Expert: Pam - 11/10/2006

Question
Hi, I'm a 9 year old 4th grader in Wisconsin. My Mom and I would like to know what sex our dragon is, can you help us? We would like to do this ourselves, can you help us find pictures of how to do it?

We have also been thinking of breeding our dragon, do have any thoughts to share for beginners?

Thank you,
Ben

Answer
  It's easy to tell gender when the beardie is a few months old.  Sit the beardie, head away from you. Lift the tail and look just above the vent.  Two bumps with a dimple between is a male, one rounded bump is a female.  Here's a good illustration:
http://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/sexing/
  Not all beardies are suitable as breeders.  Beardies have been overbred and inbred in this country.  Most are just too small.  A male should be at least 20" snout to tail, and females, at least 18".  Another big factor is health.  Does the prospective sire or dam have a history of being resistant to ailments, manage to keep the parasite load down?  Does the beardie have unusual desirable traits?
 Another issue is expense.  Breeding is expensive. A hatchling should be eating a good salad and as many appropriate sized crickets as he can eat in ten minutes, so multiply that by 14-20 babies per clutch of eggs, and multiply that by how many clutches of eggs the female lays.
You could be talking 6000 crickets a week for at least 6 weeks.  Ethical breeders would not sell a baby under that age or under 6", whichever comes last.  Too many poor hatchlings are sold to pet stores, too young and too small.  They die fast of stress and starvation.  You must have a guaranteed good home for every baby hatched. And you will not make money.  I do breeding.  But only to breed for increased size and health, not high color.  I knew I was spending money, not making any.  Per season, I spend about $5,000.00.  Unless your animal is exceptional, I would think twice about breeding.