beard comparison

so here he is in december of 08

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...attspix190.jpg

and june of 09


he sure grew in the last 7 months

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...beardyhand.jpg

i also took a look by the vent today and found out.... its a girl !!!! time for me to get a male eventually

Wow, she's growing like a weed! :) She has some beautiful patterns! Should make some pretty babies in a year or two. :D

got my male !!!!!

hes a blood red, with her sunfire, the offspring will hopefully be AMAZING !!!

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...z/e7f0efbb.jpg
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...z/5e71734d.jpg
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...z/62c18863.jpg
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...z/ffbe25be.jpg
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...z/ecf77c72.jpg
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...z/6260f591.jpg
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...z/3e2fa22f.jpg

the first few days there was aggression, but now they get along like they were hatched together... head bobs and arm waves all the time, and i always see the female digging and finding spots to crawl up into... shes also very protective of the enclosure now... im hoping for a clutch soooon

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...attspix192.jpg

another comparison, this is the first week i got her, shes on the same stone, as in the other pics...

Wait, wait, your going to try to breed her right now?

Plus, did you quarantine that male for at least a month before putting him in with your other Beardie?

Plus they look too young, or is it just me

No not trying to breed right now. I did quarantine, and they are both older than a year, the female is about 14 months, the male about 12 months

they look wayyyyy too small to be that old. My bigger beardie is only ALMOST 5 months and looks way bigger than yours. what are their lengths and weights?? and do you have the funds to support all those little mouths when you get them? they can get really expensive really fast. i know a person that was spending about 300-400 dollars every 2-3 days ordering food for al her little babies. and that was for just one clutch
very cute though

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Briankm

they look wayyyyy too small to be that old. My bigger beardie is only ALMOST 5 months and looks way bigger than yours. what are their lengths and weights?? and do you have the funds to support all those little mouths when you get them? they can get really expensive really fast. i know a person that was spending about 300-400 dollars every 2-3 days ordering food for al her little babies. and that was for just one clutch
very cute though

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in my first post that pic is a little old compared to now, the female takes up my whole hand now... and
the enclosure is pretty big, which makes them look small, plus it also could be that i took the pix with my iphone, the female is probably 13"-14" head to tail. and the male is about 10"-11" head to tail, weight unknown because i dont have a scale, BUT, she's pretty heavy for her size, same goes for the male... and what was your friend feeding the clutch ??? silk worms daily ? lol, i'll probably be spending $25 a week in crickets, because i buy in bulk, and MAYBE $5-10 in produce.... i already have a few tanks for them to go in, but im thinking about getting a rack...

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...z/1e76f94e.jpg

this is a picture of the enclosure next to a reptarium R65 and a 52" big screen, just to give you an idea of how big the enclosure is, its almost 80 gallons

No they were feeding crickets. buying in bulk online. how are you going to provide the proper UVB and heat in racks???

And 13-14 inches is NOT full grown. my 5 month old beardie is about 13 inches.

a baby beardie can eat up to 60 crickets a day. and female dragons can hold sperm from the male for up to a year and only have to mate once to have multiple clutches. also if you are housin them together the male will continuously rape the female which is very stressful and will result in a very unhealthy beardie which will be even worse considering she is nowhere near breeding size and is not old enough to breed safely

ive been home in my room about 22/24 hours a day, i have a broken back so im mostly on bed rest in my room watching the tank and theres no aggression, raping, or even mating, so im not so worried...

Scarface, nice beardies... I buy bulk crickets also and superworms and they last for awhile too.. well just wanted to say nice beardies and set up, our male is goin in a 55gal soon.


$300-400 on food every 2-3days for a beardie is insane, its not a kid lol, trust me I have a 6year old..

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Originally Posted by scarface2jz

ive been home in my room about 22/24 hours a day, i have a broken back so im mostly on bed rest in my room watching the tank and theres no aggression, raping, or even mating, so im not so worried...

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So your waiting for it to happen? And it will happen. Your beardies are way to small to be even close to breeding, the female needs to be at least 300-400 grams IMO to breed. Any younger than that and your looking at an egg bound female.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by zeke

Scarface, nice beardies... I buy bulk crickets also and superworms and they last for awhile too.. well just wanted to say nice beardies and set up, our male is goin in a 55gal soon.


$300-400 on food every 2-3days for a beardie is insane, its not a kid lol, trust me I have a 6year old..

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A baby beardie can eat 60-100 crickets a day, and normally 1000 crickets will last close to two weeks. Now...beardies can have around 60 eggs per clutch, but the normal is around 30 at least ive seen. So... 30x$20 ( The average price for 1000 crickets) is $600. Now...if you buy in major bulk its going to be less than that, but your still looking at alot of money a week on feeders. Not only that but beardies have mulitple clutches, so in a few months you could have up to 160 beardies that you have to feed. They have to be at least 7 inchs to sell IMO too, so you have to keep them for a month or two. Beardies are like pastels on the market, there are to many of them and most do not look good. Im going to tell it to you straight, your two beardies will not have colorful babys that people are going to want to buy the second they see them. Go look on kingsnake and see how many normal looking beardies are on the market right now.

Im just saying.. - Matt

I understand they have large clutches, but if you got that many beardies why not just breed the crickets instead of spend that kinda $$$...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by zeke

I understand they have large clutches, but if you got that many beardies why not just breed the crickets instead of spend that kinda $$$...

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Have you ever bred crickets before? Its hard to do, and they smell lovely.

Also...excuse me if I sound a little mean/ to upfront today...im not feeling well :/

nope never bred them, but I have had a couple thousand stored at once and yes they do smell yummy, now I have super worms in a tank next to them.. when thier smelly powers combine you get some yummy goodness smells lol..


its ok I get grumpy too when I feel under the weather..

My friend owns a reptile shop and would more than likely pick up almost all of them, and being that he can care for them I would probably sell them to him cheap and within days of hatching, he would hold them for a month or two till they are old enough to sell, they aren't the most beautiful beardies on the market, but they make good looking pets and that's what they'll be sold as. As of now I'm buying crix by the 1000 count, and tubs of wax worms and superworms, without a problem

me and two of my buddies are also breeding ball pythons at the moment, pastel, albino, black back cinny, mojave, and a few others to name a few, so the beardys aren't my biggest project, just something I'm trying my hand in, and my female is very close to minimal breeding weight, I had my buddy take a look at her and he said all should be fine for her to breed. I appreciate the concern !

So how is ur buddy qualified to do this??? is ur buddy a herp vet?

and beardies are soooo much harder than ball pythons. you really can not compare the two.

He breeds bearded dragons, Chondros, chameleons, alligators, monitors (recently got a few croc monitors), geckos, spiders, and all sorts of feeders, and all sorts of other reptiles, to supply his thriving herp shop which has been in the same shopping center growing since I was in 1st grade, and I'm now 21, so I would take that experience as qualification

I'm not comparing breeding balls and beardys, but I'm just stating that the BP's are my main focus, and I'm just trying out breeding beardys, everyone who's done it has tried for a first time, so i've done my research and I'm just practicing what I've learned, to make an attempt.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Briankm

So how is ur buddy qualified to do this??? is ur buddy a herp vet?

and beardies are soooo much harder than ball pythons. you really can not compare the two.

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You don't have to be a herp vet to be qualified in breeding bearded dragons..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by scarface2jz

He breeds bearded dragons, Chondros, chameleons, alligators, monitors (recently got a few croc monitors), geckos, spiders, and all sorts of feeders, and all sorts of other reptiles, to supply his thriving herp shop which has been in the same shopping center growing since I was in 1st grade, and I'm now 21, so I would take that experience as qualification

I'm not comparing breeding balls and beardys, but I'm just stating that the BP's are my main focus, and I'm just trying out breeding beardys, everyone who's done it has tried for a first time, so i've done my research and I'm just practicing what I've learned, to make an attempt.

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He does sound pretty qualified to me. I think what got most people concerned (had me for a minute too) was that the last picture you have in your first post seemed like it was the current size, which I see it was a long time ago now.

I would get a good gram scale for $20 from Walmart or Amazon and weigh yourself some beardies. Just to be safe. ;)

I bred my first clutches of dragons this year and let me tell you I was going through about 10,000 crickets every 4 days!!! That was also with feeding them dubias and turks. They also got fresh salads made with the food processor every morning consisting of kale, collard, mustard, and turnip greens. They also ate different kinds of squash that I shredded for them. Beardie babies eat ALOT they have to be fed insects 3-5 times a day especially if you are keeping more than 5 in the same cage. If not kept well fed they will start eating each other, hence how you get nips. And with nips goes the value of your dragon babies. Not to mention the vet care and bill that goes with it. They also need 5-15 minute warm baths so they stay hydrated as out of the egg they aren't sure about a water dish and some never decide to drink out of one. They do however take in water from their vents so bathing is a great way to keep them hydrated.

I highly recommend you research really really well before you decided to breed. If you keep your male and female together it WILL happen. A male dragon can also breed a female to death. Not to mention the ripping off of her neck spikes while he tries to convince her to mate.

It is essential that the habitat is correct for them. They should have UVB and a clear heat light. There should be a temperature 77 to 88 degrees Fahrenheit with a basking spot of 105 degrees. The beardies should be on a balanced diet with adequate calcium. They must be in optimum condition -- especially the female -- because breeding, developing eggs and then laying eggs takes a lot of metabolic energy. It is the hardest thing a female will ever do.

IMO females should not be bred until they are at least 2.5 - 3 years old and 350-400+ grams.

If you have witnessed successful copulations, then the male needs to be removed from her site completely. Then she will only lay the clutches she is prepared to lay. If she is still within site of the male she will continue use her retained sperm to lay. Which will wreak havoc on her body.

Bearded Dragon babies in my opinion must be at least 2 months old before you try and find homes for them otherwise they could possibly die from the relocation stress. That is why most of the pet store dragons die, they aren't fed enough and an irresponsible breeder let them go (sold them) too young.

Sorry if any of that sounded bad or harsh in any way it wasn't meant to, and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. :D