by Timotei

Created on: March 02, 2007

The following information is my own gained from experience breeding Pogona minor minor (the Western Dwarf Bearded Dragon) but can be applied to any species without problems (in my opinion).

My female is about a year and half older than my male, and they have known each other since February 2006. Saphira (the female) has as far as i know never had a clutch before (she was wild caught). I've had Saphira since the end of 2005 and expect that she was close to a year old when purchased.

I decided to start trying seriously to breed them at the beginning of 2006, and the following is a record of what I did:

The first thing I did, was ensure that they brumated over the June/July period. I read in the book Keeping Bearded Dragons by Darren Green and Ty Larson that a cooling off period, albeit for only a couple of weeks, is pretty vital for producing viable sperm in males.

I lowered the temperatures down to about mid to high 20's and kept them there, in this period of time they became far less active, often hiding for days.

At the end of this, i gradually raised the temperatures back up to mid 30's.

I believe that a realistic vivarium means a good chance at breeding - it simulates their natural environment to a greater extent - and so I made sure to have plenty of furnishings.

I've heard that apparently breeding is best achieved outdoors, but seeing as I do not have an outdoor enclosure, i merely angled the vivarium so that it would catch several hours of afternoon sun through the window (keep in mind that UV rays do not actually pass through glass, but the natural sunlight is still great for them regardless). The beardies loved this, and i believe that this made a big difference.

I never observed my beardies mating. Puff bobs his head at Saphira and chases after her every time she moves, but she has only ever reacted positively once that I have seen.

On the 17th of October 2006, i noticed that Saphira was gravid.

Over the next few days, the eggs grew more and more evident, looking like little marbles inside her belly, then (something which i noticed the second time too) they seemed to shrink a bit, and she began to dig like crazy. In this period, any possibly stressful situation should be avoided. For example, avoid handling, if you have a vivarium with transparent sides, cover them... etc. Gravid females should eat more, and eat more often, with supplements also provided more often. In the final days of holding her eggs, however, i found that she was not too interested in food.

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