leopard geckos and bearded dragons

Question
Is it possible to safely house a leopard gecko and a bearded dragon together in a 55 gal. tank?

Answer
Chris,

Thank you for your question regarding leopard geckos and bearded dragons co-habitating. There are many factors to consider when you go to house two different species in an enclosure together. I have given much thought to this question, because believe it or not, you are the first person to ask me this particular question. Anyhow, after deliberating for a bit on this topic, I have come back to several fundamental concerns that I am asking you to address before you consider this any further:

1- The Leopard Gecko is nocturnal and the Bearded Dragon is diurnal (not nocturnal)
2- The Bearded Dragon and the leopard gecko eat slightly different diets
3- The Bearded Dragon will require 10-12 hours per day of sun-simulated lighting to include a UVB source to prevent metabolic bone disease
4- The Leopard Gecko does not require ultraviolet radiation of any sort (however, this will not hurt him)
5- Leopard Geckos have an innate calling to fight other male geckos to the death and if you end up with two males in there, who's to say how that leopard gecko would feel about a male bearded dragon? You may experience a lot of hostility from him and end up with a duel.

Here are my general thoughts on the matter:

I cannot in good conscience say to you that it is a "good idea". I do not personally feel it is a bad idea if you approach it properly. I think you would really have to take into consideration that you have two species that are not going to be on the same sleep schedule and you would want to always provide a retreat / hide box for whichever one wants to sleep while the other is awake. I think what is working in your favor is that they are both desert species and benefit from a dry heat, so it's not like you would be mixing a tropical species who thrives on humidity with a desert species who needs dry heat.
You would certainly have to provide each of them their respective diets. The leopard gecko will need smaller prey because the beardie's prey will be too large to digest well or even to swallow, for that matter.
You definately need a UVB light in there for the beardie, but the leopard gecko should be asleep while you have that light running and then when you turn off the bright lights, you would need a nocturnal spotlamp for the leopard gecko so he can be warm when he is awake at night. you would probably end up feeding them at two separate times. You would want to present each of them their food when they first wake up. So you would be feeding the beardie at dawn and the gecko at dusk.
Finally, you have to watch out that they do not become hostile toward each other and always be prepared to have a backup plan for having to separate them. If you consider all of the above factors and provide the necessary enclosure, you should be able to co-habitate them with minimal problems. I hope this is making sense.

Anyhow, please follow up with further questions.

Thank You,

Sara J Gwerder
President
Raptor Rescue Iguana Sanctuary
Shreveport, LA
www.RaptorRescue.org

Good Diet + UVB Radiation + Proper Temperatures + Set Daily Schedule = Healthy + Happy Reptile