After reading "Thinking of breeding??" by tom...

[NurseKrista1014]

I read this and I started to do research on breeding because I was debating on breeding in the future. I was going to ask my parents for an incubator for christmas! Anyways..

I have a lot of questions: Here are some questions I am looking for the answer too:

- How many crickets do hatchlings eat? (I know the size, just not amount)

- How long should you keep them before giving them away or selling them? (I promised two of my friends and one of my cousins I would give them one if I do breed)

- How many hatchlings should I keep in one tank? I heard a 15 gallon is good for hatchlings but I wasn't sure if it meant just one hatchling or is it alright to house Hatchlings together? and if so, for how long?

- How common is it for a male bearded dragon to injure a female while mating? (I don't want to hurt my babies- charles et burta <3 )

- is it possible to have just one clutch or is it more than likely to get multiple clutches?

And if anyone has anymore questions to ask people, feel free to post your questions about hatchlings!

 

[jharris08]

hey hatchlings will eat 2-3 times/day... i would plan on ordering 2000 crix a week for a clutch of about 15-20.
i always hold on to mine about 6 weeks before shipping..maybe 4 weeks to sell to a pet shop or someone.
ive always had better luck housing hatchlings in 2 or 3 rubbermaid containers with around 5-10 in each tub...this seems to cut down on aggression and nipped tails/toes ( along with ample feeding)
a female should lay 3-5 clutches from one successful copulation w/o any more contact with the male...just put the male in for 4 or 5 days and remove him..that will cut down on the chances of her getting injured.

 

[NurseKrista1014]

ok and is it wrong to not incubate some of the clutches? Like I don't think I could afford to feed like more than one or two clutches? And do you think it would be alright to give my family/friends a hatchling right away, I know they will take care of it and its not like bearded dragons need their moms. My bearded dragons will be able to breed as of my cousins birthday and I promised her she could be the first to chose one which will only be next summerish

 

[NurseKrista1014]

And ofcourse, I plan on keeping one

 

[AHBD]

As far as the potential for female to be injured, it's not real high, but it can be serious if the male is super sggressive. He can grab her and sling her around, especially if she's a bit smaller. At times he can smack her head against walls, cage furniture, so it would be good to keep an eye on their enccounters. If your'e really worried, just put her in to his cage while you are watching. Usually, a breeder male will commence operations quickly, and you can remove her after a few minutes. If your'e not positive that copulation took place, put her back in every day for a few days, then you will see if it looks successful again or not. You always take a chance of the female getting some bites on the back of the neck, and she may become a more subdued or timid dragon afterwards. But that is a worse case scenario, along with her getting knocked around.

 

[FBradshaw]

To help reduce the risk of injury to the female it's better to put the male in the females enclosure, this way the male doesn't see the female as another dragon intruding in it's territory.

If your female lays more clutches than you can handle, you can always freeze the eggs for a day and then dispose of them. By freezing them you effectively kill the embryo so that there isn't baby dragons hatching at your local dump.

When they first hatch they probably wont eat for a day or two, this is perfectly normal. After that they should eat anywhere from 50 to 100 crickets a day each, some a little more, some a little less.

When I have babies I house no more than 5 per tank in 20 gal long tanks, and for no more than 6 weeks or so. After 6 weeks they should start to be separated if you still have any. Theoretically baby dragons can go at 1 day old, they are born completely independent of their parents with the natural instincts to survive, however it is suggested to wait at least a couple weeks.

 

[AHBD]

A male that is potentially aggressive will be so no matter where you put them. As for unwanted eggs, you can freeze them but it's much less work [ and better to keep potential nasty germs out of your freezer ] to simply put them in a plastic bag and add a small amount of water. That does the trick just as well with no chance of eggs hatching when dowsed with water.

 

[Mistyck]

If you don't want to hatch out more than one clutch, then just put them in a baggie, and put them in the freezer. Then after about 24 hours just toss the bag out, eggs and all.

As for if you can give one away so fast, the answer is you could, but the death rate is much more likely to be higher. Especially if they don't take care of them like they should. One missed feeding, bath, or the wrong temps can kill them because they are so delicate at that young. So if you can't keep them until 6 weeks or 6 inches, then you shouldn't think about breeding. Just my honest opinion.

 

[NurseKrista1014]

If you don't want to hatch out more than one clutch, then just put them in a baggie, and put them in the freezer. Then after about 24 hours just toss the bag out, eggs and all.

As for if you can give one away so fast, the answer is you could, but the death rate is much more likely to be higher. Especially if they don't take care of them like they should. One missed feeding, bath, or the wrong temps can kill them because they are so delicate at that young. So if you can't keep them until 6 weeks or 6 inches, then you shouldn't think about breeding. Just my honest opinion.

I can see the back yard of my family and friends from my house literally- all my family and friends live in the same area as me, like I can help them with it. I wouldn't be transporting them far or anything. I look out my bedroom window and I can see their houses. And I believe that my nanny, cousin, and friend are capable of taking care of a baby beardie and I have a long time to drill information in their heads because it will only be next june or july. I don't plan on giving away to anyone I don't know/is not related untill they are a month atleast and I will be questioning the people to make sure they know everything that they need to know to keep a healthy baby. I got my male Charles when he was exactally a month old and he was fine, the guy just wanted to get rid of them though, never asked me anything but did give me a card for a cheap place for crickets.

 

[Jayson745]

if there are multiple lockups the female can start to get frayed skin on the back of her neck where the male grabs on, but it doesn't draw blood or anything, and heals right up. The only permanent injury I've seen happen was when a male bit a females eye. It didn't get the eye ball, but the skin right above the eye, and it cut the skin pretty good. and that did leave a scar. That could have been worse. I dont think thats a very common thing though. I was right there when it happened. It looked like he was trying to latch on and didn't know where to grab, so just grabbed anywhere he could find. She tried to take off and kind of drug him along with her. I had to intervene and scare him a little so he let go. He was on the young side at the time, and was a virgin, so I think he just didn't know what he was doing.

Its definitely a good idea to be there when they do their thing for situations like that. If you put them together and they dont do anything after a few minutes, take him back out and just wait a couple of days and repeat the process. I had a female act like she hated a male, then a week later I had her sitting with me in a chair which happened to be right outside his incloser and she was spazzing like she wanted in there. She was head bobbing like a male, and looked ready to jump from the arm of the chair to the incloser. So I put her in there, and they went to business instantly. I think sometimes they just aren't in the mood, and sometimes they are.