Bearded dragon is an animal that is usually found in the dry regions like Australia and many people over there also pet them. Bearded dragons belongs to the family of reptiles and they look like lizards but bigger in size. The life span of a bearded dragon is 8 to 12 years.
We know bearded dragons are very sensitive animals, so we need to give lots of love and care to the bearded dragon for their well-being. Also the owner’s would love to know how to tell the age of the bearded dragon, so we will discuss about how to tell the age of the bearded dragon in this article.
Contents
Factors while considering age of the bearded dragon
The factors that will tell us how we can know the age of the bearded dragon are as follows:-
Measuring:
One of the excellent way to estimate the age of the bearded dragon is by measuring it. This is the most effective way only if your pet bearded dragon is not fully-grown, which means it is below the age of one year. As at a mature level it is tough to find the age of the bearded dragon if not impossible.
The measurement is taken from the head to the tip of the tail.
- If the length is 3” to 4” then age will be 0 to 1 month.
- If the length is 5” to 9” then age will be 2 months.
- If the length is 8” to 11” then age will be 3 months.
- If the length is 9” to 12” then age will be 4 months.
- If the length is 11” to 16” then age will be 5 months.
- If the length is 11” to 18” then age will be 6 months.
- If the length is 13” to 20” then age will be 8 months.
- If the length is 16” to 22” then age will be 12 months.
There is also an overlapping of the sizes that also means that, this is not completely reliable. Also another reason is that if the bearded dragon is mature than this method kind of fails and you will not be able to calculated the age by the measurement method.
Sexual maturity:
Another way to determine the age of the bearded dragon is by sexual maturity. When the bearded dragon is young you can tell by their sexual maturity how old are they. The bearded dragons reaches their sexual maturity between the ages of 8 to 12 months.
The owner of the bearded dragon will be able to tell whether it has reached sexual maturity or not by looking under the tail of the bearded dragon, above the vent. If there are two bulges then it is a male and if there is only one bulge then that means it is a female bearded dragon.
This will let you know the age of the bearded dragon only if it is young, otherwise this method will also fail and you will not be able to tell the age of your bearded dragon.
Contact the breeder
If there is any possibility of contacting the breeder do that as this is the best and most accurate method of knowing the age of your bearded dragon.
If you will be able to contact the breeder then you will get to know the exact date of birth of your bearded dragon and also many other related information you will know about your bearded dragon.
Even the knowledge about their medical history could be found and also the age of the parents of your bearded dragon. This method is one of the best and easy method to determine the age of the bearded dragon.
Why is it important to know the age of a bearded dragon?
As we know that the bearded dragon is a very sensitive animal, it also indicates that it needs lots of care and support from its owners.
They get ill very fast so it is necessary to know about their age as one can give them medical attention depending on their age.
Also another thing is even the food that is provided or fed to the bearded dragon is depending on their age. Bearded dragon needs different type of care at every stage of life and that is only possible if we know their age, otherwise we will not be able to take care of them and keep them happy and healthy.
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Conclusion
You would have brought a bearded dragon from anywhere, an owner will always be curious about the age of the bearded dragon and adopting one of the above method will help you in determining the age of your bearded dragon. Whichever method is suitable for you choose that and enjoy petting your bearded dragon, as it needs your love, care and attention for living a healthy and happy life.