Sexing Bearded Dragons (Pogona vitticeps)
Even if you purchase a bearded dragon that has been sexed, it is a good idea to re-sex it once it is older. Young bearded dragons are very difficult to sex until they reach 3-4 month of age. By this time the dragon’s sex organs have had time to develop enough so they are easily visible, even by a novice. Bearded dragons can become sexually mature as early as 8 months old, but it is usually closer to 1 year. Once they start to become sexually mature it is important to separate the males because they will fight. It is also important to separate the females from the males unless you are intending to breed them. We strongly advise against breeding siblings or closely related dragons as it will produce dragons that have a high likelihood of dying just before or after hatching, and the ones that survive have a high probability of being malformed and/or have multiple health issues. Generally, responsible breeders will not breed any dragons that are not separated by at least 5 generations of breeding.
There are different techniques that people use to sex bearded dragons, but there is only one practical way that has proven to be safe & effective.
Some people believe that males are larger (typically 18-23 inches) and females are smaller (17-21 inches), but this is not always the case. Some females are large, ad some males are small. Additionally some dragons develop more slowly than others so they may initially be small, but reach a late growth spurt where they seem to be shedding, which occurs when the dragons are growing, every week. So this is not an accurate way to sex a bearded dragon.
Another indicator that is sometimes used is the proportions of the head & body. Males tend to have a larger head to body ratio, with the head being larger & wider than the head of a female on a similarly sized dragon. A female will tend to have a smaller, narrower head size in proportion to their body. Once again the key to this is the word “tend” just because it is frequently the case, it is not accurate 100% of the time.
The third way that is commonly used to determine the sex of a bearded dragon is the size and presence of femoral pores. Males usually have enlarged femoral pores located on the underside of the thigh in a line above the femur bone. While the females have less pronounced femoral pores. This is also a questionable way to sex a dragon. Since both sexes have femoral pores as adults, in young dragons the development of some males may be slower than the development of some females. This would make the femoral pores on the female appear to be “more pronounced” than the pores on a slower developing male dragon of the same size and age as a female.
Some behavior characteristics that are also used to determine the sex of a bearded dragon are arm waving, blackening of the beard, and head bobbing. Some people believe that only males turn their beards black and bob their heads. Some also believe that only females will wave. This is 100% incorrect. We believe that this behavior is related more to dominance and possibly the environment/situation in the enclosure or room than it is to the sex of the dragon. All of our females blacken their beards, usually when they are excited or upset by something they see. They sometimes also display this behavior when we remove them from the sun or their bath before they are ready. Sometime they will blacken their beards when they just want to be left alone. They will sometimes also blacken their beards if they see another dragon, male or female, in an enclosure across the room.Some of our older females will also bob their heads and occasionally even stomp if they see a smaller dragon waving from a different enclosure across the room. Bearded dragons have very good eyesight. We also have males that wave. When they are young it is not uncommon for the same bearded dragon, of either sex, to puff out & blacken their beards and wave in the span of a few minutes. We see these behaviors starting as early as 1 month and believe that they are just discovering the new behaviors and are trying them out without actually understanding what we think they mean. A lot of these behaviors will rarely be displayed if you only have 1 dragon since there has to be at least 2 for one to feel the need to express their dominance.
The only sure way to sex a bearded dragon is to view the hemi penal bulges of the males. This is possible after 3-4 months depending on the development of the dragon, but can sometimes be used to determine the sex of males who have developed quicker. You can usually accurately sex a bearded dragon at about 3 months but it may take a little longer for some males to develop sufficiently to allow the visualization of the Hemi penal bulges. The older the dragon is, the more accurate the sexing. The presence of hemi penal bulges 100% indicates a male dragon, but in younger dragons the absence of the bulges only indicates a female or a slowly developing male.
The safest, most accurate way to sex a dragon is to hold the dragon in the palm of your hand with its tail facing you, supporting its body and front limbs. The bearded dragons don’t like to be held tightly so you may need to put a finger in front of the dragons head to prevent it from trying to escape and hurting themselves. Gently lift the tail up over the back at approximately a 90 degree angle, being careful not to bend the tail too far or too roughly, as the vertebra at the base of the tail may be at risk of being broken. In younger dragons it may help to gently roll the tail to the right & left to stimulate the hemipenes and make them more pronounced. Looking at the base of the tail, just above the ventral opening, males will display 2 hemi penal bulges on the right & left sides of the tail with an indentation between them. Since females lack the hemipenes, they will display a single bulge centered at the base of the tail above the ventral opening. Remember in younger dragons the presence of the 2 hemi penal bulges 100% indicates a male dragon, but in younger dragons the absence of the bulges only indicates a female or a slowly developing male.
The last way that is used to sex a bearded dragon should only be performed by an expert or a veterinarian who specializes in reptiles. It is called "hemi penal eversion", and involves pushing at the cloacal area to evert the male sex organs. Since this procedure can harm the dragon we do not feel it is worth the risk, and it is not recommended