bearded dragon breeding

Question

Delylah and Spike   I have a 4 year old female bearded dragon and my friend has an almost 1 year old male and they rely like each other they have even started to mate. We think they would make beautiful babies. What is the safest way to breed them? Also she shares a cage with her sister and a boy Russian tortoise.

Answer
Hi Jessie,

I would strongly encourage you to house her separately or at very least only with the other female bearded. Mixing such vastly different species from entirely different parts of the world is risky. Tortoises carry a number of single celled parasites called  protozoa that are normal for them  but could easily be pathogenic for your beardeds.

You were not asking about your Russian but I should mention that these protozoa can even be a problem for your tortoise if there are too many of them. That is why you need to limit the amount of fruit in a Russian's diet. Fruit can causes the population of protozoa to greatly increase.

The tortoise could also easily trample and destroy the eggs if you don't find them in time.

Keeping your female bearded healthy through the breeding cycle starts with a good diet and plenty of calcium. She will be using a lot of her calcium stores to form the egg shells. Calcium is also needed for the muscle contractions that will safely expel the eggs and avoid egg binding. Supplement and feed her well after she has produced the eggs as well.

Make sure she has a suitable egg laying chamber with several inches of damp sandy soil. That will encourage her to lay the eggs rather then holding onto them.

Your dragon is a good age and appears to be a good size for safe breeding. Breeding complications are not overly common with bearded. You may need to remove the male if you notice him constantly trying to breed with her. That can be a source of stress for breeding females.

I apologize for the long delay in answering. I somehow missed the original e-mail containing your question