Bearded Dragons do not "need friends."

In the wild Bearded Dragons are able to leave or escape if they feel threatened, stressed, due to food scarcity, or competition.

In captivity however, they are unable to escape and therefore can suffer from unnecessary stress, dominance issues (often unrecognizable to human caregivers), territorialism, submission, fighting, injuries, over-breeding, malnutrition/anorexia, lack of heat and UVA/UVB, etc.

When Bearded dragons come across each other in the wild, they will often bask together, determine territory, which may include fighting, and they perform courting and breeding rituals;  then they take off and go about their own business.

Bearded Dragons do not live in families in the wild, nor do they have any parental responsibilities for their young beyond producing, laying, and safely burying their eggs, they do not come back to check on them, protect them, or care for them in any way.  As a matter of fact, if they were to come upon a small lizard (one of their babies or not) they would likely eat it!

Territorialism in reptiles does not necessarily manifest as aggression.

It may also manifest as:

One dragon getting larger than the other - The larger one will have the ability to eat more, because at feeding time it can weigh down the smaller one, by climbing on and over it.  This prevents the smaller one from catching food as readily as it might otherwise.

Taking over the basking area(s) - By stacking and selecting the best and hottest spots for themselves.  This results in the smaller one not getting as hot as it needs to, and it also doesn't get the amount of UV rays it needs.  This means they don't digest their food properly, and results in slower growth rate and digestive disorders, and weakened immune system functions.

Eating more food than the others -  The larger dragons will need to eat more in order to sustain themselves, so when the smaller dragons tire from feeding, the bigger ones continue to eat.  Later, when the smaller one is ready to eat more, there is less available as leftovers because the larger dragon has already consumed it.

• If you do try to keep more than one bearded dragon in the same enclosure and they are less than 4-6 months of age, it is extremely important that they both be the same or very similar in size AND weight.  Otherwise the more dominant one will take over and boss around the smaller likely causing stress, health issues, inability to attain full size, injuries, and many other issues you may not recognize until it is too late.

• Hatchling bearded dragons housed together may exhibit territorialism, it may cause stress and sometimes malnutrition or death, it is always recommended that hatchling dragons be kept in small groups (6-10 or even smaller) and separated by size/weight (monitored and moved around constantly as they grow).

• Hatchlings of the same size and weight should only be housed together until they are about 4-6 months of age when they begin to hit puberty, at which time breeding, courting, fighting, etc will become more prevalent if not separated.

• It is NOT recommended to house more than one Bearded Dragon in any enclosure once they reach puberty beginning at 4 months of age.  No matter the size of the enclosure and no matter the gender mix, no matter how well they seem to be getting along.

• Males should always be kept alone, especially once they hit puberty, which generally happens around 4-6 months of age.  Males will fight with other males.  Males will breed or attempt to breed with females whether fully developed and capable or not.