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How To Breed Bearded Dragons – The Full Guide

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Two bearded dragons in an enclosure, showcasing how to breed bearded dragons.

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First-time bearded dragon breeders or owners may believe all it takes to breed beardies is pairing a male and female bearded dragon. However, breeding beardies is more complicated and expensive than most people think. 

First, consult a reputable breeder. You should be aware of all the precautions that go into the breeding process to ensure the safety of the beardie and its offspring. Information on the genetic history of your pet is vital to the process.

Continue reading this post to get an insight into the methods needed to breed bearded dragons successfully and whether or not breeding is suited for you.

How Do I Get My Bearded Dragons to Breed?

Breeding a bearded dragon is not for the faint at heart. Owners trying it should be responsible with the necessary effort and study to guarantee the most excellent outcome.

When keeping bearded dragons for the first time, you must process a lot of information. We’ll go into depth about each of these processes and discuss every element that a prospective breeder should know in advance.

Consult a Breeder

It would be best if you didn’t go rashly into breeding without seeking guidance from a reputable reptile breeder or an expert specializing in that sector.

Watching the hatchlings hatch, develop, and find homes is extremely exciting and fulfilling. However, it would be best if you asked yourself these questions.

  • What if any of the hatchlings suffer from severe health problems?
  • Should you keep a male and a female bearded dragon in the same enclosure? 

It is vital to assess all possible outcomes, whether positive or negative. Consulting a breeder can help you better understand how many alternative outcomes exist to explore.

Acquaint Yourself With the Genetic Makeup and Lineage of the Dragons You Wish to Breed

When you decide to breed your pet, the first thing that comes to mind is what characteristics you admire in beardies. You may want such features for your infant bearded dragons, including body color, size, etc.

If you want to produce healthy hatchlings, you’ll need to conduct some studies on each parent dragon’s genetic composition. Certain morphs do not mix well, increasing the risk of poor hatchlings and possibly fatal results.

Take Both Bearded Dragons to the Veterinary Clinic

It would be best if you took both of your bearded dragons to the veterinarian before pairing or cohabiting to make sure they are healthy enough to breed.

Both dragons will be examined, weighed, and measured by your veterinarian to see if they are infected with any diseases. Make sure to ask about brumating your bearded dragons while at the vet. You should also confirm with the vet if they are healthy enough to spend the winter indoors.

Get Your Bearded Dragon Ready for Brumation

If your veterinarian gives you the approval to prepare the bearded dragon to brumate, you should begin the procedure in the fall.

Following the end of brumation, both dragons should exhibit behaviors that suggest they are willing to breed. At this time, you can consider pairing them following the completion of the procedures below.

Prepare the Right Supplements for Your Female Bearded Dragon

High-quality nourishment is essential to the breeding process’s success. You should offer a daily fresh vegetable and calcium-rich diet. Also, provide fruits powdered with a supplement once a week. Bear in mind that you must adhere to their exact feeding process and diet to avoid obesity.

After mating, a female beardie will lose between 20% – 30% of its body weight. Feeding the female beardie with water, food, and supplemental calcium. A regular dosage of calcium and Vitamin D can help your female get ready to give the healthiest clatch possible.

Egg production needs a lot of calcium. If there is a calcium deficiency, a female beardie may likely get devastating bone disease, and the embryo would rupture for the eggs killing the offspring. Sunbathing is an effective way to enhance vitamin D or calcium levels.

Ensure that her eggs have enough calcium and that she does not become calcium deficient upon laying them. You will need to provide this supplement for at least two weeks before any breeding attempts.

Establish a Detached Breeding Tank

You should avoid forcing your bearded dragons to live and reproduce together by constructing a separate breeding tank and putting up a new environment. To eliminate (or at the very least decrease) territorial conflict, try creating a different environment for your female and male to breed in.

By relocating them to a different environment, you can reduce the likelihood of the pets fighting. Furthermore, the tank must be large enough to accommodate two bearded dragons.

Therefore, strive for a minimum of 75 gallons, preferably 120 gallons. Ensure that the enclosure for the beardies has rocks and branches as well. The rocks will provide your bearded dragons with places to hide and relax, while the branches will provide them with places to climb.

Allow Your Bearded Dragons to Breed

After a few weeks on the high vitamin D and Calcium diet, you should attempt pairing your female bearded dragon with your male for a limited time for mating to occur.

You will want to be there and on hand at all times to monitor and prevent conflicts from erupting. It takes only a single second for the pair to start fighting.

You may want to let them remain in the enclosure for extended periods only if the bearded dragons get along well and exhibit no aggressiveness after many encounters.

Establish a Lay Box

Once your female bearded dragon becomes pregnant, ensure that she has a suitable box to lay her eggs during the next couple of months. Ensure she has more nourishment to sustain her body.

The box should be at least eight gallons in volume and include at least 6 inches of potting soil or topsoil, as well as some sand.

Confirm that this combination is moist enough to burrow in it when she attempts to hide her eggs. Ideally, you may want a concoction that clumps considerably.

Purchase an Incubator for Them to Develop

After the female bearded dragon lays and buries eggs, you must transfer them to an incubator to develop. The eggs will remain here until they hatch. A critical consideration regarding fresh eggs is handling or touching them as little as possible.

To ensure the proper growth of the fresh eggs, you’ll need to get a suitable egg incubator. While you can build your custom incubator, beginners are better off purchasing a commercially built device.

Additionally, you’ll need numerous egg boxes to hold the eggs within the incubator. Small plastic storage containers work fine – drill either one or two tiny holes within the lid to allow air to circulate.

Transfering the eggs to the incubator for a couple of days ensures that the growing embryo is not harmed. After a few days or a week of rest, you can now get a flashlight and determine whether the eggs are viable. Light it through the eggs and keep track of the pink embryo. 

You should incubate the bearded dragon’s eggs for 60 – 90 days, depending on temperature changes. The optimal temperature range varies from 80 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Furthermore, you will need between 30% and 40% humidity to prevent the eggs from running dry.

Establish Baby Bins to Provide Care For the New Hatchlings

After the bearded dragon babies hatch, immediately separate them into different containers to provide them with plenty of space. It will lessen the likelihood of limbs or tails getting nibbled.

Naturally, you need to set up each bin similarly to the adult’s tank, and you will require a heat source, a UVB lamp, the appropriate substrate, and other necessary components. Also, keep in mind that baby bearded dragons enjoy slightly warmer temperatures in their habitats.

Do not approach newborn bearded dragons with lights yet, as they need time to adjust to their environment. Changing the box and separating the babies after 24 hours can help them develop quicker and avoid territorial disputes. It would be best if you opted for a sunbathing temperature of roughly 110 degrees Fahrenheit.

Generally, you’ll need between four and six babies for every bin, depending on its size. Once the babies reach maturity, you’ll likely want to segregate them further to maintain a copasetic environment.

When the beardies are 2 – 3 days old, you may begin feeding them two or three times a day with tiny insects and finely chopped greens. If they don’t feed on certain foods, you can remove them and reintroduce them the following day.

How to Pair Your Bearded Dragons

While some breeders keep their reptiles together all year, keeping them apart during breeding trials is preferable. Separate enclosures will keep the male from bothering or worrying the female.

Observe your beardies for a while following the initial exposure. Although it is uncommon, females and males might not get along.

There is also the risk that you might have ‘mis-sexed’ one of your pets, resulting in the pairing of two males. In this case, it can result in intense confrontations, which can cause injury or death to your bearded dragons.

Certain breeders bring the male inside the female’s cage, while others do the opposite. Others will confine both species in a neutral third enclosure.

While any of the three methods might work for you, you should handle the female lightly, so preferably place your male in the female’s enclosure.

Mating can occur in a matter of minutes, or it might take hours or even days. You might not be there when the incident occurs. Most breeders prefer keeping their bearded dragons in the same tank until the female gets pregnant.

FAQ’s about Bearded Dragons

Conclusion on How To Breed Bearded Dragons

Breeding bearded dragons is not a simple task, as you must ensure the bearded dragons are safe, healthy, and stress-free. It would be best to consider factors such as genetic composition to guarantee that the infants are fit and appealing.

Many believe they can make a lot of money while raising bearded dragons, as the practice has become fashionable. Feeders, the incubator, setup, and effort spent tending for the babies may transform this into a costly activity rather than a profitable one.

This post is not intended to scare you away from breeding, and it is essential to offer the facts straightforwardly to assist individuals exploring breeding.

Hopefully, this post helps you have a solid insight into bearded dragon breeding. If you want updates on new content, make sure you sign up to avoid missing out. 

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