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How Long Is a Bearded Dragon Pregnant For?

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A pregnant bearded dragon basking on a wood log.

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Female bearded dragons can attain sexual maturity around eight to eighteen months, at which point they can ovulate, produce eggs, and become pregnant. In rare cases, bearded dragons raised in captivity become pregnant as early as six months. With that, we will talk about how long is a bearded dragon pregnant.

A bearded dragon stays pregnant for 4-6 weeks following the mating process. Bearded dragons (pogona vitticeps) can become pregnant even without the presence of a male. Although, if a male is not available, the eggs will be sterile. 

The purpose of this article is to familiarize you with how long a bearded dragon is pregnant. If you’re interested in bearded dragon breeding, we hope this post has the answers for you. Let us examine some reproductive traits of female bearded dragons to understand better what occurs. 

Can Female Dragon Get Pregnant Without Male?

A female bearded dragon getting pregnant without mating with a male or in the absence of a male is called gravid. In the case of a gravid female bearded dragon, the outcome is unfertilized eggs that will never hatch.

Female bearded dragons can produce and carry unfertilized eggs to maturity. The first explanation is if a male is present close to the female, for example, in another cage, his pheromones will arouse her desire for reproduction.

The other explanation is when you overfeed your female bearded dragons; it stimulates egg production without a male. They often have plenty of food accessible in captivity without hunting or foraging.

Note: It’s essential that the extra attention you give the bearded dragon be the same as when it has a fertile egg. Bearded dragons generally don’t breed until they are a year old or older, but sterile pregnancies can occur as early as six months old.

Be aware that some bearded dragons are sterile and never produce eggs that can go unnoticed for a long while. 

It’s also important to note that infertile pregnancies only produce one clutch of eggs, whereas viable pregnancies might produce many clutches.

How Do You Know If a Female Bearded Dragon Is Pregnant?

There are numerous clear signals that a female bearded dragon is pregnant and about to lay a clutch of eggs. Bearded dragons are frequently mis-sexed, particularly by pet dealers and unskilled breeders and owners. Therefore, if a bearded dragon exhibits any of these behaviors, it may be female. 

The following are the most prevalent signs: 

Discomfort and a Reduced Level of Activity

Has your bearded dragon become restless? Pregnant female bearded dragons might look lazy, and they may also feel discomfort as they prepare to lay eggs. They will reduce activity throughout the pregnancy, spending most of their time lying close to heat lights or heat lamps.

Digging 

Female bearded dragon require an appropriate location to lay their eggs. The bearded dragons will begin digging holes and caves in whatever soft ground they come across when pregnant. If they don’t find a suitable spot, they’ll not lay eggs and might get egg-bound, necessitating veterinarian intervention.

If the Pregnant Female Bearded Dragon Belly Appears Swollen

A pregnant bearded dragon appears more significant due to the development of its eggs. Moreover, if you press your hand on the belly of a dragon, you will feel specific marble-like structures.

Generally, you may check this by palpating her belly gently. If she is pregnant, you will feel her outline of multiple eggs, and it will have the same sensation as a bag of marbles. A gravid female bearded dragon will lay eggs between 15 to 35 in a single clutch. After fertilization, gestation lasts around 4–6 weeks.

Feeding

Lately, she has had an insatiable appetite before losing interest in food? Moreover, you’ll notice they consume more food than they did previously. Female bearded dragons will be picky about what they consume.

Bearded dragons require additional minerals such as calcium, and not all meals contain calcium.

Consult Your Vet

You can take your bearded dragon to the veterinary if you believe she is pregnant. Your vet will let you know whether your bearded dragon is pregnant and provide you guidance on how to take care of her and the offspring.

How Do You Care For a Pregnant Bearded Dragon?

After determining that your bearded dragon can lay eggs, there are a few procedures to follow to ensure the safety of both the dragon and the eggs.

They include:

Appropriate Diet

Female pregnant bearded dragon require a calcium-rich diet essential for egg production and shell hardening. The eggs obtain calcium from the dragon’s body. If the bearded dragon lay eggs consume more calcium than what you provide in the diet, it might result in a calcium deficit.

Calcium deficiency can lead to Metabolic Bone Disease, one of the most common causes of death in bearded dragons. Besides that, calcium deficiency results in weak bones and teeth.

Suppose the calcium levels are too low to promote egg development. In that case, it will make it difficult for the eggs to exit the dragon’s body, resulting in lay eggs binding, also called dystocia. Supplementing your bearded dragon with calcium is not difficult as you can find it in foods such as collard greens, kale, dandelion leaves, and turnip greens.

Build a Lay Box

You must provide an appropriate location for your bearded dragon to lay their eggs, and you can make that happen by creating a lay box.

Locate an eight-gallon box with a cover, fill it halfway with moist sand or vermiculite, and set it in the tank. You may create a separate part in the tank for a bearded dragon to deposit its lay eggs.

Exercise and Living Conditions

Apart from proper nutrition, ensure that your bearded dragon gets enough workouts to strengthen its muscles, making egg-laying more straightforward.

Also, it would be best if you managed the vivarium’s humidity and temperature. When bearded dragons become too hot or cold, it has a detrimental effect on their general health and can even result in egg binding.

What Should You Do After Your Bearded Dragons Lay Eggs?

Once the female bearded dragon lay her eggs, she will require more hydration and nutrition, and it would be best if you increased the supply of fluids and proteins. After laying her eggs, your bearded dragon will be exhausted, and her appearance will change drastically. She will appear thin and wrinkled and will lose a lot of weight. 

You might see the fat pads on top of her head have shrunk, and those surrounding her tail also reduced. The female gets depleted of calcium and energy during the egg production, digging/nesting, and laying processes. Supplements, particularly calcium, will have to be temporarily increased following egg-laying. 

Incubation and Care of Bearded Dragon Eggs

Ensure to keep the soil between 80 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit and 75 percent humidity by spraying the soil regularly after placing the eggs in the moistened, clean bedding. If the eggs are viable, they will hatch after 55 to 75 days. 

However, if they are infertile, they cannot hatch, and you can dispose of them at any time.

You can check if the egg is viable by looking for a reddish embryo using a flashlight. Candling refers to the process of lighting through an egg to examine its contents. Handling a fertilized egg might injure the developing bearded dragon within, so be careful not to overdo it. 

It would be best if you candled or rotated the eggs a few days after the bearded dragon lay the eggs. If you don’t candle the bearded dragon’s egg, you run the risk of the embryo being detached from the egg.

Caring for viable bearded dragon eggs can be time-consuming and laborious. As a result, most breeders choose incubators since they can monitor the eggs as they hatch. Examine the temperature and humidity levels inside the incubator carefully, and keep an eye out for mold growth on the eggs. 

Moving the eggs more often than necessary can damage them. If possible, try to avoid exposing and moving the eggs every day. Using a hygrometer and thermometer that sits inside the nesting with the eggs while waiting for hatching is the best option if you don’t have an incubator.

How Long Do Dragon Eggs Take to Hatch?

It may take 55 – 75 days for bearded dragon eggs to hatch in the incubator. After your female bearded dragon lay eggs, you must take them immediately and place them in an incubator. 

While it is feasible to construct your DIY incubator, regulating humidity and temperature to protect the baby dragons within the eggs will be tough.

We recommend that you purchase a reptile egg incubator which is the ideal approach to ensure that the maximum number of eggs hatch. After the babies hatch, they require your care for more than eight weeks before they can even survive on their own. At this time, you can consider giving or selling them away.

FAQs About Bearded Dragons

Conclusion on How Long Is a Bearded Dragon Pregnant For?

Bearded dragons will remain pregnant for four to six weeks, and the eggs will hatch between two and three months. When pregnant, you may help them by giving them healthy food, exercise, perfect living circumstances, and an excellent location to deposit the eggs. 

Ensure that you keep the female bearded dragons inside her terrarium and provide her with enough calcium supplements. If all goes according to plan, they should hatch healthy eggs each season.

For these and more tips, make sure to sign up so that you don’t miss out once we publish new articles on bearded dragons. 

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