Breeding Bearded Dragons: Advice

[NinaPeas]

Hi All,

I have 2 beardies (pogona vitticeps) that I am hoping to breed with this year, and I'm just after some advice. I had a search on the site but couldn't really find anything. Here are my questions:

1. When is the usual breeding season for beardies?
2. When can I expect the female to be laying?
3. They are usually in an outdoor enclosure, but with bark chips, should I have a big pile of sand in there for the female to lay eggs? (and when she's layed, how do I find them?)
4. What's the best way to incubate them? (in what substrate? In an actual incubator? What temp?)
5. And if/when the babies hatch, they are ok to have all together (in a large tank of course) and start to feed greens and baby crix straight away?

Any advice would be fantastic, as I've never bred before, and would like to hear from people who have!

Thanks Everyone!

neens.

 

[antaresia_boy]

i don't know anyhing about beardies, al i know is that my school has a pair, and they're breeding now.

 

[richardsc]

hi nina,if they are kept outdoors where u are,breeding will start when the weather is consistantly warm again,around september,yes have sandy areas for them to make egglaying burrows,id suggest a few areas to as they can be choosy when out doors,or perhaps have a large sandy area in the centre of the enclosure,,they lay alot of eggs,id suggest incubating them inside,and with bubs,probably best if u can raise then in say groups of 10,having 30 odd in the one cage has risks,id suggest u aquire a copy of the bearded dragon manual,has all the info u need,an excellent book

 

[richardsc]

oops forgot to say,yep the sooner there feeding the better,they can take time getting used to greens,and incubation temp,28 to 29 degrees is perfect

 

[Dave]

hi nina,if they are kept outdoors where u are,breeding will start when the weather is consistantly warm again,around september,yes have sandy areas for them to make egglaying burrows,id suggest a few areas to as they can be choosy when out doors,or perhaps have a large sandy area in the centre of the enclosure,,they lay alot of eggs,id suggest incubating them inside,and with bubs,probably best if u can raise then in say groups of 10,having 30 odd in the one cage has risks,id suggest u aquire a copy of the bearded dragon manual,has all the info u need,an excellent book

IMO I reckon the bearded dragon manual isn't that great.. Lots of older information is iffy ... I beleive theres a new book out thats better and is called something else. lots of 15 in an enclosure is ideal, make sure each are fed though otherwise toe and tail nips will appear. Keep them on paper towl and make sure they get misted/bathed alot as they get dehydrated fast.

 

[richardsc]

fair enough dave,whats this book called,must be pretty darned good if its more detailed than the bearded dragon manual,can u find out for me,id love to give it a squiz,, and im not sure u know the bearded dragon manual,the info isnt outdated there,its written by numerous authors,some of the biggest bearded dragon breeders in the world

 

[richardsc]

also i wouldnt be misting them heaps,there desert animals,so the odd mist till there drinking from a water bowl will suffice,i never misted any of the ones i bred

 

[Dave]

They are desert animals, babies get dehydrated quickly though, lots of people recommended misting them for a few weeks. The bearded dragon manual isn't actually "bad" I gues you can say, I just don't agree with some of there information, regarding one part which said "Most breeders use heatrocks/there good" That isn't true, its an opinon I guess, but LOTS of people don't use them/think there bad. Atleast they didn't say calcium sand etc is good. It's really just an opinon in the end. But thats just what I think. I'm sure your ways are good Richardsc, just that I guess different opinons so yeah.

Dave.

 

[Deleted member 9890]

when the babys hatch it is about 4 or so days till they stared eating the food. we sprayed ours once a day cause they always seamed to wanna drink the drops.

 

[richardsc]

thats just it dave,there are alot of different ways people do things,and yep,the heat rock idea,but thats just an option,i never use them,they were also very anti bearded dragon pellets,but said more study needs to be done,i used it quite alot,never had issues just didnt like that it makes there pooh green,if used predominantly,i find insects are the best for juvies,but more vegetation as they grow,there bottomless pits,and even when well fed,if kept in big groups some will always get bullied

dave i think i may know the book you talked about,its a new tfh one,i have the water dragon one writted by bert langerwerf,which is good to,ill have to chase up a copy

also when u offer them vegies,u can sprinkle moisture on that for them to,i used to drip water on them and in there water bowls,they learnt to drink with out the need to be misted,but misting is good to

 

[Dave]

thats just it dave,there are alot of different ways people do things,and yep,the heat rock idea,but thats just an option,i never use them,they were also very anti bearded dragon pellets,but said more study needs to be done,i used it quite alot,never had issues just didnt like that it makes there pooh green,if used predominantly,i find insects are the best for juvies,but more vegetation as they grow,there bottomless pits,and even when well fed,if kept in big groups some will always get bullied

dave i think i may know the book you talked about,its a new tfh one,i have the water dragon one writted by bert langerwerf,which is good to,ill have to chase up a copy

also when u offer them vegies,u can sprinkle moisture on that for them to,i used to drip water on them and in there water bowls,they learnt to drink with out the need to be misted,but misting is good to

Yep. My dragon is coming upto change over (more veggies) She willnly eat them when there is moisture on them and with some worms. I'd go with roaches aswell for the babies, less chance of paristes and they have more meat, then again thats just my opinon aswell. Goodluck and keep us posted. And yes That's the book I think Richard.

Dave.

 

[richardsc]

yep,ive heard its supposed to be a good book info wise,and better than the bearded dragon manual,i must get a copy and suss that out

 

[NinaPeas]

Thanks everyone, what about incubating them? I know you can get actual incubators, but could you for eg. put the eggs in a container (with what substrate?) and then in a tank with the thermostat set to 28-29??

 

[dragon lady]

using a eye dropper ($2) from a chemist works well to entice to drink plenty...also is a bonus if you use liquid vitamins
hatchies dont generlly go for greens untill 4+wks of age
but always have greens in their(bukchoy,endive) replaced fresh everyday
i use a feeding tub for feeding my dragons....stops any dominance issue anyage

vermiculite is what most use for incubation... 1 prt water to 6 prts vericulite...memories foggy right now
31.5 is optimum temp for incubation

advice...start breeding woodies...hatchies do extremely well on baby woodies!

 

[Bigbird]

I also have a pair of beardies that I'm breeding this season (actually, the female laid her first clutch of eggs yesterday - very excited!) and I was just wondering whether there are any legal issues that I need to be aware of to breed and sell bearded dragons. I already have my reptile licence, obviously, but is there any other documentation / paperwork that I require?

Also, how do you go about freighting the baby beardies? I would prefer not to, but would rather be prepared in case I end up having to.

All help is, as always, greatly appreciated!

 

[Bigbird]

Bump.....anyone?

 

[dragon lady]

My blokes are just starting to strutt their stuff!....
make sure they have a good feed up before hand...calcium loaded

 

[Bigbird]

Yes, I have been making sure they are getting plenty of calcium and they have both been eating well.

Dragonlady - is there any documentation that you need to have to breed and sell beardies? Apart from filling in the log book from the DSE.

 

[dee4]

Yes, I have been making sure they are getting plenty of calcium and they have both been eating well.

Dragonlady - is there any documentation that you need to have to breed and sell beardies? Apart from filling in the log book from the DSE.

Just fill the book in when they hatch Bigbird.

 

[NinaPeas]

Well my girl is now furiously digging away, and the male is still trying to catch her attention, with her head buried in sand lol

Still not sure what to do with the eggs and incubating them, or if I should just leave them there and if any hatch then great (they can't get out if any do hatch) and I can transfer them into a tank. But is that cruel? I feel mean saying it haha