This article was co-authored by Deanne Pawlisch, CVT, MA. Deanne Pawlisch is a Certified Veterinary Technician, who does corporate training for veterinary practices and has taught at the NAVTA-approved Veterinary Assistant Program at the Harper College in Illinois and in 2011 was elected to the board of the Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Foundation. Deanne has been a Board Member of the Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Foundation in San Antonio, Texas since 2011. She holds a BS in Anthropology from Loyola University and an MA in Anthropology from Northern Illinois University.
There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.
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Bearded dragons are popular pets that typically live 7-10 years in captivity. It can often be quite difficult to determine the age of your bearded dragon, especially once it has reached its adult size. In the first year of life, you can measure the length of your beardie to approximate its age. You can also judge its age by noticing when it reaches sexual maturity. If all else fails, try contacting the breeder or your veterinarian to help you determine your bearded dragon’s age.
Steps
Getting Professional Help
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1Contact the breeder. The best and most accurate way to determine the age of your bearded dragon is to contact the breeder who sold it to you. The breeder should have detailed birth records that indicate the exact day your beardie was born.[1]
- You should also be able to get other information from the breeder – like the medical history and age of your beardie’s parents, the average lifespan of the breeder’s stock, how best to care for your dragon, and other helpful tips on determining the age and sex of bearded dragons.
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2Inquire about age at the point of purchase. If you acquired your bearded dragon at a pet store or from an individual, you might consider contacting them to see if they have any records relating to the age of your pet. At the very least, they should be able to tell you the size of your dragon when they first acquired it, which you can use to estimate its current age by comparing it to size charts (like the one in Method 2 below).
- Simply calculate the dragon’s age when the pet store acquired it, based on its size at the time, then add the number of years/months since that date. This will give you an approximation of your beardie’s current age.
- The store/person you bought the dragon from may also be able to provide you with contact information for the breeder, who could tell you when your pet was born.
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3Consult your veterinarian. If none of the other methods have worked for you, consider taking your bearded dragon in to your local veterinarian, preferably one with experience working with reptiles. An experienced vet should be able to inspect your bearded dragon and help you determine its age.[2]
- Your veterinarian can examine the beardie to help determine age and sex.
Measuring Body Size to Determine Age
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1Measure your bearded dragon from head to tail. Until about a year or so, a bearded dragon’s age can be approximated by measuring the distance from the top of its head to the tip of its tail. Hold your bearded dragon carefully and use a tape measure to find the length.[3]
- Be sure to get an accurate measurement by doing it while your bearded dragon is sleepy or being still. If the dragon is overly active and wiggling around, it will be hard for you to measure properly.
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2Compare the length to the size chart. Take your bearded dragon’s measurement and compare it to average sizes of bearded dragons in the first year of their lives. This will give you an approximation of how old your bearded dragon is, regardless of its gender.[4]
- 3 in (7.6 cm) to 4 in (10 cm) = 0-1 months
- 5 in (13 cm) to 9 in (23 cm) = 2 months
- 8 in (20 cm) to 11 in (28 cm) = 3 months
- 9 in (23 cm) to 12 in (30 cm) = 4 months
- 11 in (28 cm) to 16 in (41 cm) = 5-6 months
- 13 in (33 cm) to 20 in (51 cm) = 7-8 months
- 16 in (41 cm) to 22 in (56 cm) = 9-12 months
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3Use this method for bearded dragons less than a year old. The size comparison really only works for the first year of a bearded dragon’s life. After this, each individual dragon develops at a different speed and the sizes vary too widely, even between male and female specimen.
- If you suspect your bearded dragon is less than one year old, this could be a good method for you.
Determining Age by Sexual Maturity
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1Wait for genital differences to appear to know you have a dragon over one year old. Monitor your bearded dragon by looking for the bulges under its tail to determine when these gender traits appear. Once the bulges show up, this means that your dragon is between 8-12 months old.
- You won’t be able to see any gender-identifying traits on bearded dragons before this age.
- When beardies are hatchlings, there aren’t any differences in size, color, shape, or other distinguishing features. You must wait until they are at least 8-12 months old.
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2Look for one or two bulges beneath the tail. The simplest way to check the gender of your bearded dragon is to look under its tail right above the vent. If there are two bulges under the skin above the vent, then you probably have a male. If there is only one bulge, you probably have a female.[5]
- Some say that male beardies are the only ones whose beards turn black, but this is not always the case.[6]
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3Determine its gender by looking at the femoral pores. Another way to determine gender and sexual maturity is to turn the bearded dragon over to look at the hind legs. If you can see large, pronounced dots going across from one leg to the other, you have a sexually mature male. If you can barely see anything at all, you may have a female.[7]
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4Count the months from sexual maturity. Try to think about when you first noticed the gender of your bearded dragon. When the genital differentiation appeared, that marked the 8-12 month point for your dragon. So you can simply count from now to that time to determine the animal’s approximate age.[8]
- This method will only help you if you remember (or have access to) the approximate timeframe when your bearded dragon developed its gendered differences.
References
- ↑ http://www.thebeardeddragon.org/bearded-dragon.php
- ↑ http://www.avianandexotic.com/care-sheets/reptiles/bearded-dragon-care/
- ↑ http://www.mybeardeddragons.co.uk/gallery.html
- ↑ http://www.thebeardeddragon.org/bearded-dragon.php
- ↑ https://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/sexing/
- ↑ http://animals.mom.me/beard-turning-black-bearded-dragon-mean-8849.html
- ↑ https://www.beardeddragoncare101.com/determining-sex-bearded-dragon/
- ↑ http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Breeding-Lizards/Breeding-Bearded-Dragons-Wissman/
About This Article
Bearded dragons usually stop growing after 1 year, so you can really only determine their age when they're young. If your bearded dragon is less than one year old, you can use its length to estimate how old it is. Use a tape measure to measure it from the top of your bearded dragon's head to the end of its tail. If it's 3-4 inches, it's less than a month old. If it's 5-9 inches, it's probably 2 months old. An 8-11 inch bearded dragon is probably 3 months old. If it's 11-16 inches, it's probably 5-6 months old. If it's 13-20 inches long, it's around 7-8 months old. Anything bigger than that and it's a year or older. You can also watch its genitals to determine it’s age. If a bulge appears, this means it’s reached sexual maturity, which usually happens at 8-12 months old. To learn how to determine the sex of your bearded dragon, read more from our Veterinary co-author!
