- To sex your bearded dragon, run your fingers on the underside of the tail base to check for hemipenal bulges (sex organs). Male beardies have 2 bulges, while females only have one.
- Search the underside of your beardie’s back legs for large spots (femoral pores). Unlike females, male beardies have pronounced pores scattered across their back thighs.
- Male bearded dragons are larger than females and typically show more aggressive behavior.
Sexing Your Bearded Dragon
Feel for hemipenal bulges. Place your beardie on a flat surface and softly lift their tail 90 degrees. Gently run your fingers along the underside of the tail base to feel for small hemipenal bulges (sex organs). There are two defined vertical grooves on each side of the tail base for males. Female beardies have a single bulge in the center of their tail (in the same location as the male). Make sure to handle your bearded dragon with care: never grab the tip of the tail–it can break and hurt your beardie.
Look for the presence of hemipenes. In a dark room, place your beardie flat in your palm and use your other hand to shine a flashlight above the top of their tail. With the light shining through the tail, maneuver your thumb to gently lift your beardie’s tail and check the underside for hemipenes. Males have two red vertical bulges with dark shadows surrounding them. Female bearded dragons have one v-shaped mound in the center of their tail. If the bulges are hard to see, gently turn your bearded dragon at different angles to look for any shadowing.
Check the size of the femoral pores. Femoral pores are small spot-like glands that excrete pheromones, which beardies use to mate and mark territory. While both males and females have them, femoral pores on females are not visible. Male bearded dragons have pronounced femoral pores that look like small circles on the back of their legs. In the palm of your hand, gently support the back of your beardie so they are belly-side up. If there are several circles scattered across the back thighs, you have a male beardie. Femoral pores fully develop when your beardie reaches adulthood (12 months), so avoid using this method for baby beardies. If you're unsure of the size of your beardie's femoral pores, compare your beardie with an online photo of a male bearded dragon's femoral pores.
If you have two beardies, compare the sizes of their cloacal openings. The cloaca is a chamber at the rear end of reptiles that connects the urinary, reproductive, and digestive tracts. On bearded dragons, the cloaca empties through a small vent-like opening that looks like a slit between the back legs (on the underside of the tail), and males have a wider cloacal opening than females. If you don’t have two bearded dragons, compare your beardie with a photo of the cloacal opening online.
How to Sex a Baby Beardie
Check the underside of the tail for hemipenes. Hold your bearded dragon with their belly flat on your palm, and use your other hand to shine a flashlight on the top of the tail base. With your thumb, gently lift your beardie’s tail, and look for hemipenal bulges (on the underside of the tail). Male beardies have 2 red bulges with dark shadows, while females only have one bulge in the center.
Observe the tail length. Even as babies, female bearded dragons typically have smaller, narrow tails compared to males. Male beardies have thicker tails, especially toward the base.
Male vs Female Differences
Usually, male bearded dragons are aggressive, while females are submissive. Male beardies hiss, stomp, or bob their head fiercely as a sign of territorial aggression. They’re also known to fluff their beards to appear bigger and more threatening. When encountering males, female beardies often adopt a submissive pose by waving their arms in a circle, but some females aren’t afraid to engage in more aggressive behavior. Both males and females have black beards (throat pouches), but male beardies are more likely to darken their beard during courtship to show dominance. Beardies act aggressively in response to stress but get veterinary care if you notice your pet is behaving abnormally.
Male beardies have large tails, while female beardies have smaller ones. In the wild, males typically have longer and wider tails than females. But, there are too many environmental factors–diet, cage environment–that can alter their tail’s size. Female beardies are known to have a more narrow and slender tail than males. Bearded dragons can grow up to 24 inches, with their tail taking up half their length.
Males have wide, thick heads, while females have long, narrow heads. Bearded dragons have triangular-shaped heads, but females have thinner skulls and smaller beards than males.
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