A Guideline To The 8 Species Of Bearded Dragon In Australia

Native reptiles to Australia, bearded dragons can now be found throughout the world. They are commonly kept as pets and have been successfully bred in captivity for over 40 years. There are 8 species of bearded dragon, however not all are kept as pets and a few have never been exported out of Australia. Due to protection laws, it's likely that they ever will be, therefore are exclusive to the Australia deserts and forests. Below is an outline of each species. For abbreviation purposes I'll use 'BD' when refering to bearded dragon.

Eastern BD
Can grow to be up to 2 feet in length, making it one of the largest species. They live along the east coast of Australia (you might have guessed this from the name) in forests and scrublands. Because of their distribution throughout populated areas of Australia, they are often injured or killed on roads. This is increased by their tendency to bask on roads, a technique they use to regulate their body temperature.

Drysdale River BD
This is another type of bearded dragon that is unique to Australia. In fact they can only be found in the Drysdale River National Park. This park is situation in the Kimberly region of Australia's most western state. Because they are so rare, many tourists and enthusiasts visit this region of Australia for the chance to see them up close and personal.

Western BD
As you may have realised from the name, this species is only found in Western Australia. They grow to be about 20 inches in length and live amongst forests and coastal dunes. This type of bearded dragon can be found overseas in the pet trade.

Inland BD
Also known as the central bearded dragon because they are found throughout central regions of the Australian desert, this species is the largest and most commonly kept in the pet trade. Due to their popularity they can literally be found in great numbers throughout the world.

Lawson's BD
Naturally found in the very hot and very dry regions of inland Australia, this species is actually diminishing in number in the pet trade due to being difficult to breed. They grow to an average length of about 10 inches.

Nullabor BD
This is quite a small species that is not available anywhere else in the world, making them unique to Australia. They can be found in Western Australia on the nullabor plain and grow to just 8 - 10 inches in length.

Dwarf BD
Growing to be about 8 - 10 inches in length, this species of dragon has many of the same characteristics of the Western beardie, making them similar in appearance. However this species is distributed through more of Australia, from Western to South Australia and the Northern Territory.

Mitchell's BD
Out of all 8 species of Bearded dragon this is the smallest of them all, growing to be a maximum length of about 8 inches. Yes quite miniature in comparison to the 2 foot eastern beardie! But unfortunately they cannot be found overseas. They live in deserts and woodland areas of northwest Australia.