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Bearded Dragons have many varieties, thanks to mutation and selective breeding. The more colorful kind, ranging from purple to red, can be very expensive. But, for owners of regular females and males, it isn't so bad; female "Beardies", as they're often called, can breed at age two, while males can mate at around eight months old!

You might have aggression problems, when the female won't breed with the male she's shown. Don't give up though; an aggressive female like that needs a bigger, more dominant male. If he's going around her, bobbing his head, nipping at her, and she's doing it too, then they're ready to mate.

Bearded Dragons are fairly large reptiles, so you'll naturally want a lot of room for them when laying. Give her a lot of soft, moist substrate to dig and put in her eggs. People generally suggest that you put her in a two gallon Rubbermaid tub, or something similar. She'll lay about 50 eggs and might eat some of them if they aren't fertilized.

You want to give those eggs a lot of heat; an incubator is extremely good for that. There are varying kinds of incubators, including styrofoam. That's good and is not expensive either. Remember to put a dish of water in the incubator to keep the air in there nice and humid.

You don't have to have an incubator, though. As long as the eggs are in the same position as at laying time, they'll be sure to be okay. Put them in a covered container - remember to not turn them over! - with vermiculite mixed in water on the bottom, a good layer of it. Above all, the eggs need to be kept at around 86 degrees.

Problems with laying among these lizards are very much the same as for others:

1)Maybe the worst for the Dragon is called egg-binding. It's when something happens and the lizard can't lay her eggs; they're stuck. Sort of like in humans when there's a breach birth. You have to take her to the vet for this, where she'll get a hormone shot that will help her lay.

2)Be careful if she tries to guard her eggs. She'll be likely to bite and scratch if you try to take them away from her, but you must.

3)Make sure the eggs do NOT end up at a temperature below 69 degrees! If the power to your incubator goes out, put those eggs in a container and keep them as warm as possible till the incubator power comes back on.

http://www.the-lizard-loung e.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Bearded_dragon
http://www. beardeddragon.org/bjive/
http:/ /www.beardeddragonguide.com/

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