How Big Do Bearded Dragons Get? Growth Rate and Size Chart

Understanding the lifestyle and health of a beardie is crucial for every bearded dragon owner. The reason for this concludes their overall health and growth in every aspect of their lives, and it can be their height, weight, eating habits, or anything associated with them. Looking for a practitioner in this field is very important since they are well aware of the body of a beardie and how it adapts itself in nature.

These gentle lizards are active throughout the day and happy in the true sense. If you are also the one who is considering getting a bearded dragon as a pet, then definitely a thought will arise in your mind about how big do bearded dragons get? Let’s find an answer to this query. 

How Big Do Bearded Dragons Get?

Bearded dragons have a decent growth rate during their first year after birth. Usually, they grow as big as 16-24 inches in length and 0.63-1.1 pounds in their weight. It is a tremendous growth rate to consider for any animal. 

Usually, the beardies attain complete growth after reaching sexuality between 8-18 months of age. 

Nowadays, these lizards’ largest recorded bearded dragon is not a species but a breeding byproduct. 

The height of this byproduct bearded dragon is approximately 24 inches in length. But, such growth is not the same for every lizard; sometimes, bearded dragons also suffer from a growth defect that causes slow growth in the bearded dragons. 

It is recorded that such affected beardies only grow to 16 inches, and their weight is approximately 0.62 pounds. Such defects can happen due to several factors, such as insufficient light exposure, unhealthy feeding, or harmful parasitic attack.

Growing Phase

During the growing phase, any animal grows according to its inherited genes and the nutrition they get from food. However, sometimes it is found that the genes tend to have a good height, but the lack of proper nutrition may hinder the growth. The growth rate for any healthy baby bearded dragon is faster than the other phase of life. 

• In the first 3 months after birth, beardies grow 3 to 11 inches, which is perfect for them. They gain around 4-6 inches in length every month. 
• When a beardie reaches its juvenile phase, its growth slows to some extent. It only gains 1-1.5 inches in length monthly. 

Making an exact idea is not easy since every beardie is different; however, an approximate assumption can be made to get a general idea.

 A beardie owner must know detailed information about a bearded dragon’s growth patterns before they get late.

Bearded Dragons Growth Rate

After knowing about the diet and habitat suitable for a beardie to adapt, let’s dive into their growth rate. 

Healthy bearded dragon babies grow at a rate of 1-3 inches every month before they reach their first birthday. Such a growth rate happens only during the initial months after birth. 

An adult bearded dragon’s height is somewhere around 16-24 inches. Their height is the only thing apart from their looks that make them justifiable in the lizard family. 

Apart from the height of a beardie, the weight must be controllable, and it should be in the range of 380-510 grams to be considered healthy. It makes them suitable to reproduce and become sexually active without lagging. Also, the offspring from a healthy beardie is usually free from parasitic attack, and they gain a tendency to stay fit. 

Speedy growth is crucial since their physical appearance makes them rave. If they are small, they will be considered less potent than the other bearded dragons, making them less active and less interested in reproduction. 

The growth rate of a beardie is tremendous. You will see them smaller today and later find them as a giant in just a few months. During their rapid growth phase, beardie shred twice or thrice a month. 

Bearded Dragons Size Chart

The growth of a bearded dragon tells a lot about the health of a beardie. However, sometimes just looking at the length grown will be insufficient for the owner or breeder since it doesn’t justify the overall health of a beardie. The growth of a bearded dragon depends upon several factors that make an owner understand beardie growth patterns.

Factors that play a major role in deciding the health of a bearded dragon such as genetics, nutrition, light exposure, gender, and growing age.

Bearded dragons are classified into the following categories according to the time after birth. These are:

• Hatchlings (0-2 months)
• Juveniles (3-11 months)
• Sub Adults (12-18 months)
• Full Adults (18+ months)

Hatchlings weigh approximately 0.1-2.82 ounces, which is considered healthy. 

For a juvenile, this number increases gradually. A juvenile must weigh around 2.82-16 ounces with a height of 8-20 inches.

A sub-adult height must be 16-22 inches and weigh 10.5-17.6 ounces.

A fully grown adult bearded dragon must weigh 11-18 ounces with a height of 16-24 inches in total. 

The size varies according to age and is considered as healthy. A beardie might suffer from a disease or birth defect if such specifications are not followed.

Bearded Dragons Sizes By Breed

Bearded dragons have multiple species identified per their height, weight, other features, and many more such categories.

A bearded dragon has 8 subspecies in its clan. Each subspecies originates in different parts of a continent. They are also produced by mixing two different breeds to enhance the genetic code and features in an offspring. Following are the subspecies of a bearded dragon:

• Pogona Microlepidota: They are the smallest in size compared to other bearded dragons. They are only 4-6 inches long and weigh around 0.2-1.4 ounces.
• Pogona Henrylawsoni: They are also in the subspecies group, slightly different from their priors. They weigh around 1.7-7 ounces with a height of 9-12 inches. They are active too.
• Pogona Minor Mina: A bearded dragon species that weigh around 3.5-7 ounces with a height of 10-12 inches. It makes them recognizable in bushy areas due to their size.
• Pogona Nullarbor: It is another species of lizard found in Australia. Their height and weight are perfect for any longer card. However, more than this specification is required to identify the lizard completely. They weigh around 7-8 ounces with a height of 12-14 inches.
• Pogona Minor: They are slightly superior to their prior ones. They are also found in Australia. Their height is approximately 14-18 inches, with a weight of 8-15 ounces, and this range is healthy.
• Pogona Minor Mitchell: They are a species of agamid lizard found in Australia’s southwest coast and interior. They weigh 13-15 ounces, and their height is around 16-28 inches.
• Pogona Vitticeps: These are popularly known as central bearded dragons found in arid to semiarid regions of Australia. They are in the category of sub-adult bearded dragons. Their height is 16-24 inches and weighs around 13-15 ounces.
• Pogona Barbata: They are fully grown adult bearded dragons. They are eastern bearded dragons, commonly known as bearded dragons, found in woody regions of Australia. Their height is tremendous; they are 20-24 inches and weigh 14-15 ounces.

These are the specifications of a bearded dragon species. Such specifications help discover and know the characteristics of each bearded dragon belonging to a particular category.

4 Factors that Affect the Size of A Bearded Dragon

Multiple factors can affect the growth of a bearded dragon. Any new beardie owner who doesn’t know about a beardie’s growth patterns must consider these factors for an easy understanding of the body and growth patterns of a bearded dragon. These factors can influence the growth of a bearded dragon either positively or negatively. Let’s consider some of the factors.

1: UV Lightening

UV lighting is one of the most crucial factors when looking for bearded dragon growth. UVB from the sun or a special kind of UV light helps prevent stunted growth among bearded dragons.

UV consists of nutritional values required for a bearded dragon to grow properly. The deficiency of UV lighting exposure can cause stunted growth in bearded dragons. Exposure to UV lighting helps in the rejuvenation of skin cells and also makes the bone stronger since it activates the formation of vitamin d in the body.

2: Genetics

Genetics plays a crucial role in the growth of an organism; it aids in deciding the characteristics and body of an organism. Similar to humans, genetics have a major influence on a beardie’s height. The largest bearded dragon ever recorded is a German bearded dragon. If the genes carry good height characteristics, they will surely be visible in the offspring beardie.

Genetics also work together with the nutrition an animal consumes. If the nutritional value is low, genetics will fail to some extent, and this failure will cause retarded growth in the bearded dragon.

3: Nutrition

Besides genetics, nutrition also plays a significant role in deciding an animal’s final height and growth. Different stages in the lifecycle of a beardie require different kinds of meals to sustain their growth. For a baby bearded dragon, highly proteinous food is required, and it gradually changes as it reaches different growth stages.

For every individual and their growth, nutrition is crucial. It acts as a building block of the body, helps fight against diseases, and acts as a strong shield to fight against any harmful impact.

4: Gender

Like humans, gender also makes the final height of a bearded dragon. Gender plays vital in determining the final height of a beardie. Male bearded dragons are tall and thick, while females are slightly slim and comparatively smaller than males.

It helps in judging whether a beardie is male or female. Such differences in appearance are sufficient to justify whether a beardie is a male or a female, as it is quite challenging to identify if it is a male or a female at first sight.

Conclusion 

Now, after looking at the detailed description of a bearded dragon’s growth, we can conclude with the query how big do bearded dragons get? A full-grown bearded dragon should have a height measuring 16 to 24 inches and a weight of 13-15 ounces. 

In their first year after birth, bearded dragons grow faster than ever! At 12 months old, a bearded dragon is full-grown, and it will not grow much after 18 months.

With adequate nutrition and a perfect water source, a bearded dragon will grow into an active and healthy adult.

FAQs