Breeding
Breeding bearded dragons
It is proven that breeding your own bearded dragons can be done easily if you know how to do it properly because they breed very well in captivity.
Sexing bearded dragons
The first step of breeding your own dragons is that you need to make sure that you have the male and female bearded dragons with you. There are many ways to distinguish the sex of the bearded dragons. The male will have head bobbing behaviors and female might have hand waving behaviors. However, one of the easiest ways is to check under the tail of the sexually matured dragons. You may notice that the male bearded dragon will have 2 large lumps on both sides. For the female, you hardly notice there’ll be any lump. If there is, it will a single lump in the center.
Healthy female bearded dragons
It is recommended to place several female bearded dragons with a single male dragon. Mating may be more likely with this combination. Make sure that your female dragons are sexually matured and healthy; at least 18 months old, no disease and active.
Mating
During the mating the male will bite the neck of the female to position itself for mating. If the biting is too serious, please remove the female to avoid injuries. After the mating, remove her from the male to avoid stress. Remember to feed the female calcium as laying eggs needs high calcium.
Egg Laying
If the bearded dragons are successfully mated, the female will lay the eggs within 6 weeks. Thus, you need to prepare an egg laying box. The substrate used for the box should be a mixture of sand and soil which is easy for bearded dragons to dig holes and make a nest. Keep in mind that the substrate should be deep enough to place the eggs in, at least 4 times the height of a normal egg.
Bearded Dragon Egg Incubation
You may keep the eggs inside the box while removing the bearded dragon after she has finished laying the eggs. Normally a clutch of eggs is about 15 to 40 eggs. She will be thinner or skinny once she has done the laying. Be sure that the box is air ventilated, and keep at a warm temperature of 82 to 86 F.
Within 74 days, you may expect the eggs to hatch. However, it is good practice to use a commercial incubator to incubate the bearded dragon eggs.