though these two are the most common and popular pets, there is no chance that they can be kept together in the same terrarium. There are certain issues that may make the staying of both bearded dragon and leopard gecko impossible.
Both the creatures are territorial:
Reptiles, especially the male ones are territorial. There are no instances where you can find two male reptiles are sharing the same area, not even in the wilderness. They get pretty aggressive and that may result in a fierce fighting amount the two.
If you are an experienced reptile owner, then you may think of taming or training the leopard gecko and the bearded dragon to make them cohabit. But there is no way you can calm these two reptiles in the same vicinity, as they are genetically built that way.
The brain functions signal them to fight the male reptile, may that be of the same species or different ones. The basic need for gaining an advantage in the area of their belonging will initiate the fighting spirit in them.
Size of the tank
An adult leopard gecko and an adult bearded dragon are much unlikely to match my body size. The leopard geckos are a much smaller creature, and when they reach maturity, they are barely 9 inches. But a bearded dragon is a much larger creature when it comes to mature age. The length is nearly 2 ft. and they need a larger and wider space to live in.
A full-grown leopard gecko can survive by a 20-gallon tank which is much smaller than the tank of the bearded dragon. If you force the leopard gecko to live with a giant-sized reptile-like bearded dragon, it surely will be stressed out and fall sick.
The interior requirement
Both these reptiles come from different habitat and thus their need for the environment is much different. Bearded dragons are originated in the dry woods of Australia. Plenty of heat and light is needed to keep the bearded dragon happy and healthy. A UVB ray emitting bulb is needed to keep the digestive system of the dragon working well. Also, they are diurnal and they stay active in the daytime. The night is the time for their resting.
The nature of the leopard gecko is just the opposite of it. They are nocturnal creature and they stay active during the night time. They prefer to rest in the afternoon which is the time of highest activity for the bearded dragon. The need for light is also marginal for them.
They do not need any artificial lighting, if you can provide some natural light to the cage; it will keep them in good health. As they rest in the daytime, they do not need UVB ray for better metabolism. The albino geckos often face problems if you keep them under UVB radiation.
Both these creatures are territorial by nature, and they will possess a threat to each other 24×7. Even if you keep a constant watch on them, there is no guarantee that they will not harm each other. As bearded dragons are huge in size they can attach the small gecko anytime. Also, their sleep cycle and activity time is different, which gives them more chance to attach to each other.
Getting infected by parasites
Both pets can be affected by different kinds of parasites. There are certain ailments that affect a particular breed. You can treat the gecko for some parasite and it may affect the dragon later. Also, the parasites are sometimes more dangerous to the other breed than they are on the primary host.
So this way you will be running into the threat of affecting both the bearded dragon and the leopard gecko. Even if one is infected, the other can stay healthy, if they are not kept in the same terrarium.
Why cannot they live with each other?
There are lots of reasons that tell us that why we should not make the leopard gecko live with the bearded dragon and these reasons have been listed as below:
1. Size difference
There is a large variation in the size of the bearded dragon and the leopard gecko because the bearded dragon is way larger than the leopard gecko and this is a clear indication of the fact that the bearded dragon can easily attack the leopard gecko because the leopard gecko is too small in front of them.
This is one of the main reasons that why you should not make your leopard gecko live with the bearded dragon because it is not at all a good idea and also it is quite dangerous for the leopard gecko.
2. Territorial nature
Both the leopard gecko and the bearded dragon are territorial in nature which means that they want their personal space and do not want to share it with anyone. So it is a huge problem as they will fight for their spaces and because of that the leopard gecko has to bear the brunt and in this process, lots of aggression and fight will take place inside the enclosure. A bearded dragon that is larger in size will always have an upper hand over the leopard gecko. The bearded dragon can easily get hurt or even die in the process.
3. Needs and requirements are different
The needs and requirements for the leopard gecko and the bearded dragon are different which means that they cannot be kept together as the environment differs for them. The bearded dragon can easily harm the leopard gecko and also they can die if they do not get what they actually require.
As for the healthy bearded dragon and the leopard gecko you need to provide them with the best possible environment so that they can live a proper life. This is the reason you cannot keep them together as you will not be able to provide them with appropriate needs and requirements in the case of both the reptiles’ leopard gecko and the bearded dragon.
4. Hunting nature
As the bearded dragon is larger in size this is a clear indication of the fact that they can easily hunt down the leopard gecko when the bearded dragon grows fully.
They can easily eat them up without anyone noticing it because the leopard gecko is too small to defend itself. So this is clear that the bearded dragon and the leopard gecko cannot be kept with each other inside one enclosure as it is too dangerous and also one of them can even lose their life in the process.
You need to understand the nature of both the animals and then decide whether they want to keep them together or not.
5. Stealing of food
The bearded dragon and leopard gecko as we know are territorial in nature but there will be chances that they will be stealing the food of each other in order to fill their stomach this might even lead to overfeeding of the pet and even one can starve due to this food-stealing thing.
The food is essential so you need to provide them with the appropriate amount of food but still stealing will take place. This is why it is not possible to keep both the pets the leopard gecko and the bearded dragon in one place because they can even starve to death.
6. Parasites spreading
The leopard gecko and the bearded dragon have lots of parasites on their body which is good for them or they will not harm the one who is carrying them but it may be quite harmful to the other one.
Due to the spread of the parasites, there will be lots of infections and diseases that can spread inside the enclosure and even the affected one can even die. The bearded dragon and the leopard gecko will not survive in such an environment, making it impossible for them to live with each other and indicating the fact that is not at all meant for staying with each other.
7. Stress
When there will be nothing in favor of the leopard gecko and they are getting harassed and dominated by the bearded dragon then they will start getting stressed and you will also notice that there is a change in the nature of the leopard gecko because they will not be happy at all and they will be sitting in one corner and also not eating anything.
This clearly means that that they are stressed inside the enclosure and they are not at all happy inside it. So this stress will further lead to many diseases and infections in them and eventually, they will die with all this building of stress.
These are the various reasons that tell us that you should not keep the leopard gecko and the bearded dragon together as it is not a good idea and it is a lot more challenging for the leopard gecko than for the bearded dragon.
Conclusion:
Bearded dragons and leopard gecko should not live together. You need to arrange for two separate tanks if you choose to keep both pets. Actually, these two creatures are too territorial and aggressive to even keep the same species in a single tank.
You may not make the mistake of keeping a large tank as that will not help in this case. Even if you dare to keep them in a single terrarium, you will soon realize your mistake. Either of them would be found affected. Finally, they must be kept in different terrariums.
