I want them..but should I ?

[Gungirl]

Ok so I was offered a pair of bearded Dragons today. :freakedout:The female is full of eggs... The male is a German Giant:confused: and the female is a sunglow. They come with a full set up and everything for $160:yes:.. I know I would want to separate them due to them breeding again. I don't know if I want to take on a pregnant female... or if hubby will agree to it at all. The info I would like is :
1- how large does the German Giant get?
2- what does a pregnant female need to do well?
3-how many babies does a female typically have?
4- what are the requirements of the new babies?

I had a beardie about 15 yrs ago so I know the basics but I want to know more before I commit to these guys and the babies...thanks for your help!

[youngster]

Bearded Dragon . org - Bearded Dragon Care Sheet (http://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/caresheet/)
This is goood ^^^ Clutches are like 15 eggs on average I believe.
The babies are very fragile. Just read up it's easy husbandry as you'd know. More maintenance than a snake but still easy.

[Gungirl]

eek I would have to find homes for all the babies! lol

[youngster]

eek I would have to find homes for all the babies! lol

Haha, I would take one or two since you're helping me :)

[dawnhorn]

One of my males copulated with one of my females ONE time. I thought he was being a jerk when I had all my dragons out to play one day until one of my females ran over to him and the fun began. Ignorance on my part. Bearded Dragons store sperm...be aware. That one copulation has resulted in Scarlett laying 5 clutches of eggs for a total of 104 eggs!
1st clutch: 17 eggs- 1 unfertile 100% hatch rate
2nd clutch: (4 weeks later) 22 eggs 100% hatch rate
3rd clutch: (3 weeks later) 21 eggs- 19 eggs hatched (1 hatched 1 week later than the rest)
4th clutch: (3 weeks, 1 day later) 22 eggs. Ran into mold issues, lost 1/2. Rest are currently overdue to hatch, but still alive
5th clutch: (4 weeks later) 22 eggs, 8 were infertile, 1 went bad. 13 due to hatch 10/20.

I am not sure how big the German Giant gets although I have one that has it in his genes. He is about 20 inches nose to tail, but has a larger frame than my other dragons.

Care for the female isn't too bad. She will need extra calcium and nutrients and definitely feed her as much as she will eat. Here is a fabulous site that will have many of the answers that you will need Tosney's Bearded Dragon Eggs (http://www.bio.miami.edu/ktosney/file/BDeggs.html).

Make sure to provide a suitable lay box for her. I used a rubbermaid tote with a heat lamp and just moved her in there when she started scratching frantically to get out of her cage. They don't usually lay the first time you put them in there. Sometimes they stare at you like "what am i supposed to do in here?", other times they dig for a while and then want out. Finally she will dig, back up into her hole and lay a bunch of little eggs. Let her bury them and jackhammer the dirt nice and tight. When she is done and just sitting there, run a shallow, warm bath for her and let her relax (and get her cleaned up). Dry her off and offer her LOTS of food (she will be very hungry because they usually start refusing food a couple days before they lay). Carefully remove the eggs, marking them on the top and being careful not to change the orientation or you can kill the embryos. Place them in your prepared incubation container and place in the incubator and then wait (if you are like me, it will be waiting very impatiently! It's very exciting!).
Egg incubation time varies depending on the temperature. Mine were running about 8 weeks at 84 degrees, but the time has been longer on these last 2 clutches. We are using the exoterra incubator which i love because it heats and cools, but there are many other great incubators out there as well.
The hatchlings are suprisingly very easy to care for, but eat A LOT! I use finally chopped greens spritzed with water (I believe I got that tip off of the above website) for hydration (you don't want them to drown in a water dish). They go to lick water off the greens, accidentally eat some and wahlah! You have babies that will love greens right away (well about 2-3 days after hatching when they first start to feed). I feed mine 1/4" crickets and baby dubias and supplement them every couple days with calcium dusting on the feeders. I give them greens first thing in the morning, feeders on my lunch break from work and feeders again in the evening. I handle them each time after the first few days and they calm down very quickly. They can be nippy when they first hatch because they don't know that you're not a predator, but they get used to seeing you and realize you are nothing to worry about.
If you get them, have fun! Babies are a blast (and very hard not to get attached to!). Try to find homes for the babies BEFORE they hatch. When they get about 6 weeks old, 6" long, eating well and healthy they are ready to go. After this, they get bigger quickly and eat so much more and you can quickly run out of space and food. If you don't already do so, start breeding your own crickets and dubias right away...it will save you a boat load of money!

[Gungirl]

Thanks so much for all the info.. I am sad to say that I had to pass on getting these guys. My hubby didn't think it was a great idea for me to get into more animals right now. We are selling our house asap and moving. Once we move we are hopeful I can still get my hands on this pair. The owner is keeping them on hold for me as of right now...

[dawnhorn]

Kat, Good luck on your move! It's good to wait until after the move to get them so you can concentrate on getting them all settled in! If you end up getting the pair, you will have a blast! I can never get enough of babies! They are so cute and I love watching them grow! I love Bearded Dragons anyway...they are so full of personality! What amazes me, with any reptile for that matter, is that no matter how many caresheets or forums you read, you seem to learn more about a particular species every day. I feel like I never have all the knowledge I need which is what is so great about this forum! There are so many people who are willing to share what they have learned!

[beardeds4life]

Bearded Dragon . org - Bearded Dragon Care Sheet (http://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/caresheet/)
This is goood ^^^ Clutches are like 15 eggs on average I believe.
The babies are very fragile. Just read up it's easy husbandry as you'd know. More maintenance than a snake but still easy.

15! no way 25 to 65 babies! usually about 30 but you could house them all together till sold and you could wholesale them to LLLreptile.com if you have to and german giants get quite a bit bigger but it would do fine in a 4.5 by 2 foot enclosure personally i would do it and you would make back the money for them and the enclosure because the babies would be very nice so personally i would do it. Start a website and they would probably sell pretty fast.

[Gungirl]

Thanks for the info beardeds4life. I passed on them though. As hard as a choice it was for me I am trying to sell my house and move so taking on more animals was just not going to fit in. I will get some later on down the road.....

[KORBIN5895]

A baby beardies diet consists of 80% protein aka crickets for most people. Idk what crickets sell for there but imagine feeding 50 babies mostly crickets for 6 weeks. I can get 1000 pin heads for about 40 bucks here. That box lasts me a little over a week. Cost adds up quick. Fun but hard to move the babies sometimes.

[youngster]

Clutch size is usually 11-15 eggs, but clutches of up to 30 are not unusual.

I was going by this. Sorry for bad info :p

[Valvaren]

Best thread to read on this subject is :Bearded Dragon . org • View topic - Thinking of breeding?? (http://www.beardeddragon.org/bjive/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=126455)

Tom is a well respected and successful bearded dragon breeder and does a good job on writing this.

To correct information here, you will not make you money back. Also the german giant line is so watered down very few actual german giants exist anymore and most breeders don't even bother mentioning the line as the babies never show it. Also I've never heard of a sunglow bearded dragon so you might want to actually get a look and picture of the dragon and post about it on beardeddragon.org encase you are actually just getting a hypo.

Babies are very expensive and housing them together is very very dangerous, nips and missing toes happen and if you are looking to try and make some money back this wont help because you'll be selling unhealthy babies.

Just my two cents, the market is already flooded with babies because of people thinking about a quick buck when it is nothing but.

[Valvaren]

Also just to mention, I did a search after posting for a sunglow morph of bearded dragon and received back messages from a few breeders on bd.org and there is no morph called a Sunglow. You really should ask for pictures of that female, and also this just makes me believe even more that the male is in fact not a german giant.

[Gungirl]

Is anyone reading what I wrote in my last post... I did NOT get them and I am NOT going to. Thank you all for the info but this is not even a thought in my mind any more.


If I had gotten them it would have had nothing to do with making money. I am not that kind of person. I would have gotten them to enjoy them. I also am not keen on breeding anything I own as I think far to many people breed for the "fun" of it and to many animals go with out being taken care of..

[Valvaren]

Oh I know you said you wouldn't, but you also stated you were thinking about getting them after you moved and that this person had them on hold for you, so I wasn't completely positive on what your thoughts on the situation were.

And the making money wasn't directed towards you but towards beardeds4life.

[KORBIN5895]

I read it but wanted to inform others( not necessarily you) of how much it can cost for crickets. And rereading my post 1000 crickets last me less than a week not a little over. Sometimes I read things I write and wonder who the heck is posting for me.

[beardeds4life]

the costs do add up quickly my 1 bearded dragon costs over 50 dollars a month in crickets and worms alone! aand he isnt even an adult

[jarich]

Holy &^%$! Youre one bearded eats that much in insects?! How much is it per cricket there? Im only paying $0.10 per cricket, so it must be way more expensive for you. Time to start a colony, eh!

[KORBIN5895]

I'd cut back on the worms. They cost more and are harder to digest.

[beardeds4life]

yes it does cost so much

[beardeds4life]

Oh I know you said you wouldn't, but you also stated you were thinking about getting them after you moved and that this person had them on hold for you, so I wasn't completely positive on what your thoughts on the situation were.

And the making money wasn't directed towards you but towards beardeds4life.

ummm when did I say anything about making money i said if they made a website they would probably sell pretty fast becuase they said how will i get rid of them

[Valvaren]

i would do it and you would make back the money for them and the enclosure because the babies would be very nice so personally i would do it.


My point was that you don't profit from it as much as people think and no she wouldn't make the money back from the purchase or the enclosure after having to pay for housing and feeding for the babies not to mention having to keep the ones she might not have been able to get rid of.

My dragon when young would eat upwards of 100 crickets a day, around here 30 dollars would buy me 300 crickets. Do the math, its why I switched her to dubia.

[jarich]

My dragon when young would eat upwards of 100 crickets a day, around here 30 dollars would buy me 300 crickets. Do the math, its why I switched her to dubia.

Again I gotta say Holy &^$*!!! 100 crickets a day! Wow, thats a lot. Mine is still pretty little, about 12" long, but not eating anywhere near that many. I get the large ones and he/she eats around 20 a day when I feed crickets. I have roaches though too so I only buy the crickets once a week or so. They are little eating/pooping machines arent they! I swear he goes twice a day at least right now.

[lady_bug87]

I feed 3 lizards 2 of which are insane eaters and I go through 300 crickets a week

[Valvaren]

One dragon, 600+ crickets a week. Babies really should be eating 20 crickets or so a meal, I've never heard of them eating less unless there was a health issue.

[Gungirl]

I didn't think they would go through 600 crickets a week each.. that seems REALLY high to me. I always thought once they where a little larger you fed them all sorts of greens and veggies and only 30 or so crickets every other day or so... I know a few people that have a bearded dragons and do that method and have great healthy animals.

[ZARADOZIA]

Holy &^%$! Youre one bearded eats that much in insects?! How much is it per cricket there? Im only paying $0.10 per cricket, so it must be way more expensive for you. Time to start a colony, eh!

You can order them online and prices generally run:
(Crickets)
LLL Reptile and Supply Company (http://lllreptile.com)

500 for $26.99 ($0.05 each)
1000 for $29.99 ($0.03 each)
2000 for $44.99 ($0.02 each)
5000 for $89.99 ($0.02 each)

Shipping Costs run:
$00.01 - $29.50 $8.95
$29.51 - $49.50 $9.95
$49.51 - $79.50 $10.95
$79.51 - $89.50 $11.95
$89.51 - $99.50 $12.95

[beardeds4life]

I get my crickets from LLL but i get them from the store so 500 is 19.99 and about the worms i meant like wax worms (occasionally) and the tiny supers. my guy eats so much but he is still pretty small