Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm interested in breeding my male bearded dragon. He's a 4-year-old 16" sandfire morph. He's a bit petite, probably because he was quite sick when I received him as an 11" juvie; he had some improper caring, but he healed quickly and I take him to the vet regularly. His illness had nothing to do with genetics; it had to do with parasites and impaction from his last home.

But anyway, I don't really know that much about cooperating with another beardie owner with breeding. I've never had any experience with breeding reptiles, so I would expect the owner of the female to incubate the eggs and all that, but how do people normally do the business? Do they split the babies 50/50, or what? I would only be interested in keeping at least one of the babies (so my motive isn't money lol).

The main reasons that I'd want to breed him is because: 1. He's a really beautiful specimen (I know all pet owners must say that, but he really does have a very youthful and symmetrical head structure and his colors are beautiful - I can provides pictures and video to anyone interested), and 2. I simply want to keep one of his offspring, so that after he passes on I won't be too distraught (he was my first lizard, so he has a special place in my heart), because I'll have his baby.

My main concern, however, is cricism due to unknown genetics: I bought him from an obscure pet owner from Florida; I don't know who his breeder was, and I've lost contact with his old owner. I'm afraid no one will want to breed their beardie with mine due to that reason...

What do you all think? Will it be possible to breed him? And how would I go about finding a fellow beardie owner who would be willing to mate their female with him? I regularly go to a monthly local reptile expo, but the beardie breeders there usually only breed normal morphs, and I would honestly prefer a female who's a color morph of some sort.

I'd appreciate any advice!

Breeding your dragon to somebody else's female has all kinds of potential problems. For one, you have no idea on the health of the female. If she has any disease, dormant or otherwise, it could infect your male. Same if she has any internal or external parasites.

Finding somebody local who will be willing to do all the work (ie caring for the female, incubating eggs and raising the young) just so you have a single baby to keep, probably isn't going to be of benefit to anybody...unless they do want to get your dragon's unknown genetics into their own breeding projects.

Your best bet is to talk to other bearded dragon owners in your area and see if they will be interested in having your dragon as stud. If you do find one, have them show you a paper from their vet confirming their female is parasite free and doesn't have any illness which could infect your dragon. Then decide if he should bring his female to you, or you bring your male to them for breeding. It may take a few 'visits' to ensure he does what he's suppose to do. As for how the eggs will be distributed, that is something you can negotiate and agree upon. If you only want a single baby, perhaps the female owner can just let you take your pick from the first clutch..

You could advertise with your local reptile organization you are willing to put your dragon up to stud and provide proof of health etc and see if you get any responses. However, alot of breeders are already breeding their dragons now, or have already, so you may not find anybody with ready females for this year. But some people do breed later than others so you just have to search your area.

I don't recommend trying to do it outside of where you can personally drive to. Shipping your dragon to somebody puts alot of stress on the dragon and you have no idea what conditions your dragon will be in while in the care of somebody else. At least if you find a local person interested in a breeding loan, you can check out their facilities before hand or even be there while introductions are made between dragons.
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PHLdyPayne

Forum Princess

Okay, thanks very much for the advice. I'm not the sort of person who does anything on a whim, nor am I an irresponsible pet owner. If he is unsuitable for breeding, then I won't breed him.
I'll talk to some vendors at my city's next reptile expo about it.

the beardie market is so flooded i dont see why people keep breeding. breeding and breeding until the market is full wont help prices or beardies getting thrown into the woods after they've out grown the cute baby lizard stage.