Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Since the subject of breeding young females came up just recently I thought some of you might find this interesting......

I have seen a few ads lately where the seller states " female 10 months old and ready to breed" or things similar. I also remembered reading something on the rep cal site a few months back and went to double check this morning. Sure enough, they have a letter from a breeder talking about all his females and the HUGE clutches they laid and has several examples....
Take a look at this part of his letter...
" Example 3: 9 month old Bearded Dragon female (given Rep-Cal Calcium with Vit D3 and raised on Rep-Cal's Juvenile Bearded Dragon Food) who laid a total of 45 eggs this season which were all fertile and had 100% hatch rate."

I would just like to say to all the people looking to breed their pet dragons or get into breeding for the $$ (Which doesn't work out to be much after all expenses)...

Why not wait till your females are mature and ready to breed? Breeding a female at such a young age is like letting your 14 year old daughter have a baby!

Just my rant and not trying to start a war, but I have seen many ads over and over again stating that these females are "ready to breed" and yet they are not even finished growing themselves yet!
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Lisa
www.beginnersbasics.com

Cricket FREE babies!

It's really sad, isn't it Lisa? I am beginning to become quite the cynic when it comes to a lot of people. I am beginning to think that the vast majority of pet owners don't really see their pets as having feelings. That is why they could care less how old their female is before breeding. They think that if they can get a few dollars out of her, that's the most important thing. That's the only reason they get the animal. I'll bet these dragons are never handled, never allowed to stretch their legs or go outside into the sunshine. It's really a shame. How would they like it if they were stuck in a cage and never let out into the sun? The only time they could see someone of the same species was to be bred?

It really makes me mad!!!
Laura

I agree as well.....though many don't....I say what's the hurry....why not wait until you're sure your females are mature? I have this argument with many and probably will again....again though I say, think what's best for the animal and your animal will thank you for it later.
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Tracey
Tracey's Beardies
www.beardiecrazy.com