Aussie Pythons

Bearded dragons are amazing reptilian creatures. They are some of the most sought after of any of the reptiles that are kept as pets. Breeding bearded dragons can be both a labor of love as well as a substantial business operation. While it requires a large amount of work in order to be able to breed these amazing creatures, it is all worth it once they have hatched.

Housing is one of the first concerns of any reptile owner. A glass aquarium will work well for bearded dragons but it should be noted that the lid needs to be secure. Having an aqaurium without a secure lid can lead to a large amount of problems. The bearded dragons can escape or an animal or human can get into the cage and potentially be injured. Be extremely careful in selecting the right housing when breeding bearded dragons. The enclosure should have a warm section where the temperature is kept to between 32 to 40 degrees. A tree branch or log is always a nice addition, the best substrate for a bearded dragon is simply newspaper.

Sexing a bearded dragon is the first step towards breeding them. You should lift up the dragons tail and examine the area just above the ventral opening. Male bearded dragons have hemipenal bulges on each side of their tail. Female bearded dragons do not have these features present. Consulting a central bearded dragon caresheet will allow you to learn even more about the genitalia of the male/female bearded dragon.

Breeding can start for bearded dragons as soon as they are mature enough. A healthy couple of dragons , an enclosure and a warm location for the female to lay her eggs are required for mating to begin. Many bearded dragons will follow their mating rituals with a period known as brumation. Bearded dragon brumation is similar to hibernating. A dragon will have almost no activity and simply rest for a long period of time. This period can vary and some dragons may be active for a few minutes each day and then brumate for the rest of the day. Each dragon has a different internal brumation schedule and will vary based upon the climate and other factors that they are exposed to. Brumation can be anythinhg from a day long process to six months or longer!

Bearded dragon eggs are incubated for a period of 65 to 75 days. They will best mature at 27 to 30 degrees. Once they have fully matured they begin to crack and the dragon will appear out of them within 24 hours. After the dragons have hatched from their eggs, they will begin feeding within 72 hours. Depending upon what specific bearded dragons were bred, there are some very unique combinations that can exist. These types of bearded dragons can be extremely unique and are amazing to look at. The sandfire bearded dragon breed is one of the most popular today. It is among one of the top breeds that are sold by breeders as well.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 8th, 2010 at 5:15 pm and is filed under Australian Lizards. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.