Thinking of breeding??

[TheWolfmanTom]

I was thinking back this morning to when I decided that I wanted to breed dragons as a hobby, then later professionally. My 1st clutch was an accident, and by doing the research and work to make that accident survive led my to wanting to make a go of this.
Now when I made this decision I did not run onto the forums asking the general populace of the world for help. I went and found actual breeders that wanted to share with Me the things that they do. One of my biggest sources of information does not breed much anymore and for Her privacy I wont share Her name. She knows who she is and She has my deepest respect and gratitude. Other breeders I talked to where Mario and Dale from Dales Bearded Dragon, Mike at Sunshine, Lynn at Carolina Designer Dragons, and a few others. I talked to the people that took the time to produce healthy animals.

 

[cherylsjsquad]

I totally agree with you regarding breeding. I know nothing about this but it has happened to us unfortunatley. We have had a male and picked up another about a month ago. They are both well taken care of and in seperate cages, but we put them together once in a while to "play". Shows how much we knew! I have been doing research latley because our newest is digging holes and has all of a sudden gotten big and lumpy around "her" sides. I thought that they were both head bobbing to each other but I guess she was doing pushups! I have been reading and reading for days trying to figure this out. What am I supposed to do?!

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Your female is probably gravid. She is going to need a place to lay eggs. I use a big rubbermaid tub with 6 to 8 inches of sand.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

My phone has been ringing like crazy the past week. I cant count how many people are going to breed their dragons.
What scares Me the most about these call is NOONE knows what happens after the breeding. Someone called me yesterday asking if he can save money by not using an incubator and feeding primarily greens. (The pet store said thats fine). Ok I have said it before and Im gonna say it again. The breeding part is nothing, Ma Nature covered that real well. The hard and expensive part is raising 20 to 140 babys to 4 to 6 weeks. Lighting, and heat your looking at 300 to 500 a month electric bills, not counting the cost of bulbs, lamps, bins ect ect. 2 cases of reptisun 10s $500 shipped. Thats at almost wholesale pricing. Now lets review food. We are gonna average cost of bulk crickets to 10 dollars per 1000. Thats still 100 to 150 dollars a week in crickets. Everyone I talked to completely ignored these facts. Im not pulling these numbers out of My ass either....lol

 

[sweetiepie9]

I believe every word you said, Tom, which is why we're not breeding, even though our five year old Sweetie lays infertile eggs 4-6 or more times per year & we have 4 males who would love to oblige her, when she's looking for a male to fertilize her eggs. It's not a possibility, nore would I want to breed just to sell to a local pet shop where they all don't take care of their beardies properly, then the new owners wonder why their beardie isn't in good health. So we won't do that to any babies. We have enough taking care of the 5 adults we have.

I enjoy reading your posts & I've seen your babies and know how healthy they are when they're shipped to their forever home.

Take care,
Deb

 

[LeylasMommy]

I actually intended to breed, but after I had done research. As it turns out, I had to do crunch research because the adult female beardie we purchased, was already gravid when we purchased her! I don't have the heart to freeze fertile eggs, so we went out and bought the incubator, vermiculite, planting soil for the lay box, etc, and did a crash course in what I had to do. So any and all advice, tips, etc is more than welcome! Thank you!!

 

[baileyrex]

I have never breaded before.. but i would REALLY love to try, I only have a boy bearded dragon and hes about one and a half years old, i dont know where to get a girl that he wont want to fight. I have herd rumors that if you only have one sex and they have never been with the other kind of sex they will fight? I have one tank for my big guy and I have a small tank about 20 or 25 gallon and I also dont know if that would be big enough for a whole batch of them beardies !! PLEASE HELPPP

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

The search feature that is attached to this site is a wonderful tool to start researching. Most of your simple questions will be there already answered.
I always recommend 1 dragon to 1 tank. The only time my dragons are together is to breed and then they are apart again.

 

[annieoakley123]

What a great post! I was wondering about the "costs of breeding". Although it does seem like a fun thing to do, its probably more trouble than you want if you are just doing it for the one-time thing. Its so much easier/cheaper to just get the beardie of your dreams, but then again you would probably be temped to breed that one as well LOL.

Any suggestions to who would be a good potential breeder? A stay at home person who has lots of room and money to spare? LOL sounds like thats all you can be to really successful beardie breeding parent. Just wondering because my bf is taking on a new job where with the money he will be making I will not HAVE to work and I would love to dedicate my time to a hobby like this.

Any tips/ideas?

 

[annieoakley123]

Just to add on to my last post: :lol:

I think for those people who really are interested in the breeding business is to find those breeders and volunteer your time to them to get a first-hand experience of the time and dedication put into a business/hobby like this. As I moved/enrolled into UCDavis (graduating this June...after 4 years of community college yikes!) I tried this before and got no reply back, found out I'd never do business with them! How rude! But Im still and very interested in doing this volunteer work. And if you have a beardie that is in high demand, who knows, that breeder may want to "rent" your beardie?? Anyone who wants help you can ask me!!!

I think this should be the first option for anyone thinking about breeding. It is still my main option Id love to do because you can help out a respectable breeder, learn many new things, and may even get them to use yours as a breeder! As someone who rides/trains/cares for horses, I know the costs of babies....sometimes its a better idea to invest your money into what you truly want and then enjoy it.
:mrgreen:

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

The volunteering isnt a bad idea Annie, if your ever on the east coast I have cages to clean out...lol. If your going to set up right even if its 1 time it will probably cost more than you make. Im a small producer of poopers. I hatched out roughly 250 dragons last year (i know doesnt seem like much) My operating costs where in the ball park of 15 thousand dollars. Half of that being food. I also produce about 1/3 of my own food as well. The rest being show fees, licenses, website, credit cards, business cards, and supplies, bulbs twice a year, and about 40 other things I cant remember this early in the morning.

 

[annieoakley123]

Yeah, set up, food, and bulbs are probably the biggest thing (which is prettyt much everything LOL). One of the things that I worry about and that will never go away is the electricity costs. UGH, just having two beardies at home made a noticable difference in the electricity bill. How you you breeders do it?! Im sure it be wise to invest in a generator as well.

Oh and Id love to clean poop as long as I could see the babies!!!!!! I hope I find a breeder thats willing to have me come in and help that is nearby. Keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Are people aware that breeding dragons is more than 2 dragons getting it on???
Its about taking the time to know what the hell you are doing. Its about taking the time to make sure your breeders(especially the females) are at optimum health, before during and after the breeding. Thats the easy part.

Thinks get harder when your raising 10 to 30 babys to optimum health while keeping them from eating each other to pieces.

A breeder is an amateur geneticist, amateur herpatoligist, a keeper, and a business man.
These are not things to be taken lightly.

 

[OgleRpets]

Nope! No one around me knows it! I've heard quite a few people recently talking to pet store people about how their dragons mated and they are so excited. Then go and buy the 3 dozen crickets for the week.

I remember how much it cost for the babies we hatched out a couple years ago. It was freaking insane!!! I had a guy I know decide to breed beardies and I told him ALL the info I know and have learned from here and other breeders and all the info I gave him went in one ear and out the other. Then he calls me excited his dragons mated. Then calls me in a panic about her digging, then calls me in a panic about the eggs, then calls me about the babies hatching, then about them not eating anything.

I just don't understand, if you are going to make the conscious decision to breed, then you need to make the decision to LEARN and RETAIN the information needed to do so and to RAISE the babies.

 

[Laderius]

...A breeder is an amateur geneticist, amateur herpatoligist, a keeper, and a business man.
These are not things to be taken lightly.

can i use this quote? amazing sums it all up in one sentence.