How to Determine The Sex of a Bearded Dragon

If you are interested in breeding bearded dragons, one of the first things you must do is determine its sex. It will be very difficult (impossible, really) to breed bearded dragons unless you have at least one per sex. Determining the sex of a bearded dragon can be very difficult to do with baby, or juvenile bearded dragons. It is much easier to determine once the bearded dragon has reached at least six months old.

There are a number of ways to determine sex of a bearded dragon, even though they show no obvious differences in color, or structure. Placing a male and a female side-by-side, you can tell that a male has a larger, broader head, reaches a longer length, and is over more robust than the female. The male will also have a darker beard than the female.

Here’s a couple techniques on how to determine the sex of a bearded dragon.

Determining Sex By Femoral Pores

Male Bearded Dragon

Once the bearded dragon has reached adulthood, one obvious way to determine sex is by observing the femoral pores. The femoral pores are found going across the hind legs.

A male bearded dragon has much larger, more pronounced femoral pores than a female. In fact, the female femoral glands are hardly even noticeable in some cases.

Determining Sex By Hemipenil Bulge

Many experienced breeders and hobbyist can determine sex of a bearded dragon by examining the hemipenes (the male reproductive organ). The best way to identify sex of a bearded dragon is by looking at the hemipenile bulges, which are located on each side of the base of the tail.

Female Bearded Dragon

To observe the bulges, place an adult bearded dragon flat on its stomach and gently raise the tail up to a 90 degree angle. Use one hand to hold the bearded dragon flat, while using the other hand to raise the tail. Be careful not to raise the tail too high, or too quickly. You don’t want to damage its tail.

If you see two bulges on either side of the base of the tail, right above the vent, it is a male bearded dragon. If you notice one bulge that is closer to the center of the base of the tail, it is a female.