How common is tail nipping

[ciafardo 4]

I have bred and raised several different species of chameleons and i have never had any tail nipping.Back in the mid to late nineties i hatched numbers of bearded dragons. One thing i can say is beardies are the worse tail nippers of any species i ever worked with . In the classifieds i often see tail nipped chams for sale how is this happening is it do to biting or shed problems and how common is it?Like i said i haven't witnessed this before and i have kept numbers of hatchlings together.

 

[Nicodemayo]

It normally happens with overcrowding, or if you aren't keeping them fed well enough. You can keep lots of babys in large bins or cages if you need to, but the trouble comes if there are to many babies crammed into one smaller space, especially if they're underfed. If you keep cages stocked with food all time, im sure you wont have any issues, even with a crowded cage. Occasionally youll see a cham climb on a sibling and they'll get pissed and start biting, so that is always a possibility.

 

[Julirs]

I just had it happen with three 2 month olds in a plenty big enough bin!

 

[jojackson]

Ive never seen one nip its own tail. One hatchling, one tub. (rack).
Ofcourse if you have several clutches at the same time, this isnt always possible, but its prefrable.
Imagine how much all those little twitching tails and scurrying feet look like something to eat.
A plenty big tub dosent so much elimenate the issue either if there are no hides.
One lizard per tub allows you to monitor feeding and defecation accurately.

 

[ciafardo 4]

Ive never seen one nip its own tail. One hatchling, one tub. (rack).
Ofcourse if you have several clutches at the same time, this isnt always possible, but its prefrable.
Imagine how much all those little twitching tails and scurrying feet look like something to eat.
A plenty big tub dosent so much elimenate the issue either if there are no hides.
One lizard per tub allows you to monitor feeding and defecation accurately.

In a perfect world , wish it were possible just to many and guess i've been lucky..

 

[Pure]

A member here made the mistake of feeding her youngins silk worms, and the next thing she knew they were all trying to eat each other's tale. Was that Amy?

 

[luevelvet]

It can happen for a plethora of reasons; territorial disputes, hunger or by accident. Something that just happened to us was, occasionally some animals will appear to be very tolerant of each other but one will turn and become much more dominant than the other.

My opinion is all adults should be housed separately unless supervised, while neonates and babies should be monitored for early signs of aggression and competition.

Luis