Here There Be DragonsThe bearded dragon (often confused with the frilled lizard of Northern Australia), is a striking and noble creature to be valued not only for it’s timeless and dignified demeanour, but also for its contribution to our environment.
On 9 December 2000, a bearded dragon was brought into care at Dehra Doon Lodge Wildlife Refuge, suffering from severe bruising to the head following a close encounter with a motor vehicle. The bruised area was bathed with a sterile saline solution and the dragon was then placed in a closed hospital box to minimise stress and to allow nature to take its course. The dragon was named Brendan.
Brendan remained quite still for six days whereupon it became briefly active and then, much to our surprise, laid twenty leathery white eggs, each 26 mm long. The dragon was renamed Brenda.
The eggs were removed immediately from the hospital box because mother’s care ends once her eggs are laid. Usually this is not a problem, but in the confines of the box there was a danger they would be disturbed. Reptile eggs, unlike birds eggs, must remain in the same position throughout the incubation period. In the case of the bearded dragon, this is 100 days. Any movement of the eggs will kill the developing embryo. Therefore the clutch of eggs was carefully transferred to an humidified temperature-controlled incubator where they were buried in shallow depressions in a sandy loam mixture. The eggs were examined each week by lightly brushing away the sand and the loam was kept moist by regularly spraying with a fine spray..
Soon after she had laid her eggs Brenda was placed in an outdoor enclosure where she began hunting and consuming large quantities of grasshoppers, as well as three small mice. By 27 January the bruising around her head had gone and her once closed right eye was functioning normally - she was now ready for release back into the wild. She was returned to her original territory in the presence of the couple who had brought her into FAWNA for care.
On day 96 of the incubation period, the first of the little dragons struggled free from its egg. The tiny reptile was placed into a heated hospital box and left to dry off the remnant yolk and recover its strength. Within a few days it was ready to be placed in the outdoor enclosure to practice catching crickets and small flies within the secure environment.
Of the twenty eggs laid seven hatched. On 28 March, six of the surviving dragons were released at Comboyne. The seventh remains in care because of a slight deformity of the spine. Currently it is feeding well and its progress will be monitored.
by Don McClimont
Dehra Doon Lodge Wildlife Refuge
2 May 2001