Reptile & Amphibian Forums

At how many months old is a bearded dragon considered to be a juvenile, sub-adult and adult?

How much should an adult beardie weigh?

From hatching to 4 months of age a dragon is considered to be a baby or hatchling. From 4 months to adulthood (12-14 years of age for most dragons) is juvenile and after 14 months a dragon is an adult (typically after 6 years a dragon is considered to be old aged)
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PHLdyPayne

I don't think there are any hard criteria for the different names. I would say an adult is 18 months old. I would say a baby is to about 6.5" long, a juvenile to about 15", then a sub-adult until 18 mos.

Dragon adult size and weight vary significantly. I have some healthy adults that are as low as 400g. I would say normal is 500-600, but I have some that are in the high 700's that have even touched 800 in their lifetime. Lengths generally are 16'-24" max.

There really are many variables...because adult size is { at extremes on either end } 16-24",there will be great differences in the sizes as they grow and even in each clutch. An average 5 month old is about 12-13" . But some are noticeably smaller...some a bit larger. Some breeders have dragons that,because of the lineage and feeding 2-3 times daily with high-quality feeders and veggies,have dragons reach and exceed 20" by the time they are 7-8 months. Many dragons will not reach that size until 14-15 months. I also see,as I have vended at many reptile shows in the past 14 years,5-6 month olds that are still 6,7 or 8" in length. Not the kind that you want in your stock...but they are out there. So there are MANY and diverse factors,and really,in some ways human beings are the same...a small person may be much healthier than a very large person...so that is not always one criteria for good health.I can remember a person at one of the Michigan shows many years ago trying to sell me a product to boost health and size in bearded dragons. He said that my 19-20" adults were not fed properly,must be stunted. I was a few inches taller than he { I'm 5 foot 10 } and my husband 4 inches taller than me. So I asked if he had been stunted by improper nutrition when he was growing up,as he was shorter than both my husband and I. He did quickly leave my table...at any rate,beardies do come in different sizes....you just have to feed and supplement properly and buy healthy animals to begin with.

Thanks for your feedback!