What do i need to breed a bearded dragon.?

Question

What do i need to breed a bearded dragon.?

Answer 1

Reproduction

Mating

BDs reach sexual maturity before one year of age. If you house a male and female together, expect eggs. During mating, the male will grab the female's neck/shoulder area with his teeth in order to hold her still and keep her in place. If the female is not in the mood, she will slap his side with her leg and he will stop.

BDs have sperm retention, meaning that they can store sperm. One mating may produce several fertile clutches of eggs.

Gravidity

Please note that BDs do not need to mate in order to lay eggs. Virgin females will also lay eggs so they need a suitable nesting site as well.

Signs of gravidity include pacing, digging, increased activity, and lack of appetite. When you see these signs, you need to give your dragon a nesting site.

The nesting site should be 10-12 inches deep filled 2/3 with damp vermiculite. It should be damp enough that the dragon can burrow without the burrow collapsing on her. The container can be a separate container or be placed in the tank. Point it out to her if you place in her home tank. If it's a separate container, introduce her to it and partially cover the top with a piece of cardboard or something similar. Don't disturb her while she'd digging, but check on her when the digging stops. If she's backed into a hole with only her nose showing, she's probably laying. Don't disturb her. After she has laid her eggs and covered them to her satisfaction, you can remove her. Only remove the eggs when she's not watching. She will get quite upset if you disturb them while she's watching them.

Give the female water and her favorite foods after laying. She will be quite skinny and possibly somewhat dehydrated. This is a good time to pamper her.

Egg Incubation

You will need either a commercial or home-made incubator. Hovabator is the most common brand of incubator used by herpers. Melissa Kaplan also has instructions on making your own at:

Preparing For Egg-Laying And Incubation Of Potentially Fertile Eggs

You should get the incubator set up several days before you get eggs if at all possible. You need to have time to calibrate the temperature so you don't hurt the eggs.

Once the eggs are laid, fill small plastic food containers, about 4 x 6 inches, half full with moistened vermiculite. Using your finger, make depressions for the eggs. Using rubber gloves, remove the eggs from the nesting box carefully. Shine a penlight on them to find the little pinkish oval where the embryo is. Place the eggs in the incubator so that the oval is on top. Then place the food container in the incubator.

Eggs can be incubated at temperatures in the low 80s. I recommend 81 degrees F so you have a little room for variation. Overheating can be fatal to eggs. At 81 degrees, the eggs should hatch at about 65-76 days. It may take several days for all the eggs to hatch.

Once the egg is pipped, meaning the baby has made a hole in it, the baby will take a rest. This is normal. You don't need to intervene. Once the baby is completely out of the egg, put him/her into a separate enclosure.

If you choose not to incubate the eggs, I freeze them before disposing of them so they don't hatch accidentally in a land fill somewhere.

Dystocia

Dystocia, or egg-binding, is when a female can't lay her eggs normally. Causes of dystocia can be inability of eggs to pass through the oviducts normally due to malformed eggs or an obstruction or to absence of a suitable nesting area. Symptoms include lethargy, depression and non-responsivity. If your lizard begins showing these symptoms, you need to take her to a herp vet immediately. She may need help laying or surgery to remove the eggs. This can be a life-and-death situation. That said, dystocia is relatively rare in BDs, so be alert but don't worry. You can read more about egg-binding at:

Dystocia

Housing Babies

The babies cannot be housed with the parents as the parents will eat them. They must also not be crowded or they will nip off parts of each other. Babies have voracious appetites and need to be fed regularly and well to keep them from trying to eat each other as well. Babies should be offered small crickets and veggies several times a day. They should be misted 2-4 times a day. Babies can drown in as little as 1/2 inch of water so I recommend misting over a water dish.

I recommend babies be housed on paper towels. Being so much smaller, they are at more risk of impaction than adults. Temperatures should be the same as for adults but watch to make sure the babies don't overheat.

Answer 2

A boy and girl. lol

A breeder sized tank.

Resources.

Incubator.

Places for the babies.

Homes if you cannot keep them all.

Dont breed if you cannot keep every baby.