Breeding Bearded Dragons is a long, expensive and time consuming process. One of the first things to do is to make sure that the process is understood and that all proper resources are available. Otherwise, all efforts and expense will go to waste and end up with dying babies and/or sick adult dragons. Once you have decided that you really want to breed a bearded dragon, the first step now is to make sure that the dragons you have for mating are healthy, unrelated and have good qualities that will be passed on to future generations.

Your dragons should at least be 18 – 24 months old to be ready for breeding. Females need proper nutrition to support developing eggs, shelling and laying them and she wouldn’t be able to do this if she isn’t mature enough. As for males, they need to have accomplished full muscle development to be able to retract their hemipenes safely during mating to avoid damage and infection. Once they have reached full maturity, breeding will be much safer and easier.

You need to plan ahead in order to have a suitable home for your dragons and their babies. They should have a large enough enclosure to allow for breeding activity; a suitable place for the female to lay her eggs, and a proper place to incubate the eggs. Your dragons should be well rested and properly eating before breeding and this can be achieved by shortening their light cycles and lowering their temperature.

Place them together in the enclosure you have set up for their breeding and watch them go through a series of arm waving, beard displaying, bowing and head bobbing. During the whole breeding process, the males tend to be extremely aggressive towards the females. Beard display is a behavior usually done by the male dragons to show hierarchy among male dragons and also during breeding. It could also be a strong expression by the dragon when they are startled or threatened. This is done as if ‘blowing out’ its beard by extending a bone-like structure covering flap of skin therefore giving the appearance of a beard.

Usually, this ‘beard’ changes color and could look almost black and can extend to cover the dragon’s chest area. Head Bobbing is also done by the male dragon to attract the attention of the female dragon and to show dominance over a territory. Arm waving is a behavior by the female dragon to show submissiveness to the dominant male. Usually, the arm waving is done in response to male’s beard display and head bobbing. Raising tails is also a behavior mostly done during breeding that signifies a certain level of alertness and acceptance.

If the female is ready, she will bow to the male or do a slow push-up. The male will come over to bite her by the back of the neck and will manipulate the female into an ideal position where he has full control; and that will allow him to insert his hemipenes into the cloaca to begin copulation. All this happens a bit fast; often less than a minute but is tiring for both dragons.

There may be possible challenges when the female is picky and doesn’t want to mate with the male. You may try to allow the female to see other male dragons so she could choose who she wishes to mate with or simply allow time for the female to get accustomed with the male dragon. Just be patient and wait till she is ready. Never force your female dragon to mate if she is not ready. Sometimes, the female will also give in if the males are very determined and aggressive. Be sure to watch out for any breaks in the skin of your female dragon especially when the male constantly harasses her.

Allow 20 to 30 days for gestation and notice the female to expand considerably and begin to fatten up once she begins carrying her eggs. When she is ready she will begin to look for a place to burrow and lay her eggs and bury them. Some will dig just a shallow sunken hole in the corner while others will dig tunnels deep down as far back as they can. Make sure that you provide a safe laying site for your female to lay her eggs so the eggs won’t die due to egg binding.

The soil must be damp and does not contain any additives or fertilizers in it. You may mix 2/3 potting soil and 1/3 play sand. It is mixed well then warm water is added to moisten the soil but not make the soil soggy or sloppy muddy – just moist enough to have a handful of dirt, and when it is squeezed into a ball in your hand, it stays firm but not runny. The laying site should remain moist and warm. The soil should remain close to 85 degrees and mimic the environment and conditions in the wild.

Once the female dragon has thinned out, then you’ll know that she had laid her eggs. The female dragon may lay from 15 to 50 eggs up to six times in a year. The eggs should hatch in about 60 to 65 days. Bearded Dragon eggs are soft and leathery like turtle eggs and snake eggs. They are not firm and able to crack like a chicken egg. Baby dragons have an egg tooth they use to slit the egg before they can pop their heads out.

All eggs in a single clutch will hatch within 24 hours between each other. The hatchlings may remain in the egg after the initial slitting for several hours before emerging. Once the head is out, they will lay there taking their time and work their way out slowly. During the time they are slowly working their way out of the egg, their little bodies are absorbing all the nutrients left in the egg yolk that is still attached to their umbilical cord and can be seen right after hatching. The umbilical cord will slowly absorb and the belly button will close up. You can see a small slit in newly hatched dragons where the umbilical cord was attached to the egg.

Baby bearded dragons usually start to feed within 72 hours of hatching and needs to be fed several times a day. A baby dragon can eat up to 20 to 30 crickets each feeding. Avoid starving baby dragons unless you want them eating and biting off each other because they are so hungry. Once the babies grow bigger, you may need to separate them into several smaller groups until they grow into a viable age which should not be less than 6 weeks or a size of 6 inches. Smaller babies should never be left with larger babies because they might eat them – seeing the smaller ones as food.

Breeding can be very tiring for the dragons and should therefore be allowed a resting period right after and prior to another breeding activity. This is also known as brumation period – where the temperatures and daylight hours are reduced for a period of two to three months.