Eastern Bearded Dragon Cross

[Dakotabuds]

I have a beardie that i picked up 10 years ago from pet co. she got larger than my other central at the time, he just passed two years ago, was 14 years old :-( Rip Shibby.....Right then back to the Big lady....over time her patterns started to dull, and now are almost unnoticeable unless she is wet or trying to be tough. I really did not think much of it, until she got really dark and showed signs of red coming out, thought she might be sick so i brought her to the vet. My local vet thinks she might be a Eastern Central cross breed which he said is really rare. I decided at that time to try and get another male for her and try and get them to breed. this all over the coarse of 10 years. got my male 3 years ago and am now just starting to get them together. take a look at the pics and let me know what you think....i would like other opinions on if she is indeed a cross.(Sorry for the crappy pics, will try and get some when she is in the bath....really black then)
Lean on me....

First meeting

 

[Claudiusx]

She doesn't look eastern at all to me.

Looks just like a normal bearded dragon.

How big is she?

I wouldn't house them together either...
And I would work on getting a better substrate than what you have in there. I realize you didn't post to get lectured, but I'm just saying..

-Brandon

 

[MissT]

A word of warning.... 10 years old is rather old for trying to breed a girly. The eggs are unlikely to be viable and it will put unnecessary stress on her body given her age. I would urge you to reconsider breeding her.

 

[Dakotabuds]

i got them in a better substrate now( have a 150 gal rock substrate cage with grout bottom and backing, all precautions taken to paint good acrylic layer on there to make sure safe for the beardies) and i was concerned about breeding her at such an old age. But she has never bread before, took her to the vet for a check up before i got them together and the vet said as long as she can still get prego she will be fine. Since i have moved them to the new cage they have plenty of space and have gotten along very well. two basking spots and two cooling spots, all temperatures to standard 105 in basking and 75-85is in the cooler spots. I do have other tanks set up that i can separate them out in if needed, but so far they have been great together. the picture i put up is a bad one of her, she has a good amount of dust on her so you cannot see her black, just looks like a brown blob.

here is a pic of her in the bath. you can see her marks are really dark brown almost black at times and she has redish brown going through her back markings and in her legs.

now i have heard of some centrals getting darker but not having the red coloring coming out unless its a citrus breed, my vet has been a reptile vet in my town now for 20+ years and has a lot of experience with bearded dragons and he said he is just not sure what she might be. she is 21in long as well which i know a central can get to that size, the eastern are known to be on average 20-23 in. i know she is not a full eastern just because they are completely black on the back by the age of 10 and their legs show strong tints of reds and greens.

pic of full eastern

and you typical central, not like i even have to show a pic...

My vet just has no clue and he told me to ask around online and see what other people think. i appreciate the reply though even the ones with lecturing although i can assure you i know how to take good care of them. I have had beardies for quite some time now and all have lived over 13 years old so i think i am doing something right. not to mention the countless books, forums, reviews, vet visits, and being part of the local herp society(which btw no-one there could really tell me what she is, we all agreed that she is probably just a really dark central but who knows) Either way thought i would open it to discussion.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I just thought I would ask where you got her from?
It appears that she is a darker central but some of the earlier genetics may have some stronger barbata traits if less inbreeding as done.
Do you have other pictures?
The average of the Barbatas is up to 26 inches from what I have heard but they tend to be slimmer in build than the Vitticeps which are a little more rounded.
Are you planning on breeding a 10 year old female?
If so, I would be careful as the eggs may not be real viable but it could possibly endanger her health also. Have you had her calcium levels tested? I am not sure I agree with the vet though breeding an older female.

Tracie

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Looks like a healthy normal dragon. Before all the crosses and morphs started shrinking the size of dragons, that is what the average vitticeps looked like.
I breed for size as well as color for the most part. My dragons tend to grow large.

Now as for breeding, I just would not breed a 10 yr old dragon. Is she capable?? Probably. However you could shorten her lifespan and put her thru undue stress.

Not saying you vet doesnt know his business, but I know mine. My business is breeding healthy animals, and this is not the way to go about it.

 

[Dakotabuds]

I have had her on yearly vet visits since she was about 3 she is extremely healthy but i was not sure if she would even let him mount, which i was right. after about a month together they started to fight so i have them split up now and am not planning on breeding her anymore just because of the added stress she had with me just housing them together. So i have them split up now, and they are doing great, i have new plans for my male now working on a hypo breed, my buddy locally here has a hypo female he wants to breed, any my males is really light colored normally so we are thinking try and get them together and see what kind of patterns we get.

i got her at petco 10 or so years ago....so if she is crossed it was accidental.

will work on getting some new pictures up of the new setup, picked up some wicked driftwood pieces from last years flood the other day and re-decorated the cages.....really cool....like i said will work on more pics here soon.