Thinking of breeding??

[fresnowitte]

Yes Lance so far 2 pages and no warnings that's great :mrgreen: considering our passions this is a touchy subject. :wink:

Sadly not everyone takes PRIDE in what they have to offer let alone pride in their pet beardies.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

When I joined this forum I was already set up as a breeder. I found this site after the fact. I spent years doing research and spent several thousands of dollars getting set up properly with racks, bins, lights, food, breeders, back-up breeders, vet costs. permits, web cost, fees, show costs, and the list goes on. The day I turned on my website I was 4000 in the hole, just in prep set-ups and research. I am now at a point where I break even most of the time and sometimes I show a little profit. Why do I do this? It sure isnt the money. I like to talk, I love my poopers. Ask anyone who has seen me at a show or has come to my home to pick up their dragon. It isnt about the money. Its about pride in a job well done. Breeding these amazing animals is not just putting 2 together to see what happens. Will you get babys that way?? Sure you will. Then what? I time my clutches very carefully. I run my bins at almost max capacity all year. What is max capacity?? Its 3 babys per bin till about 2 weeks old then its 2 to a bin. Then 1 to a bin. But hey I can just put them all in a 55 gal tank right???

 

[Freeie]

We thought about breeding at one time. But theres no way i could provide ALL the care and time involved to make sure they would all get the handling they need. Let alone all the money for everything envolved. Heck i get worn out with reeding Barbara's posts half the time lol I love this post. I'm very happy with just having pet beardies. I figure if i want a ton of poopers running around id kick a kid out and buy more vivs swing by Barbaras in the middle of the night and beardienap some lol It really kills me to see people post how they have male and female in the same viv. "I can't separate them because they love each other and cuddle" Not to long after that you read "OMG shes laying eggs HELPPPP!!!" Its so heart breaking to see the little ones with missing legs and tails I thank you guys for doing such a wonderful job and helping those who need it.

 

[RedInkAus]

It's just like with human kids, All fun and games to make them lol. But it takes a lot of time, knowledge and money to raise them right.

 

[DeweysMom]

Wow Tom, after reading your last post I have to give you and the other reputable breeders here a big pat on the back and a very big thank you for being so dedicated to these amazing little buggers. It really is soooooo refreshing to someone doing it right!

I obviously can't speak from experience, but I think some "breeders" see the amount of money that a clutch will bring in without realizing how much they'll have to pay out before hand to ensure their babies are healthy enough to be sold as a quality pet. Nevermind the amount of time it must take. Seeing the list you posted puts it all into perspective. When I win the Powerball and can quit my job, maybe then I'll start doing some extensive research to see if it's for me or not. For now, I'll enjoy having Dewey as my one and only.

Another thing I wanted to say is that this is why it's so very important to research breeders before buying any pet, not just beardies. There are many tell tale signs to show who's in the for the right reasons and who isn't. While it's a nice idea to want to "rescue" a pet from a backyard breeder or pet store it's really doing more harm than good in the long run because once that pet is gone, it leaves open a space for another one to be brought in. It'll be a never ending cycle until people stop buying.

Anyway, thanks again guys for all your hard work and dedication. When the time comes for me to get another, I think I know where my search will begin. ;D

 

[Bellalee]

Great post! To all of you! This is something that is very, very prominent I think not just in beardies but in reptiles in general, heck even in mammals! I belong to a gecko forum and everyday there is at least 10 posts like the same thing, and it drives me crazy. My boyfriends father (who breeds labradors, mind you a litter every 2 years, the proper way) says hey why don't you breed your dragons.. I say, no, he says why not? You'd make lots of money! I respond, I might make some money but what happens if I can't sell the dragons, they aren't going to pet stores. I tell him there will be in the teens of babies for each clutch and up to 4 clutches. He shrugs it off and says you really should do it there would be some money. I think he doesn't understand that these are real household pets/animals, not breeding machines. I have an incubator (and accidental breed/buying a gravid female leo prompted me to save the eggs and do the right thing), and a good many 10 tanks. I just cant do it, even with the amount of supplies I already have (with leos or beardies). I applaud all you breeders for doing it, you've done a great job.

So .02 cents, yes sure breeding reptiles is fun and easy! But how are you going to pay for it? What will happen if you get a defective animal? Do you have the time money, energy and effort? What happens if you don't sell your animals, are you ready to care for them for the next 10-15 years?? Reptiles are not throw away animals, and the market is overflooded with them already, there is not enough room for all of them. So please research before you breed and think twice about it.

Oh another thing, it makes me very sad when people ask me if breeding leos is easy, yea sure it's easy, except when the eggs go bad and you cut it open to see a baby not make it, sad when I'm stuck with 5 extra leos because I can't even give a leo away. I can't give it away because all people want is to breed them and mine are not breedable (mutts, a big no no in the leo world) and becasuse I don't trust some people. It's easy when the electric bill goes up, when your female loses 20 g (a good 1/3rd of her body weight) and you can't help but look at her and swear she is going to die every day. When you do lose a female to breeding (I didn't breed her I bought her unknowingly). These are all leo things but I think they apply to beardies also.

With that said, I will never breed my beardies. I love them, they are my pets, I have no time, nor would I want to put them through it.

 

[Livey]

I would love to breed, for the expiernce but not till i am alot older,
When i win that lottery though! :lol: :roll: lol
then when i win i can sit at home will all them cute poopers and all them crickets!
but yeah truthfully the bleak futrue dosent hold much right now for breeding in this day and age for me that is

 

[Freddiemom]

Wow, I agree also but then again I am a very strong advocate of spay and neuter, till they all have a home and all that other good crude,too. I will NEVER breed any of my animals (except maybe our mare, her bloodlines are too good that's a whole different story). There just aren't enough good homes out there of all of them. I would just end up keeping them all and go broke or um, well, broker :twisted: Bellalee, everyone- beautifully said

 

[bierdieman]

WOW THANKS TOM I just read all the post on this topic and it has me second guessing my self. I every since august 2009 when I got my first berdie Izzy I have been doing my own research on every thing from lighting to the right temps to diet and more. When I got my first beardie I knew next to nothing and should have done more research before hand I ADMIT. Because of all my reserch I have been doing I frequently get complaints from my girl because she wants the internet but just when I am done reading on a certain topic I find another that fascinates me. Now I have 3 awesome dragons the 2 females although they are different in size are in the same tank and get along beautifully. I also rescued a snow dragon from a pet shop were it had been picked on. I keep him in a seperate tank because although I want to breed I have been reading a lot on these types of forums and the costs and time involved and have slowed my pace dramatically.

This is my awesome male snow Ducky

This is spike

And this is my girls berdie Izzy

Right now I am testing my luck with breeding a mass amount of feeders and am having a suprising amount of luck. Some of what i am doing includes

1 breeding bin (colony) of adult dubias
1 small bin for extra males
2 bins with all their babbies so they arnt to over crowded
1 breeding bin (colony) of adult lobster roaches
1 Huge bin with their babies
1 50 gallon tote with adult crickets I use to grow my own
1 30 gallon tote with a crap ton of 2 week old baby crickets
1 bin of small crickets born on 12-29-2009
1 bin with a container lid loaded with cricket eggs

Now I know this is not considered a lot but the test thing I am trying out is. CAN I PRODUCE ENOUGH OF MY OWN FEEDERS TO BREED MY BERDIES. If I find that I cant then I am not even going to think about breeding again.
SORRY SUCH A LONG POST

 

[Phoenix17June2009]

Tom, I just wanted to say thank you for starting this thread... I have a friend who wants to breed his female beardie with Phoenix, but I have alwyas been hesitant... scared to death honestly, so i found this last night and i showed what you all had to say about breeding, which is what i have been trying to stress to him this whole time. Yes she is beautiful, healthy, well cared for, but neither he nor i have the room or hte money for all the expenses babies bring... i dont think he realized how much time/money/resources his project would take... he and i sat down and i said okay, so we would need this and this and that and that and even though we (I) would be breeding the feeders, that didnt even make a dent in the total we came up with, i was figuring if she layed a clutch of lets say 20 eggs, we would need 20 sepereate places for each of thme, 20 lights, 20 basking spots, we would have an ENORMOUS vet bill, not to mention if we could keep up with them all, they would still need daily baths, and TONS of food, b/c we all know babies eat a ton,lol, so I had to let him read this and i think it has finally hit home. He just wanst grasping what i was trying ot tell him, and it took him reading it for himself to truly understand what i was trying to say to him.... with that being said THANK YOU AGAIN TO ALL OF YOU FOR ALL THE INFORMATION YOU PUT ON HERE!!! I probably couldnt of convienced him otherwise lol. I personally am all for letting the folks that have done this for years to keep on keeping on... :mrgreen:

 

[fresnowitte]

Thanks for posting this hopefully someone who MAY breed will decide not to it because of it.

:wink:

 

[MissT]

Now I have 3 awesome dragons the 2 females although they are different in size are in the same tank and get along beautifully.

Im sorry bierdieman but are those recent pics of your 2 females? If so I would be VERY VERY cautious about keeping them together! It only takes a second for one to chomp down on the other!!

Anyway, back to the topic.... I have also been reading crazy numbers of posts from people considering breeding! Its scary business when you arent in the least prepared. We bought a female who turned out to be gravid and I had quite a few stressful days worrying about her! Thankfully, the guy we bought her from was willing to take the eggs and to eventually sell the babies for us! I couldnt have done it myself tho!

 

[fresnowitte]

Im sorry bierdieman but are those recent pics of your 2 females? If so I would be VERY VERY cautious about keeping them together! It only takes a second for one to chomp down on the other!!

Good catch!

 

[bierdieman]

MissT wrote:Im sorry bierdieman but are those recent pics of your 2 females? If so I would be VERY VERY cautious about keeping them together! It only takes a second for one to chomp down on the other!!

Yes I do keep an eye on them. Some times I wonder if they get annoyed because I hold them several times a day. I was most concerned when I first put them together my Izzy (the bigger one) was 7 1/2 inches and Spike (the small one) was only 4 1/2 inches. But I watched them very closely and did my research before I put them togather. A lot of people said it would not work out and told me to watch them closely and I did. They have been togather since August and have never even so much as nipped at each other.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Lets keep it on topic ladies and gents.