Reptilecare.com - Bearded Dragon Breeding Project

Diary of a Bearded Dragon Breeding Project

Subjects: Eddie and Bisquik
When: Summer/Fall 2000

The introduction:

It seemed innocent enough. I was unsure if Bisquik was

big enough to put into Eddie's new 75 gallon tank with him. He could see her across the room and she had begun flirting with him in the spring. He decided that since there was this beautiful female across the room he no longer needed to eat any more than was absolutely necessary for survival. Eddie would spend every waking moment bobbing at Bisquik across the living room and trying to get her attention. So one day in late

June I intoduced them in the living room on somewhat neutral territory. As soon as I put them on the carpet he was on her. I don't think we need details here. Suffice it to say breeding took place before my very eyes. He continued to posture around her but that was the only actual mating that I saw.

The ever-widening Bisquik:

During July and early to mid-August we watched Bisquik

get fatter and fatter. By then I had let her and Eddie out together on the living room floor and they seemed to get along well. I put her in with Eddie in the 75 gallon tank in mid-July. She ate like an absolute pig. Eddie started eating again too and gained some weight! Eddie would posture around her and nip at the back of her neck but I didn't see any more mating take place. By mid-August I was wondering when she would lay the eggs. She had became rather pear shaped by now. One day when I had her and Eddie in the bathtub for a soak I could feel the outline of all the eggs in her. They were all the way up under her ribcage.

The digging:

This went on for well over a week. I was in Florida for the National Breeders Expo the weekend of Aug. 19th but I was kept informed over the phone about how much digging was going on. Dig... dig... dig... Eat... eat... eat... and so it went. She had a perfectly good lay box in there that she chose to ignore for the most part. I caught her in there once or twice but she seemed to prefer digging anywhere but in the box. One day she had almost completely covered Eddie with sand. He was sitting in there with the eye closest to Bisquik closed because of the constant barrage of sand being flung about.

The laying:

Bisquik stopped eating only a couple of days before she laid the eggs. On Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2000 my mother came over with a friend of hers from out of town who wanted to see all the critters. We watched Bisquik digging about and went upstairs to check out the iguanas. When we came back downstairs there were eggs behind Bisquik!!! Of course she completely ignored the laybox and was laying them on

the floor of the tank with Eddie looking on. It was nice of Bisquik to lay in front of an audience like that. She laid 19 in all. It only took about half an hour to 45 minutes. When she was done she turned around and started slamming the eggs with her face. It was the weirdest thing. I moved her and took the eggs out before she could damage any of them. After I got them out of there she proceeded to cover up the area with sand just like the eggs were still there. The following day she began to eat like a pig again. She didn't look any the worse for wear at all. She had quite a bit of fat on her unlike with Iguanas that look like HELL after laying.

The incubation:
I put the eggs into a clear plastic shoebox filled halfway with moist vermiculite. I turned the eggs so that the pinkish-red embryo was facing up and sunk them into the vermiculite about halfway. The shoebox (with holes in the lid) went into the Hovabator which is set at 81.5 degrees. The temperature varies up and down only about half a degree. And so they sit. As of this typing it has been about 12 days and the eggs look good. No molding. They are all looking quite healthy and firm. I expect the eggs to hatch at the end of October.

The end is near:
Well, it has been 61 days now (10-24-00). The hatching is imminent. From what I understand it can be anywhere from 65-75 days of incubation until first hatching. I have to admit to being a bit nervous now. I have heard some stories of deformed hatchlings lately and hope that all of mine are fine when they hatch. All of the eggs look GREAT! No dimpling, no drying. They look perfect. Some of them look a little "clear" like they are lacking calcium. This is something I have not seen with the Leopard Gecko eggs and wonder what it means if anything.

BABIES!

Yes, it is official. Bisquik and Eddie's babies started hatching on Nov. 3, 2000. They started to hatch on day 70 of the incubation. 2 came out the first day and the following day there were 11 more. Now on day 73 we have 15 total. The last 4 eggs look good but haven't hatched yet.

Well, now there are 19 babies! Yes, they all hatched and all seem to be doing well. All seem to be eating and getting fat. They are too cute. The last ones came out on day 74.

Check out our Baby Dragon Care Page and a couple of the babies that we sold way back in 2000/2001.

As of May 2006 I have a small amount of eggs in the incubator. The babies should be rather orangy like their parents, Patrick & Yolanda (Daughter of Eric the Red & Luau. Check our Available Animals page to see when they become available. I will not sell them until they are at least 6 weeks old.