Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, I have a male and female bearded dragon, bolth about 2-3 years of age, the female is lazy the male is not, and I have them in the same cage it's about 50" long 20" high and 20" wide, is that good for breeding beardies? Also would a mix of moist sand, dirt and perlite a good choice for egg laying material, and one more lol, they just aren't breeding no matting behavior, i've been trying to get them to breed for about 3-4 months now, and nothing, the male use to head bob and then go and bite her neck, and just get off, like 10 times, and nothing ever happened, and now he doesn't do any mattin signals, it sucks, I want babies and not for the money or nothing, I try, but I might have to bring the heat up. Also would seperating the dragons for about a week or two, do anything? But I might be borrowing my friends male, I don't really want to do this because he wants half of the babies, I was going to use his male and put him in a cage next to my breeding cage, to get him fired up, then switch the 2 males ever other week or so to make sure of high fertility. I need your ideas so if you could please get back to me thank you.

From:Brent Allen email leosrule182@yahoo.com AIM albinoleodotcom

Hello, I have a male and female bearded dragon, bolth about 2-3 years of age, the female is lazy the male is not, and I have them in the same cage it's about 50" long 20" high and 20" wide, is that good for breeding beardies? Also would a mix of moist sand, dirt and perlite a good choice for egg laying material, and one more lol, they just aren't breeding no matting behavior, i've been trying to get them to breed for about 3-4 months now, and nothing, the male use to head bob and then go and bite her neck, and just get off, like 10 times, and nothing ever happened, and now he doesn't do any mattin signals, it sucks, I want babies and not for the money or nothing, I try, but I might have to bring the heat up. Also would seperating the dragons for about a week or two, do anything? But I might be borrowing my friends male, I don't really want to do this because he wants half of the babies, I was going to use his male and put him in a cage next to my breeding cage, to get him fired up, then switch the 2 males ever other week or so to make sure of high fertility. I need your ideas so if you could please get back to me thank you.

It sounds like you didn't do your homework about breeding dragons before you got them. You said in the beginning that you "want babies and not for the money or nothing." Then you said "I might be borrowing my friends male, I don't really want to do this because he wants half of the babies" sounds like you don't really know what you are talking about. If you are not prepared to pay for thousands of crickets per week, I wouldn't suggest breeding you dragons. Last season, I had 7 babies that ate 1,000 crix a week. Do more research.

First off, i agree witjh beardielover123 --- do your homework!!! did you say a 50 gallon tank with 2 adult beardieS? thats wrong in so many different ways!! 1 adult beardie minimum tank size is 50 gallon, but prefereably 75 gallon!! 2 adults in there is WAY too crammed! You need to seperate them also because keeping a male and female together is NOT a good idea, even if you plan to breed them! The male will stress the female out WAY too much, and the female will get sick and very stressed. You need to do research.

Well... **Sigh**... in answer to your question...i do just potting soil and moist sand as a laying material, and take the eggs out into vermiculite/perlite.

They probably arnt breeding for many reasons. The female is definetly not ready, as she is most likely very stressed with constantly having the male there.

A Brumation period is often necessary in order to breed dragons.

Please, before having to take care of up to 25 hungry mouths that eat thousands and thousands of crickets a week (not including light/electric bills, veggies, fecals for vet, lighting units/lightbulbs both UVB and basking, and housing) you must get your husbandry right with the adults
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David - KDRKreatures

1.3 Bearded dragons (Ralph, Artemis, Cheech, Anna Nicole)
2.2 Eastern Box Turtles (Snappy, Mercuria, Gizmo, Galapago)
1.0 Ball Python (Carson)
0.0.8 Red Eared Sliders
0.1 Timneh African Grey (Roxy)

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I would not recommend putting a borrowed male in with your female. The borrowed male should first be checked out by a reputable vet to insure it's proper health. This is a great way to spread coccidia & other problems(internal parasites) into your pair. Any time I get a new breeder, I not only quarantine it but have a thorough check-up & fecal exam done.
Think before you act. If you choose to breed your dragons, for whatever reason, their own health should be your number one priority.
Cricket

If you separate your two beardies for a few days, and then re-introduce the female back into the cage with the male, you might get a better breeding response. Make sure the temps & the photoperiod is correct. Increase the females calcium once you know for sure she is gravid. And separate them again so she can have a comfortable, stress-free (uh?)pregnancy. She may lay more than one clutch of eggs from a single breeding. They have a tendency to retain sperm.
Hope this helps & good luck,
Cricket