Bearded Dragons are bred easily typically producing a clutch of one to two dozen eggs although more or less eggs are possible, young and older Bearded Dragons may lay smaller clutches.

Once the clutch has been laid after following a few simple steps to care and incubate the clutch you will be blessed with some hungry young Beardies... read on

Behaviour / Bearded Dragon Care / Health / Tips / Sexing / Brumation / Set Up / Bearded Dragon Species / Bearded Dragon FAQ's / Food / Links

Mating

Males will display their Beard and engage in head bobbing (they know how to impress a lady) the female may join in on this display while it is very likely the female will engage in submissive arm waving.

To sex your Bearded Dragon see Sexing a Beardie

When mating is ready to occurr expect some quite rough behaviour, the male will sometimes drag the female around the enclosure before mating. The male grasps the female in his mouth wrapping his tail around the females and brings their vents together, the male then erects his hemipenes and inserts this into the females vent. Mating will typically last one or two minutes and may occurr throughout the day.

True love does not always run smoothly

It is important to remove the male Bearded Dragon if he is too aggressive with the female, a male Beardie can cause a female serious damage and even death although unlikely watch carefully as toes, feet and tails can be lost if you witness any aggression remove the male at once.

Pregnancy

The female will become swollen after approxiamtely one month only getting larger as time goes by. It is essential your female must be fed an excellent diet including pinky mice which are very nutritious also feed vitamins, a healthy female equals healthy baby beardies. The female will very likely stop eating when close to laying her clutch of eggs.

Nesting Box

When it is obvious your female is gravid, you must provide a place for her to lay her eggs 'a nesting site' can be created using a tray a cat litter tray would suffice the nesting box should be filled with vermiculite which is absorbent, sand or potting soil are also suitable.

The box should be filled near to near the top and the contents should be quite moist but not too much. When ready the female will dig herself a hole to lay her clutch although she will likely dig more than one hole and this may continue over a few days. When she is ready she will lay her eggs... exciting no matter how many times you see this.

The clutch will be covered by the female, you will need to dig these up being very careful when doing so.

If a nesting box is not provided a female will lay her eggs scattered around the enclosure dramatically reducing the chance of the eggs becoming healthy hatchlings. It is very likely if a nesting site is not provided the female may retain the eggs in her oviducts this is called egg binding if this condition is allowed to continue the baby Beardies will die and the female beardie will become gravely ill seek veterinary assistance straight away and remember if in doubt at any stage of pregnancy speak to your vet.

Handling Eggs

Once laid dig the eggs up being carefull not to twist as the embryos could be killed, it is advisable to leave any eggs that are stuck together that way. Tip try using a tablespoon to carefully transport the eggs to the incubator which should already be up and running.

Incubating Eggs

The incubator should be running before the female lays her clutch ready to transfer the eggs, this will give you the chance to monitor the temperature and humidity and ensure that the incubator functions correctly fixing any issues before the eggs are laid.

Incubators can be bought from some pet stores, chicken egg incubators will also work, most Beardie owners manufacture their own incubators.

Making Your Own Incubator is quite simple listed below is all that is required

Aquarium Heater

Digital Thermometer

Water

Tub eg food container many holes are required in the lid

Vermiculite if not available use potting soil

Fill the tub full of vermiculite or potting soil leaving room for the eggs. Place the eggs in the medium, do not allow the eggs to touch the sides of the container. Any eggs that are collapsed, leaking, or fungused should be discarded at once.

The water level will need to be checked to ensure the aquarium heater does not protrude above the water surface. An exposed heater could cause a malfunction which might see the heater crack creating a fire hazard

Incubation Temperature

The eggs should be incubated at 29c (85f) but never 31c (88f) and above as this will likely cause defects for the hatchlings.

In around 50 to 70 days the eggs will hatch and you will be blessed with many hatchlings.

Housing Hatchlings

Hatchlings should be housed together, seperate from adult Bearded Dragons. Plenty of pinhead crickets should be offered frequently. I also recommend providing some greens. Hatchling Bearded Dragons can nibble on each other if not fed sufficient amounts of food.

Provide a small dish with a shallow amount of water, Baby Beardies can drown in water that is too deep. The water has to be changed frequently.

Never house young Bearded Dragons on calci sand as they will eat it and this can cause impaction leading to death.

Feeding Hatchlings

Hatchlings should only be fed pinhead size crickets never feed crickets larger than the gap between a Beardie eyes. Greens should also be offered.

Feeder insects should always be well fed and kept in as clean conditions as possible.

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