Equipment for Breeding Bearded Dragons

Two Large Terrariums

• To successfully breed bearded dragons, you will need, of course, one male and one female member of the species. When both dragons are one year of age, you can place them together into a large terrarium. If they are together all year long, the male will try to continually breed with the female. This could lead to serious damage to the female dragon and she could end up contracting an infection.

Four Small Terrariums

• Female bearded dragons can lay as many as 20 eggs per clutch. If both the male and female are healthy, you can expect most of them to hatch. Placing too many babies into one terrarium, however, may cause the babies to become stressed. Five babies per container should be the maximum limit.

Extra Food

• The female will consume much more food during the breeding season as well as just prior to laying her eggs so extra food will be necessary.

Laying Box and Substrate

• Once her eggs have been fertilized, the female will want to dig a bit to begin laying her eggs outside of her body. A laying box can be constructed out of a dish tub or cat litter box filled with a mixture of one part Perlite and one part Vermiculite. This soil like substance, obtainable at any garden center, is an ideal mixture for the eggs to be placed in as it does not include the bacteria and insects that often find their way into potting soil bags. Since bearded dragon eggs can be crushed by a captive born female, you may have to remove the box from the terrarium and place it in an incubator.

Incubator

• A pre-made incubator could be purchased for under $100 as of June, 2011. Keep the eggs at 87 degrees Fahrenheit for 45-50 days. Keep them moist but not soaked by spraying them twice daily with water. Wait for them to hatch. If the box won't fit into the incubator you will have to transfer the substrate into the incubator and place the eggs inside. Place the incubator in a well lit area, preferably indoors.

Items For Each Terrarium

• You will need at least one rock per container for the dragons to bask on, a UV light and a heating pad with adjustable temperatures. You may want to have a one-inch layer of bedding in each container to aid in the cleanup of feces and urine. Recycled paper bedding or vermiculite will work. but using any type of aromatic wood chips can be toxic. The combination of cedar, pine and other wood emits an odor we find pleasant; unfortunately, it can kill small reptiles within days.