Breeding for the first time

[Kaysar]

I recently discovered that I have a male and female beardy (despite attempting to sex them upon purchase). About a month ago George (the female) laid eggs and due to no knowledge I removed the eggs and in the process killed them. She has since become pregnant again and whilst I have scoured the internet for incubators I would appreciate some advice from what appears to be a knowledgeable forum.

I'm going to use my tarantulas old (plastic) vivarium, half fill with water and on a brick place a plastic container (the like you get crickets/meal worms in). Fill this container with vermillian (damp) and have a heat mat attached to the roof of the viv. The eggs will go in the plastic container. Firstly, is this an ok set up for an incubator or have I gone terrible wrong?

My second question, does anyone have experience in selling bearded dragons? I have a friend who would like two but otherwise, I can't look after an entire set of hatchlings for long, I don't have room for a full sized viv anywhere else. Are local pets shops receptive to buying of private breeders or is more a case by case basis? I don't intend to breed my dragons for money, but I would love to go through the process of hatching eggs and looking after the young for a few days.

My third question, once the eggs are hatched do the hatchlings need the same set up as my adults? (ie, UV ligh, heat/basking lamp, large viv etc etc). I was planning on temporarily housing them (until sold/given away) in the old tarantula viv but that only has a heat mat and no UV light.

Any and all advice welcomed. Also, a big hello to everyone in the forum. First time poster

Thank you in advance
Neal

 

[Brett]

When you incubate eggs they need to be kept at 85 degrees about 80% humidity So anyway you an accomplish this should work. Dragons only need to breed once per season and can lay multiple clutches 15 ti 30+ eggs a clutch, I've heard up to 8 clutches a season so you will probably have allot more on the way. If you don't want to hatch out that many eggs freeze them and through them away. I know pet stores in my area will buy from hobby breeders but that up to each individual stores. BigBox stores will not. You can house the hatchlings together in one tank or rubber made tote. You will need a basking area 110 to 120 and a cool side of 85 uv bulbs you could get by without if you plan on getting rid of them quick but if not you should use one.

 

[Kaysar]

Thanks for the quick response Brett.

Yeah, I had a feeling big stores wouldn't be interested. Also, I'm often not too keen on how they treat pets anyway, but that's another story.
Do you have any experience in online sales? That would be another route I would be interested in, especially as I would get to meet the buyer too.

Well George's first clutch was about 8 eggs in total. Ill get the dimensions of the old tarantula viv tonight, see if people think it is too small. I suppose I could "adapt" that to fit a UV light, just it's not a very deep viv.

 

[Brett]

The problem with online sales is if your just breeding normal dragon the cost of overnight shipping isn't cheap. its going to coast anywhere from 50 to 80 dollars to ship it plus packaging. No one is going to want to buy a normal and pay the shipping cost when they can go to a local petshop and pick one up for 45 to 80 bucks. I don't know how big your viv is but i wouldn't use anything under a 20 long tank or equivalent for grow out tank, Its to hard to keep the proper temps in something smaller.

 

[Bill]

Thanks for the quick response Brett.

Yeah, I had a feeling big stores wouldn't be interested. Also, I'm often not too keen on how they treat pets anyway, but that's another story.
Do you have any experience in online sales? That would be another route I would be interested in, especially as I would get to meet the buyer too.

Well George's first clutch was about 8 eggs in total. Ill get the dimensions of the old tarantula viv tonight, see if people think it is too small. I suppose I could "adapt" that to fit a UV light, just it's not a very deep viv.

How old is George Only 8 eggs Is not many for a dragon how much does she weigh are they together

 

[Bill]

You may be better off just puting them in the freezer I know it sounds harsh but there is much care involved with babies babie dragons need lots of food at 8 you will need at least 320 crickets a day

 

[Brett]

Or if you just want the experience take out one or two and freeze the rest.

 

[Kaysar]

Thanks. I wouldn't be hatching all the eggs, only a few. Thanks for all the info though.

George is less than two years old and both beardies do live together (so I expect her to get pregnant a lot :s). I'll try and weigh her when I get home tonight and let you know her weight (although she is currently pregnant again). I didn't know it shortened her life span but I don't have the room to get her a separate tank unfortunately. Thanks for the information on how to get rid of the eggs. I knew younglings would need a lot of food from doing some research first time she got pregnant. I've just not spoken to anyone else who has beardies/breeded them to double check everything

 

[Brett]

Ya weight may have something to do with it. It not healthy to breed them if there under 350 grams.

 

[Kaysar]

I wasn't intending to breed them. At the time I got them I never knew they were male and female. I tried to sex them but due to their size I obviously sexed them wrong :s

 

[Terra Colson Nicholson]

We breed our female this season and i wont do it again. after her third clutch she looks so sad.

 

[lisa foster]

You really should seperate them the male will continue to breed with her which is very trying for the female. If you do not have the money to get her a new enclsoure you certainly don't have the money to support her baies. It is very stressful for her to have to be constantly accosted by your male.

 

[Dragonsx6]

Hi From my own experience I would keep them separated. We had two dragons that we were unable to sex due to their size and by the time we found out we were too late. Our female only laid 14 eggs and only 5 of them survived. She laid another 4 clutches of 12-16 eggs at a time which we destroyed, but by this time she was very ill due to the constant pregnancies & laying. She wasnt getting all the nutrients she was needing, everything just kept going to the development of the eggs. We had to end up taking her to the vet who dressed her, and told us she was getting ready to lay another clutch when he took everything away. Had she kept going like that she would have eventually died, but she now has a very mild case of mbd due to the lack of calcium. I would never advise anyone to breed before the female is at least 2 years old as they are not physically strong enough to cope. You really need to separate them as he will constantly pester her, which is not good for either of them.
If you are going to hatch the next clutch the incubator we used was a homemade one, but it worked fine and a friend has since used it to hatch 64 babies. We went to our local aquarium shop to see if they had any of the polistyrene (not sure of the spelling) boxes they use to transport the fish. They gave us 2 free of charge, we filled it about 4or 5 inches deep with warm water, a couple of bricks to lay a mesh on. Tubs filled with damp vermiculite, my husband made a window on the top so we culd see the thermometer with out having to open the lid to makesure the temps were correct. We also used to themostat from a fish tank to heat the water and keep it a steady temp. our babies hatched after 50 days.
Hope this helps and good luck

 

[tdrost]

I can totally understand why you would want to experience incubating a clutch. I would love to see babies hatching!
I do have a viv that would work, and it wouldn't take long to create an incubator....
however, i am totally Not prepared for the costs of that many crickets
OR the power bill for another set of uvb and heat lamps.
I am not sure where you live at, but around here, there are so many dragons around, that they have to be pretty unique for anyone to pay much for them.
there are ALOT of ads right now that people are getting rid of not only their dragon, but the viv and all accessories with it!!

 

[Bill]

Also you need to seperate the babies into small groups so you don't get tail nips or toe bites we averag 5 to 8 extra bins with basking lights and UVB lights for each bin

 

[Dragonsx6]

I can totally understand why you would want to experience incubating a clutch. I would love to see babies hatching!
I do have a viv that would work, and it wouldn't take long to create an incubator....
however, i am totally Not prepared for the costs of that many crickets
OR the power bill for another set of uvb and heat lamps.
I am not sure where you live at, but around here, there are so many dragons around, that they have to be pretty unique for anyone to pay much for them.
there are ALOT of ads right now that people are getting rid of not only their dragon, but the viv and all accessories with it!!

It is the same here in the UK just now, every time you do Bearded Dragon searches on line there are hundreds for sale or here you are getting a lot 'free to a good home' thats how we got one of ours, they claimed he was agressive, He just doesnt like being aproached from above, now he is in a proper enclosure with proper heating & lighting he is a great little dragon.
Your weekly feeding bill could quadruple, depending on how many babies hatch and as tdrost says they do have to be pretty unique to get any sort of decent money for them, 'normals' really dont make any money at all when you tally up all your extra costs.

 

[Jp]

Breeding dragons requires preparation & planning for successful hatch dates yielding healthy babies. I've been researching dragons for a few years & still not fully comfortable or ready (in my opinion) 2 start breeding yet. Breeders should want 2 produce the healthiest dragons they possibly can unless they're after a quick buck. GETTING PAID has been the main focus & that's why the market is flooded with dragons, prices 4 dragons have dropped dramatically & the number of rescues or adoptions of unhealthy animals is crazy high.

 

[tdrost]

Breeding dragons requires preparation & planning for successful hatch dates yielding healthy babies. I've been researching dragons for a few years & still not fully comfortable or ready (in my opinion) 2 start breeding yet. Breeders should want 2 produce the healthiest dragons they possibly can unless they're after a quick buck. GETTING PAID has been the main focus & that's why the market is flooded with dragons, prices 4 dragons have dropped dramatically & the number of rescues or adoptions of unhealthy animals is crazy high.

well said!!!!

 

[Dragonsx6]

Well Said JeffO. Agree 110%