Freezing vs Letting them hatch

[Poisoned1]

People choose not to freeze a dragon's egg because they feel that is the same as abortion and would rather try to hatch them, now I can understand the thinking process to this but when you are not sure how to properly raise them is this truly the right choice?

If you decide to hatch them and you are unprepared for that day and only have 50 crickets is this really enough? No of course not a baby dragon can eat 50-100 crickets a day, are you going to make sure your dragon gets enough food so as not to be malnourished?
Do you have enough heat lamps/UV and containers so as the dragons are not crowded and don't eat each other.

Do you really think not freezing them but giving them a life of malnourishment and danger with the babies is a better choice?

Yes there are breeders here that know what they are doing and make sure this does not happen.

I just want to know what thoughts you have on this?

If I had a dragon lay eggs I would freeze them since I don't have the time/money/devotion to give to a clutch of babies. Plus I would never have two dragons live together like some people like to do.

 

[Gail]

I see nothing wrong with freezing eggs if you are unprepared for raising babies. I think too many people are breeding dragons now days, soon they will be a disposable pets just like iguanas.

 

[VEGASLIZARD]

Well, if you don't let them breed, you will never have to be faced with fertile eggs in the first place. As the Catholics say...Abstinence is best. lol

 

[lurch666]

Well, if you don't let them breed, you will never have to be faced with fertile eggs in the first place. As the Catholics say...Abstinence is best. lol

words of wisdom xD. Made me smile.
Sounding like an old fuddy duddy no offence btw
xx

 

[diamc]

Gee, maybe this would be a good subject for a poll.

 

[VEGASLIZARD]

Hey, I don't mind sounding like an old fart. I now am the mother of two teenage son's, so I would love it if they could live by those words of wisdom so I don't have to worry about any human eggs hatching. lol

 

[Angiecountrygirl]

Well, lets just say I have 2 of the cutest kitties ever... and they are both fixed. I believe in spay and neutering- so I would say since it's not a choice w/ beardies (atleast I don't think that's an option?), I say if you're not prepared for babies- DON'T let them mate (then you don't have to make the choice), and if you have to choose to freeze of hatch... It's an Owner's choice (I'm pro-choice- sorry if that offends)! :roll:

 

[VEGASLIZARD]

I would agree. I think it's best not to let eggs hatch that you are not prepared to care for if you make the mistake of allowing them to breed. I would never allow Scorch to breed because she is strictly a pet, knowing that it is difficult on the females health I wouldn't want to shorten her life or risk egg binding.

 

[spyder79]

I see nothing wrong with freezing eggs if you are unprepared for raising babies. I think too many people are breeding dragons now days, soon they will be a disposable pets just like iguanas.

i am a proponent of freezing eggs if you are ill prepared for what you have gotten yourself into. but i would specifically like to make a comment towards this post i have quoted

i sincerely doubt bearded dragons will ever go the way of iguanas simply because no matter what at the end of the day a beardies care and feeding costs more than a iggy. i think many of the breeders just now getting into the hobby will drop out after this season just because the economy is killing a lot of breeders at this time. Give it a year or so and prices will go back to where they were as well as sales.

 

[VEGASLIZARD]

Give it a year or so and prices will go back to where they were as well as sales.

I did notice that last year my local pet stores were charging $100 or more for babies and they are now selling for $50-75. I saw some babies at the NARBC for as little as $20. I don't see how the breeders can make a profit on these prices unless they are underfeeding them. Maybe that is why we are seeing such tiny ones at the pet stores that look like they are only a week old. :twisted:

 

[spyder79]

its the same at shows. there was a breeder at the Raliegh Reptile Expo selling babies that couldnt have been more than 2 weeks old. The economy is pushing people who make their money on reptiles to sell earlier and at smaller weights without concern for the animal. This paritcular person had 2 bins with easily 25-30 of these lil 3-4 inch babies per bin being sold at 25 bux a pop. no care instructions or anything. just buy one and go (cause i asked)

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Gee, maybe this would be a good subject for a poll.

iLL BUMP FOR THAT!!!!

 

[Gail]

I sincerely doubt bearded dragons will ever go the way of iguanas simply because no matter what at the end of the day a beardies care and feeding costs more than a iggy. i think many of the breeders just now getting into the hobby will drop out after this season just because the economy is killing a lot of breeders at this time. Give it a year or so and prices will go back to where they were as well as sales.

I don't think its just the economy that is the problem, every year more and more people start breeding. Even one female can produce close to 100 babies in one season, think about how many babies that adds up to when you have hundreds of breeders with multiple females. With that many babies saturating the market, the prices will continue to drop until you can easily buy them for $25 at local pet stores. That in turn will mean more people who won't care for them right will be buying them because they are cheap. It also means people won't go to the vet and possibly spend hundreds on a animal that is cheap, just let it die and get a new one. Its the same thing that happens with iguana and corn snakes.
The local pet store here sell normals for around $40 and I've seen pastel hypos for as low as $60 at petco. I know one breeder was selling chris allen reds to LLreptile for $9 apiece.

Of course there will always be breeders who produce high quality in low numbers that sell for more and will most likely only be bought by serious owners but those dragons are the minority. Just go look at the memorial section, see how many pets store babies die every year, some times more then one animal per owner.

I wouldn't mind select breeding myself but I would only want one clutch per year, that means freezing or find some one else who would want the eggs.

I'd also like to add that raising a iggy does indeed cost more then a dragon, they need the special lighting and a HUGE cage, not to mention the cost of feeding veggies to a 6 foot monster. At least with dragons, you can raise your own bugs.

 

[Neromom39]

It is so interesting that this topic was posted. I was thinking about "selective freezing" just yesterday. Let me tell you why I was thinking about this...

I have 4 dragons that we plan on breeding at the end of next year and into 2011. We think the color pairings will yield some beautiful babies. Two of my dragons are still only 2 and 4 months old, which explains the long wait. This will certainly give us plenty of time to prepare (as much as one can), however I am thinking that I may only want to keep 5-10 of the hatchlings from each clutch. Reason being... I will absolutely refuse to sell any of my babies to a pet store. And I would like to think that I would be one of those breeders who would sell their dragons to a knowledgeable pet owner, not for profit (as I have heard from many of the experienced breeders here that that is a pipe dream :? ) I would want to sell them out of the sheer ideal of making someone as happy as I was to get my babies. I know that if I have 30 babies every 2-3 months, the possibility of finding all of them good homes will be almost nill. It's not about the expense of feeding them... we are quite capable of managing that. I just wouldn't want to be put in the position of having to go against everything I believe in and sell to a pet store just to make room for the next clutch. It would probably break my heart to do that. And after the first breeding, I may decide that they are done.

And anyone that knows me (metaphorically speaking), knows that the health and welfare of my beardies is first and foremost to me. The idea of putting any beardies in harms way is sickening to me.

I am hoping that this made sense. I still have quite a while to ponder...

Robin

 

[spyder79]

It is so interesting that this topic was posted. I was thinking about "selective freezing" just yesterday. Let me tell you why I was thinking about this...

I have 4 dragons that we plan on breeding at the end of next year and into 2011. We think the color pairings will yield some beautiful babies. Two of my dragons are still only 2 and 4 months old, which explains the long wait. This will certainly give us plenty of time to prepare (as much as one can), however I am thinking that I may only want to keep 5-10 of the hatchlings from each clutch. Reason being... I will absolutely refuse to sell any of my babies to a pet store. And I would like to think that I would be one of those breeders who would sell their dragons to a knowledgeable pet owner, not for profit (as I have heard from many of the experienced breeders here that that is a pipe dream :? ) I would want to sell them out of the sheer ideal of making someone as happy as I was to get my babies. I know that if I have 30 babies every 2-3 months, the possibility of finding all of them good homes will be almost nill. It's not about the expense of feeding them... we are quite capable of managing that. I just wouldn't want to be put in the position of having to go against everything I believe in and sell to a pet store just to make room for the next clutch. It would probably break my heart to do that. And after the first breeding, I may decide that they are done.

And anyone that knows me (metaphorically speaking), knows that the health and welfare of my beardies is first and foremost to me. The idea of putting any beardies in harms way is sickening to me.

I am hoping that this made sense. I still have quite a while to ponder...

Robin

this was the plan that i have as well. though i only ended up with a few babies this season just by proxy but i only plan on keeping about 10-15 eggs from each pairing and the rest will be frozen