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What should I know about and consider before breeding Bearded Dragons? NOTE: Please read FAQ: My Dragon is laying eggs, what do I do? How do I incubate the eggs also! Kricket's Kritters recommends buying Bearded Dragons that you're planning on breeding younger rather than older, and never from a pet store, only a breeder with a good reputation and good care practices. Buy a bearded dragon that is young but established (8-10 weeks of age) or older.
This allows you to raise
and take care of the lizard until it is mature enough to breed (1.5 to
2 years of age) and then you know exactly how the dragon has been fed,
raised, and about its growth, feeding, behavior, and health history.
In addition, this "raising-up" time allows for time to learn how to take care of the individual lizards, determine if the individual has the qualities wanted to pass on to offspring, learn about breeding preparations, acquire additional equipment and enclosures for the hatchlings, and acquire the knowledge needed to produce quality, healthy animals.
The male and female dragons chosen for breeding must to be of an appropriate age (1.5 years or older) and weight (absolute minimum of 250 grams), both adults also need to have a clean and clear health history. Dragons selected for breeding must demonstrate: - Good temperament/demeanor
Be active Eat well and often Come from good, strong, and healthy genetic stock Not be related to one another within 5 generations. (If you don't know the genetic history, don't breed it!)
NOTE: Please read FAQ: My Dragon is laying eggs, what do I do? How do I incubate the eggs also! Bearded
Dragons are not easily sexed until they are about 6 months old. If you
have a male and female, and they are kept together, whether they are
related or not, they WILL breed.
Male
and female adult siblings should be housed separately for the entirety
of their lives, no exceptions, to prevent inbreeding and contamination
of the gene pool. If you get 2 dragons, whether you intend to breed them later or not, make sure that they are not genetically related within 5 generations. NOTE: You'll need to check even if you get them from different breeders, breeders buy each others dragons too!
Hatchlings from immature, unhealthy, and/or inbred dragons are often
deformed, nutrient deficient, and are otherwise pre-disposed to various
heath issues which often result in a poor quality of life, small size,
disease, a lot of vet bills, and pre-mature death.
Immature, unhealthy, small, and/or sibling dragons should NOT be bred, under any circumstances. Otherwise the quality and integrity of the gene pool is contaminated when the dragons are hatched and distributed to the public. Breeding of any living organism should be done in an educated, humane, caring, and responsible way.
If you will be unable to properly care for the hatchlings, or if breeding occurs between immature, unhealthy or sibling dragons, then the responsible thing to do is to freeze the eggs immediately upon being laid so that embryo development is ceased. After 24 hours freezing, the eggs should be discarded.
NOTE: Please read FAQ: My Dragon is laying eggs, what do I do? How do I incubate the eggs also! After
breeding just ONE TIME, a female bearded dragon is able to lay multiple
clutches of eggs. A new clutch is laid every 2-6 weeks. Since breeding is so stressful, Female Bearded Dragons can store sperm for extended periods of time, so that they don't have to breed multiple times. Female dragons produce multiple clutches of 20-30 eggs after only ONE breeding session.
Kricket's Kritters hatched 117 bearded dragons between two females and one male, as a result of only ONE breeding session which lasted less than 30 seconds per female.
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Healthy
clutches should consist of 20-30+ oblong (oval-ish), white, firm
leathery eggs.Generally 3-6 clutches are laid in the first year, 6-8+
the second year, and then back down to 3-6 clutches the third through
fifth years.  Some
dragons have been reported to have laid up to 13 clutches in a year.
Others have produced clutches containing nearly 70 eggs! Many breeders
do not breed their dragons beyond year five due to decreased
reliability of clutch size and quality of stock, as well as wear and
tear on the female.
The decision is yours. Please be Responsible.
For more information about Breeding Preparations and Considerations please also check out the document below:
Breeding preparation and considerations.doc
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