Bearded dragons have an easy-going personality, are a reasonable size, and have an attractive appearance, all of which make them very popular to keep as pets.[1] Bearded dragons that are kept as pets can be bred year-round, so you can breed your dragons at any point during the year. Ensuring a successful breeding will take a lot of time and preparation, so make sure that you have a full understanding of the entire process before breeding your dragons.
EditSteps
EditPreparing to Breed Your Bearded Dragons
- Determine the sex of your bearded dragons. There are several physical characteristics that will help you tell your male and female dragons apart. The male bearded dragon’s head is larger than that of a female. In addition, his abdominal girth will be smaller and he will have larger pores in his anal region.[2]
- Another way to determine the sex is to look at the hemipenile bulges. To do this, hold your bearded dragon on his back in your hand and gently bend his tail toward his back at a 90-degree angle; be careful not to damage the vertebrae in his tail when you bend it. Two hemipenile bulges on either side of the tail indicate a male; one centered bulge or no bulge at all indicates a female.[3]
- Take your bearded dragons to your veterinarian. It is essential that your bearded dragons are in optimal condition prior to breeding. Your veterinarian can give them a thorough physical exam and let you know if they are in good health or are in need of treatment. He or she can also test your dragons for atadenovirus, which is very contagious among dragons and can cause serious disease.[4]
- Bearded dragons should not be bred if they test positive for atadenovirus, since it can be passed from mother to baby.[5]
- Keep in mind that a bearded dragon that has the virus may not be shedding it at the time of the test, leading to a false negative result. For this reason, it would be good to have your dragons tested repeatedly before breeding.[6]
- Have your veterinarian check your bearded dragons’ ages, lengths, and weights. For optimal breeding, the male should be at least 18 months old and the female should be at least 24 months old.[7] They should both be at least 18 inches in length from snout to tail. [8] The female should weigh at least 350 grams.[9]
- Supplement your female bearded dragon’s diet. Your female will need a daily supplement that contains calcium and vitamin D. This will help ensure that her eggs will be adequately calcified and that she will not suffer from a calcium deficiency after laying her eggs. She will also need a general multivitamin.[10]
- Your female should receive this supplementation at least several weeks before breeding.[11] Talk with your veterinarian if you have questions on how to incorporate these supplements into your female bearded dragon’s diet.
- Prepare the breeding habitat. Although your female and male bearded dragons will only temporarily live together in the same enclosure, it is important that the enclosure is set up for an optimal breeding situation. First, the enclosure should be large enough to comfortably house two adult bearded dragons; your local pet store can help you determine the exact enclosure size that you will need.[12]
- Glass aquariums are very popular enclosures for bearded dragons, but other types are also available, including melamine cages and PVC cages. Using a screen lid cover will keep your bearded dragons from escaping and will allow for fresh air circulation.[13]
- Use a thermometer to maintain the overall temperature at 77 to 88 degrees Farenheit during the day and the mid 70’s at night.[14]
- Place a basking light (available at your local pet store) outside of the cage to provide a focal basking spot in the cage at a temperature of 105 degrees Farenheit.[15][16]
- Position full-spectrum light bulbs (UVA and UVB) above the enclosure, about one foot from where your dragons will likely spend most of their time. The UVA and UVB rays from the bulbs will help keep your bearded dragons healthy by helping them produce vitamin D.[17][18]
- Places branches and rocks in the enclosure. The branches will give your bearded dragons something to climb on, and the rocks will give your dragons opportunities to rest and hide from each other.[19]
- Prepare the lay box. The lay box is where your female dragon will lay her eggs. The lay box should be an eight to ten-gallon plastic container with a secure lid that allows for air circulation. Fill the box with about eight inches of either topsoil or potting soil, along with sand.[20]
- Purchase an incubator. The eggs will need to be removed from the lay box and incubated. It would be best to purchase a pre-made incubator at your local pet store to reduce the likelihood of malfunction. The Hovabator is a commonly used incubator for bearded dragon eggs.[23]
- Fill small containers with either vermiculite or perlite (available at your local gardening store) and place them in the incubator. Press your thumb in each container to make a depression where the egg will go, and cover the container with a lid that allows for air circulation.[24]
- Prepare your bearded dragons for brumation. Brumation is the process of decreasing the temperature and photoperiod (lighting schedule) for your bearded dragons. When the male and female are in their separate cages, decrease the temperature to 80 degrees Farenheit during the day and 60 degrees Farenheit at night. Decrease their exposure to light: 10 hours of light and 14 hours of darkness.[25]
EditBreeding Your Bearded Dragons
- Place your bearded dragons in the breeding enclosure. Your dragons probably will not mate right away, and will need some time to adjust to their new surroundings. Making this enclosure ready for them beforehand will get them more comfortable. When the male is ready to breed, his beard will darken to black.[28]
- Observe the courtship behavior. Your bearded dragons will exhibit courtship behaviors before the actual mating. Both your male and female will start bobbing their heads; the female may also start waving one of her arms to indicate her receptiveness to be bred. Your male may also stomp his feet and chase your female around the enclosure.[29][30]
- Your bearded dragons may also twitch their tails as a courtship behavior.[31]
- Observe the mating behavior. To mate, your male will quickly climb on the back of your female and bite her neck; biting her neck keeps her from running off before the mating process is complete.[32] Your male will then press his cloacal region against that of your female.[33] The entire mating process only take a few minutes.
- Return your bearded dragons to their separate cages after one week. It is recommended to leave your dragons together for about a week after mating. After this one week, place them in their separate cages for one week. Put them together for another week for another mating session. You may need to do this several times to ensure a successful mating.[34]
- Continue to feed your female her supplements after the mating. Increasing her exercise and keeping her well hydrated after mating will help her be better prepared to lay her eggs.[35]
EditLetting Your Female Dragon Lay Her Eggs
- Observe her in her separate cage. Your female will demonstrate behavior that shows that she is ready to lay her eggs. She may start pacing her cage and looking a little anxious. She will also eat less and frantically dig in her cage.[36] When she is exhibiting this behavior, gently move her to the lay box so that she can lay her eggs.
- Allow your female dragon to lay her eggs in the lay box. You will see her digging in the enclosure to create an area to lay her eggs. It may not be easy to tell when she has laid her eggs, especially if you didn’t see her do it. If this is the case, you will know that she has laid eggs when you see that her belly looks more deflated and flat.[39] Remove her from the lay box after she has laid her eggs.
- If you do not think that your female has laid all of her eggs, take her to your veterinarian immediately.[40] She may be suffering from egg binding, which is a serious medical condition that would keep her from laying her eggs.
- Female bearded dragons typically lay their eggs in the afternoon or early evening. You may want to start watching her around this time of day to see if she looks ready to lay her eggs.[41]
- Females usually lay between about 24 eggs at a time, but can also lay as few as15 and as many as 50.[42][43] A group of eggs is called a clutch.
- Remove your female bearded dragon from the lay box. After she has laid her eggs, she should be placed back in her original cage. In general, female bearded dragons are not very maternal. Also, captive female bearded dragons tend not to guard their eggs.[44]
EditIncubating the Eggs
- Place the eggs in the incubator. To do this, lift the eggs with your hands or a spoon. It is important to be extremely gentle when you are transferring the freshly laid eggs from the lay box to the incubator. As best you can, keep them in the same orientation as you found them in the lay box. It may be helpful to mark the top of the egg with a pencil to keep you from accidentally turning it upside down when placing it in the incubator.[45]
- Place each egg in an individual container in the incubator. The egg should fit snugly within the thumb depression that you made earlier. Make sure that the egg is not covered with the vermiculite or perlite and place the lid on the container.[46]
- Maintain the incubator temperature at 82 to 86 degrees Farenheit. Use a digital thermometer to monitor the temperature. If the temperature gets too hot within the incubator, the embryos could die inside the eggs.[47] The incubator should be in a room that is cooler than the temperature inside the incubator; a warmer room would increase the incubator’s temperature, which puts the embryos at risk.[48]
- Monitor the eggs on a regular basis. Pay close attention to see if the eggs look wet or overly dry. Condensation on the eggs can be deadly to the embryos, so it is very important to make sure that the eggs do not have any moisture on them. If they look wet, take the lid off the incubator for 24 hours to release the excess humidity and let the vermiculite or perlite dry.[51]
- If the eggs look dimpled or look like they’re about to collapse, they may be too dry. Use room temperature water to dampen the vermiculite, making sure not to make it so damp that the egg gets wet.[52]
- Healthy and fertile eggs will increase to about twice their original size and turn chalk white. Eggs that are yellow, pink, or green may not be fertile.[53]
- Eggs with mold on them may or may not be fertile. Talk with your veterinarian if you are unsure what to do with the moldy eggs.
- The eggs will begin to hatch in about 60 to 70 days.[54]
EditHatching and Caring for the Bearded Dragon Babies
- Observe changes in the egg’s appearance. Just prior to hatching, the eggs may begin to deflate and develop water droplets. These changes are completely normal and should not be confused with signs that the egg is infertile. You will also see a slit in the eggs exterior, which is caused by a baby bearded dragon’s egg tooth on the tip of their snout. The baby will make a slit large enough to fit its snout and head through, and will rest with its head out for about one day.[55]
- Avoid helping the baby bearded dragons emerge from their eggs. Let the babies hatch on their own, which will typically take about 24 to 36 hours. You will probably notice that all of eggs will hatch within a day or two of each other.[56]
- Keep the babies in the incubator for their first 24 hours of life to help them adjust to their new environment.[57]
- Remove any babies that did not survive.
- Group the baby dragons together according to size. Line their enclosure with moist paper towels, which will help keep them hydrated during their first few weeks of life. You can also lightly mist them with water until they begin drinking water on their own. In terms of food, the yolk from their individual eggs will provide them with nutrition for a few days, so you can wait until around day 3 to feed them real food (crickets, chopped greens).[58]
- You will need at least a 20 gallon tank to hold the baby dragons. They will need larger tanks as they grow older.[59]
- Provide the babies with plenty of food so that they do not begin nipping at each other’s toes or tails. [60]
- Place the larger and more dominant babies in a separate enclosure so that the smaller ones can eat. [61]
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EditSources and Citations
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