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13-Jun-07, 09:32 PM
|  | Subscriber | Join Date: May-07 Location: Brisbane Age/Gender: 23  | | |  Sexual maturity - what age?
At what age do Bearded Dragons reach sexual maturity? I have been trying to do some research but I am getting very mixed answers. Some sites say it can be as early as 8 months, others say it's generally around 2 years.
To those of you who have experience breeding beardies; at what ages have your dragons successfully produced clutches? I'm sure it will vary depending on many things, such as feeding regime, personality of particular dragons etc, but I'd like to hear your firsthand experience.
I should probably also mention my reason for asking. My partner and I are planning to get a couple of beardies. Initially we wanted hatchlings, but have since decided that we'd prefer an adult male/female pair as we'd like to breed them. We're also considering sub-adults (around 7 months) so I'm just kind of wondering what kind of wait we could potentially be in for (as far as them reaching breeding age).
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13-Jun-07, 10:51 PM
| | Subscriber | Join Date: May-07 Location: Brisbane Age/Gender: 23 | | | |
Bump...
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13-Jun-07, 11:03 PM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Mar-06 Location: Brisbane Age/Gender: 23  | | | |
Im fairly sure they will breed the first season after being born, i havnt done this or seen it first hand but im fairly sure its true.
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13-Jun-07, 11:16 PM
| | Subscriber | Join Date: May-07 Location: Brisbane Age/Gender: 23 | | | |
Thanks cris, can anyone confirm this?
And I must admit I've no idea - what time of the year is the typical 'breeding season' for beardies?
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14-Jun-07, 01:53 AM
|  | Cutting Edge Morelia Subscriber | Join Date: Jun-05 Location: Snake Valley NSW Gender: | | | |
I bred my beardies once they were 2 yrs old. They were always housed together, but they decided it was "time" in their second season! They were fairly good size by then, and had 2 clutches, one with 19 eggs and the second with 20.
Hope that helps!
Cheers.
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14-Jun-07, 06:21 AM
|  | Subscriber | Join Date: Jan-03 Location: Sydney | | | |
Beardies generally mature at about 12 months old but thats subject to how much they have been fed. Maturity generally goes on size more than age.
If your interested in breeding beardies then your far better off buying up a few hatchlings and raising them up yourself. Beardies only have a fairly short breeding life, maybe 4 or 5 years for females and some don't seem to ever breed so buying adults your never sure what your getting.
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14-Jun-07, 07:35 AM
|  | Subscriber | Join Date: Jan-05 Location: Sydney | | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Miss B  Thanks cris, can anyone confirm this?
And I must admit I've no idea - what time of the year is the typical 'breeding season' for beardies? | yeap, had a girl that had her first clutch at 10 months old. She went on to have 7 clutches in her first season. You have to feed them fairly generously to achieve that  |
14-Jun-07, 09:05 AM
| | Subscriber | Join Date: May-07 Location: Brisbane Age/Gender: 23 | | | |
Thanks for the replies everyone.
How can you feed them up without them getting too fat?
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14-Jun-07, 09:09 AM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: May-06 Location: Hornsby Age/Gender: 34 | | | |
while tehy CAN breed at 8 months its best to wait till theyre 18 months or @ least fuully grown to avoid problems such as egg binding.
Gee CodeRed, ur girl must have been exhausted.
__________________
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CC
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14-Jun-07, 09:25 AM
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yeah I agree, although it is possible to breed at 8 months you can also put added stress on the animal at such a young age when they are not fully developed or fully grown.
I bread mine the second season once i got them as juvies, But its best not to rush these things anyway
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14-Jun-07, 11:59 AM
|  | Jellybean Club Subscriber | Join Date: Feb-06 Location: Hobbiton, Middle Earth. Gender: | | | |
Generally speaking it is two years, Females with breed at one year if placed with a 2 plus year male, Males will be sexually mature by one year, but generally show only a little interest (a bit of head bobbing and maybe a half hearted attempt) and fail to finish the job (though not always). IMO it is best to wait till 2 years before trying to breed them as it involves alot of stress, mentally and physically on them.
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14-Jun-07, 12:04 PM
| | Subscriber | Join Date: May-07 Location: Brisbane Age/Gender: 23 | | | |
Ok cool - what if we were to get a pair of sub-adults but didn't plan to breed them until they were 18 months or more - would it be safe to house them together in the meantime?
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14-Jun-07, 12:05 PM
| | Regular Member | Join Date: May-06 Location: Hornsby Age/Gender: 34 | | | |
bit hard to stop them breeding if theyre housed together,....
__________________
Some people are like slinkys, not really good fro anything, but still bring a smile to ur face when u push them down a flight of stairs,....
CC
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14-Jun-07, 12:09 PM
| | Jellybean Club Subscriber | Join Date: Feb-06 Location: Hobbiton, Middle Earth. Gender: | | | |
Yes, just look out for stress in the female as the male will try to bully her, larger females can kill smaller males that try to breed when they are not ready. Smaller timid females will sulk in a corner and stop or reduce their eating. Basically, they can be kept together, but be ready to move one out.
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14-Jun-07, 12:24 PM
| | Subscriber | Join Date: May-07 Location: Brisbane Age/Gender: 23 | | | |
Ok thanks for the advice. We've got two setups on the go (I'm busily preparing them and decking them out atm). One is a 4ft x 2ft x 2ft and the second one is around 3ft x 2ft x 2ft. So if they do need to be separated, each will have their own little home.
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