Bearded Dragon Life Cycle: Stages 3 & 4

Video Transcript

"Stage three is the sub adult stage. It begins at about seven or eight inches and lasts until he is of adult size. This is, the main difference between stage two and stage three is size and behavior. The ravenous appetite continues. The more they grow, the more they eat. It increases as they get bigger, so be prepared for lots of feedings. They will begin to eat more vegetables as they get bigger. Less insects more vegetables. This is a natural process they go through. Most of them will begin to eat a lot more vegetables at this stage. The aggression can slow down quite a bit as well, especially in males the aggression will nearly stop. Stage four is called sexual onset. It begins at twelve to sixteen inches. It's basically when they are at the age where they are able to begin breeding. This is also a stage where the ranks are well defined. There is always an alpha male and the second in rank and so on. There's always going to be a hierarchy in a Bearded Dragon colony depending on how many you have in the tank. They also begin, the females begin to do push ups. It looks like they're doing push ups and this is their way of identifying who they are. Especially during the breeding season, when they're trying to attract their mate. At this stage adult size is reached and you might want to begin the winter shut down period and that's basically where you lower the temperature for three months out of the, three of the winter months. Just shorten the daytime hours, lower the temperatures, and this will cause your Bearded Dragon to naturally go into a state where they, they don't eat, they feed very, very, very little and most first time reptile owners take their Bearded Dragon to the vet at this point. They feel like there is something wrong with them but, the easiest way to tell if your lizard is going through winter shut down or is actually sick, is to pick up your Bearded Dragon. He should still open his eyes and be aware of your presence and be alert enough to look around and see what's going on around him."