injured bearded dragon

Question
I got 2 bearded dragons in DEC. and they where in the same tank at the pet store,and they told me that I could keep them in the same tank at home. one of my dragons is a half size bigger than my small one.I'm not sure their sexes but I know that they are under 1 year old. My problem is that the bigger one bit and injured the small ones front left leg today and all it can do is drag it around. What can I do to help the healing proses and how long does it take to heal? Why would my bigger dragon do that? And how can you tell what their sex is?

Answer
Hello Candice,

Unfortunately, the people at the pet store are not always right.  It is never recommended to keep a larger dragon in with a smaller dragon.  
They can appear to get along initially or for awhile, but one day, all of the sudden bite or attack the other one.  They truly are solitary animals, & prefer to be alone.  Though they are social, they do best on their own because of dominance problems such as this.
You may have 2 males, but unless they are old enough to sex, you can't be sure.  
the first thing that you need to do is separate them immediately before he gets injured further.  
You wont be able to keep them in the same tank again, so try to get a totally new setup fixed up for one of them.  

As far as the injury, you are probably going to have to get him to the vet.  Chances are, he will lost part of that leg.  Do your best right now, to keep it clean by soaking the area in a diluted betadine along with using polysporin or neosporin antibiotic ointment on it daily.  You will need to keep a close eye on it, for discoloration.  If that starts to happen, it is tissue dying or necrosis.  There is a good chance of infection starting because it was a bite.

Is he eating right now?  Does he appear to be in pain?  Right now, try to keep him from climbing or moving around too much.  Does it look like anything is broken?

Tracie