Before getting a breaded dragon pet, most of us will wonder if bearded dragons can be the perfect companion. Having an idea of how long they can live might offer some help in your decision making.
Bearded dragons in captivity can live up to 15 years. In the wild, however, bearded dragons have a shorter lifespan of about 5 to 8 years.
Native to Australia and introduced to the U.S. only in the 1990s, bearded dragons are gentle and easily maintained lizards that caught on quickly as a popular pet.
Given a healthy diet, a safe and nurturing habitat, and loving care, a bearded dragon can stay happy and active for a long time.
In the wild harsh savannah and desert regions of Australia, bearded dragon lives are shorter as they have to avoid predators, find food and water, and survive in a challenging environment.
Understanding more about the lifespan of bearded dragon lizards can help you provide your dragons the best care possible.
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Bearded Dragon Lifespan in Captivity
How do you care for a domestic bearded dragon?
Bearded dragons, affectionately known as “beardies,” are pretty easy to care for. A distinctive flap of skin below their chin gives them their name. When they see a rival or threat, they deliberately puff out their chin flap and turn it black.
This defensive tactic gives your dragon its distinctive “bearded” look. Overall, though, bearded dragons are generally very gentle and tolerant of human interaction.
All of those qualities make them a popular choice as a pet. With the right environment and diet, your domestic bearded dragon can have a long and healthy life.
Before you get a bearded dragon, it’s important to ask, “How long can bearded dragons live?” With knowledgeable care and maintenance, bearded dragon life expectancy can be as much as ten years or more.
That’s a factor to take into consideration before you make your commitment.
When you treat your bearded dragon to the best care possible, they tend to live longer and healthier lives.
In captivity, bearded dragons are protected from the predators they would naturally encounter in the Australian desert.
When you are setting up a habitat for your own bearded dragon, make sure you keep your dragon in a safe enclosure. You don’t want domestic predators like your family cat or dog to get to it.
How do you create a healthy habitat?
The habitat you make can extend the lifespan of your bearded dragon in other important ways.
Like all cold-blooded animals, bearded dragons need warmth and UV light. Their tanks should be kept from about 70 degrees on the “cool end” and 90 degrees on the toasty end.
A UV light also helps your bearded dragon make vitamin D to absorb calcium in their food. This makes their bones and muscles stronger and helps keep them healthy and active.
What are some common causes of death for bearded dragons in captivity?
How long do bearded dragons live in captivity? Well, a large part of that answer depends on the environment you provide for them.
That UV light you set up in their tank is crucial to prevent metabolic bone disease, a common cause of death in bearded dragons. Metabolic bone disease is caused by a lack of calcium intake.
We all need calcium to build strong bones, and beardies are no different. Without enough calcium, bones get brittle. They shatter easily and in some cases can be bent or deformed because they get too delicate.
To prevent or minimize metabolic bone disease in your bearded dragon, you’ll need to supplement their diet with vitamin D3 and calcium.
Feeding your beardie a supplement is only part of the picture. Your lizard will also need UVA and UVB light to help them process the calcium for building strong bones and muscles.
What is impaction?
Another important condition that can shorten the lifespan of bearded dragons is impaction.
Impaction is a blocked digestive tract caused by swallowing an object they could not digest. These objects usually come from the substrate, or “ground cover” in your bearded dragon’s habitat.
A substrate made of sand, rocks, or walnut shells is easy to swallow accidentally. Unfortunately, there’s no way for your bearded dragon to digest it.
Knowing the causes of impaction is a great first step toward prolonging the age of your bearded dragon. Line your bearded dragon’s habitat with newspaper, tiles, or products specifically designed to be safer for your lizard friend.
Is obesity a problem?
Your beardie’s diet is important too. Like humans or other animals, your dragons also need to watch their waistline. In short, your beardie can get fat, and obesity in bearded dragons can shorten their lifespans.
It’s more fun for your dragon to eat lunch when you make it a little bit of a challenge.
Tying up leafy veggies in a bundle to graze on is a great start. You can also spread your dragon’s food throughout the cage. These simple changes can slow down their eating and reproduce natural conditions a little more closely.
Make sure your bearded dragon gets a balanced diet of vitamin-rich greens, and avoid over-feeding them tasty (but more calorie-dense) treats like mealworms.
A proper diet will help prolong bearded dragon life expectancy.
How can their habitat help?
Finally, you can extend the lifespan of your bearded dragon by providing them a clean and toasty habitat. It’s important to remove any waste products or uneaten food as soon as possible.
Not only is this more sanitary, but it prevents a common disease in bearded dragons called mouth rot.
Mouth rot is a painful and dangerous infection in your beardie’s mouth. Take note if your bearded dragon gets dark spots or patches on his lips, tongue, gums, or general mouth area.
You may want to have a reptile-savvy veterinarian take a look. Without treatment, your bearded dragon may lose teeth and find it hard to eat.
How long do bearded dragons live for? Well, one of the best answers that lizards live best when they have a healthy diet and a clean, well-tended environment.
Bearded Dragon Lifespan in the Wild
How do bearded dragons live in the wild?
Native to the arid deserts and woodlands of Australia, the bearded dragon is great at surviving in warm, open environments.
Most of the time, a bearded dragon spends its day hunting and foraging for food.
As an omnivore, bearded dragons can eat just about everything including various insects, fruit, berries, small mammals, flowers, other lizards, or plants.
During the hot Australian days, beardies like to hang out on sunny rocks and tree branches where they can spend their time enjoying the sunshine and warmth.
They enjoy surveying their territory from a place where they have a good view of the surrounding area. They’ll even “wave” at other lizards.
However, bearded dragons also have to keep watch for potential hazards.
How old do bearded dragons get in the wild?
In captivity, bearded dragons can live up to about fifteen years with a healthy diet and sensible habitat that prevents metabolic bone loss or impaction.
In the wild, however, a typical bearded dragon may live only five to eight years. One of the major reasons for this big difference in bearded dragon lifespans is the difficulty of surviving in the wild.
In the wild deserts of Australia, predators are always a danger for bearded lizards and small animals, especially birds. Terns, hawks, and other hunting birds find bearded dragons very tempting as food sources even though they come with spiny armor.
Even though your dragon can zip away at a top speed of nine miles an hour, survival is a challenge. These easygoing dragons would rather bask than fight.
How does the dragon’s beard protect them?
The bearded dragon’s most obvious defense is their “beard.” The beard is a section of spiky skin below the lizard’s chin. When they’re stressed or afraid, the bearded dragon will hiss threateningly and puff out its chin.
At that point, the lizard’s chin flap turns a dark black and resembles a human beard, which is where the bearded dragon got its name.
This fascinating transformation works well to intimidate many potential predators.
Even with their spiky beards, bearded dragons can be vulnerable to birds of prey, dingos, pythons, cats, foxes, and even other lizards known as goannas.
Bearded dragons are great at scuttling away fast and hiding under rocks and branches, but even with their speed and evasiveness, they may not always survive predation.
What are some other threats to bearded dragons?
Bearded dragons are generally very good at survival. As omnivores, they have flexibility in their diet. In fact, most of their nutrients come from plants, which are easier to find and eat than insects or animals.
Even so, some of the biggest threats to bearded dragons come from human beings.
Agriculture, cattle grazing, and land development are important to the Australian economy. Unfortunately, clearing land for future architectural or infrastructure projects like new houses and roads means getting rid of bearded dragon habitats.
Beardies need open desert or savannah to hunt and forage for insects, fruits, and plants. The loss of their environment can definitely have an impact on their survival.
Another manmade threat to bearded dragons is illegal hunting. Several Australian laws govern the capturing and exporting of bearded dragons for the pet industry.
Australian law has banned the export of bearded dragons since the 1960s, in fact.
Although bearded dragons are not an endangered species, hunting and capturing them illegally endangers the lizards’ ability to reproduce and have a diverse genetic pool. If hunters take bearded dragons away from their environment, it ultimately harms the species.
What are the stages of a bearded dragon’s life?
If you’ve ever wondered, “How old do bearded dragons live to be?” it’s helpful to understand the stages of the beardie’s life from the beginning all the way to the end. There are five major stages to a bearded dragon’s life: egg, hatchling, juvenile, sub-adult, and adult.
The Egg Stage
Although there are some snakes and lizards who can give birth to live young, the bearded dragon is an egg-laying reptile.
Around four to six weeks after they mate, female beardies will become visibly chunkier prior to laying. Some egg shapes may even be visible through her abdominal wall and may look approximately the size of marbles.
Female bearded dragons lay eggs in clutches of about 16-24 at a time. When she is ready to lay her clutch, the female dragon prefers to place the eggs in moist sand and then cover them for protection.
If the eggs are incubated, the appropriate temperature is 84 degrees for ideal growth and development. If the eggs are healthy and viable, they will generally be white and will grow to approximately twice their size when they were first laid.
However, if the eggs are other colors like pink or yellow, they may be infertile.
In the egg stage, the bearded dragon embryo gradually grows its organs and skeleton from a central spinal core.
The eggs generally hatch after 55-75 days when the bearded dragon breaks from its shell and comes out to bask in the light.
The Hatchling Stage
Right before they hatch, the eggs may start to look like balloons that have lost some air, and small drops of water may appear on the outside.
These are both signs that the egg is about to hatch. Using a small “egg tooth” on the end of their noses, the dragons will slice their way out of the egg.
Hatching is hard work. In fact, it may take as much as 24-36 hours. Some baby bearded dragons will need rest for a period of time with only their heads poking out of the egg.
Ideally, the baby lizards should be left alone during this time without any “help” in making it out of the egg. Most of the eggs should hatch around the same time.
Baby hatchlings are very small, usually about four inches long, and prone to dehydration at first unless the habitat is kept moist.
A light misting with water can help prevent the baby beardies from drying out. During the hatchling stage, which lasts about six months, the baby dragons are learning to survive as future adult lizards.
Bearded dragons in this stage start a rapid growth spurt. From being around four inches at hatching, they grow to approximately six inches by the time they reach six weeks old.
The end of the hatchling stage occurs when they are about six months old, at which point they’re ready to enter their juvenile stage.
At this point, they usually measure from 11-18 inches long. The age of bearded dragon juveniles correlates pretty closely with their length.
The Juvenile Stage
The juvenile stage is a great time to have a bearded dragon. Beginning at six months to one year, the juvenile state occurs when your bearded dragon has mastered most of the skills of the hatchling stage.
They are essentially “leveling up” at this point.
Filled with energy and play, your bearded dragon will use this stage to prepare for eventual sexual maturity and reproduction.
Your bearded dragon’s personality as an individual creature is also becoming more evident in this stage. It’s fun to see your beardies play and interact with other lizards and the world around them.
This is also the stage in which your bearded dragon may experience his or her first shedding.
In their first year, young dragons will shed several times as they grow into their full adult size, usually about every six to eight weeks. When they are adults, they will shed periodically for reasons related to grooming or health.
When they’re ready to shed, your bearded dragon may feel lethargic or skittish and may want to scratch themselves against rough surfaces to help them remove the skin.
If you notice that their eyes are a little inflated, this is normal. Shedding often begins around the eyes.
The Sub-Adult Stage
Beginning at the sub-adult stage from ages 1-2, it becomes easier to tell female and male beardies apart.
By the time they reach the six-month benchmark in the juvenile stage, male and female bearded lizards have a size difference.
Young males are typically near the 17″ mark by the time they reach the six-month mark. Females are usually about an inch shorter.
In the sub-adult stage, sexual differentiation becomes more obvious. In fact, your bearded dragons will reach sexual maturity between 8-18 months on average.
If your dragon is male, expect it to do a lot of head-bobbing. This is totally normal, and in fact, it’s a sign of interest in female dragons.
Additionally, males may begin competitive or dominant behaviors like puffing out their chins and turning their beards dark for display.
Full of energy and verve, they may run around their habitat a lot, but this is normal behavior for this stage.
Female bearded dragons, by contrast, are more laid-back and easygoing. They will engage in more avoidance behaviors like running away and arm-waving.
Bearded dragons appreciate human contact, and it’s often during the juvenile and sub-adult stages that proud dragon owners really start to feel that sense of an individual personality. It’s a great time to bond.
Sexual difference in bearded dragons is a fascinating subject, so don’t hesitate to find out more information about it!
The Adult Stage
By the time your bearded dragon has reached two years old, she or he is a full-grown adult. Typically, your dragon will measure from 18-22 inches long depending on habitat size and sex.
After the energetic juvenile and sub-adult stages, your beardie will mellow out a little bit. Unless there is a rival dragon, adults don’t necessarily like expending unnecessary energy.
Instead, they prefer basking in the sun, finding and eating their food, and enjoying their time interacting with you.
At different stages of bearded dragon’s life cycle, there is one natural occurrence that is common at any age. This is also known as brumation.
What is brumation?
Brumation is like hibernation for lizards. Bearded dragons can go through brumation at any age because brumation is dependent on the season.
Beardies experience brumation during the autumn and winter in direct response to the decreased sunlight and the cold.
It’s tempting to turn up the heat and keep the light on, but it’s better to allow your bearded dragon to experience brumation. After all, it’s a perfectly normal part of your dragon’s natural life cycle.
During this time, your bearded dragon may be more lethargic and may sleep a good amount of time, maybe even continuously for the entire cycle.
Brumation may last anywhere between a week to several months, partly depending on your individual dragon and your own environment’s seasonal patterns.
It’s natural to be concerned about your bearded dragon’s appetite and weight. Unless your bearded dragon has intestinal parasites, they typically do not lose weight during brumation even if they don’t eat.
Their lowered metabolism means that even if they’re not eating, they’re not expending a lot of energy.
Although it’s important not to disturb their cycle by waking your dragon, it’s important to keep fresh food in their cage.
Keep an eye on the food to make sure it doesn’t go bad, but otherwise, just allow your beardie to experience their normal cycle without too much interference.
Giving your beardies their best life
Ultimately, bearded dragons are amazing and friendly creatures. Check out some great information about providing an optimal habitat, a healthy diet, regular exercise and activity, and plenty of sun and nutrients.
For more information, check out some insights about the bearded dragon life cycle. From egg to juvenile to adult, the stages of the bearded dragon development are fascinating to experience.
When you understand how to care for your bearded dragon, you help them live a long and healthy life.
