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Most Australians would have seen them in the wild, and many are familiar with them.
There are several species, and some species occur in various varieties.
Along the East coast of Queensland and NSW, and across through Parts of northern Victoria and into South Australia the species found is the
Common Bearded Dragon
- Pogona barbata.
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Those from the eastern States tend to be larger than those from the western limit of their range in the state of South Australia. This species may remain still when approached or it may make a run for it or hide.
Sometimes when really upset they will extend their large beard changing their appearance drastically and in many areas locals call them Frill-necks or some similar name. Confusing them with the Frilled Lizard which is not a type of bearded dragon.
The Common Bearded Dragon is more highly strung than some other species of bearded dragons, and although captive bred animals seem to adapt well to captivity if kept properly, older wild caught animals may be problematic. In many inland areas, the
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takes over where the range of the Common Bearded Dragon ends.
This is the species that is most commonly seen in the pet trade in Australia and overseas. It will readily hybridise with the Common Bearded Dragon in captivity (and apparently also in the wild in some regions) and does occur coastally in parts of its range in South Australia.
Through parts of their massive range their colour sometimes varies from area to area, occasionally depending on the colour of the sand in that area.
Orange, yellow, red, pale grey, and red headed forms are some forms I have seen in my state of South Australia. The colour of bearded dragons however often is dependant on the temperature or emotional state of the lizard in question. I remember finding one lizard on Eyre Peninsular that had dug a shallow burrow and filled it in behind him. When I dug him up he was an ordinary grey looking animal but a few minutes later when I showed him to someone else he had turned very orange.
Inland Bearded Dragons tend to grow larger in some parts of their range in Queensland, however there is also a dwarf race found in the Northern Territory (possibly a new species). This new species is available in the pet trade in Australia, being sold as Barkly Tableland Bearded Dragons ( as P. vitticeps or P. minor).
The Inland Bearded Dragon makes a great pet if cared for properly.
also referred to as Pogona brevis or Pogona rankini is another species sometimes seen in the pet trade and has a similar temperament to an Inland Bearded Dragon but is much smaller and found in the wild in central Queensland extending across into the Northern Territory,
other common names are the Rankin's Bearded Dragon, Lawson's Dragon and Prairie Dragon. In captivity the Inland Bearded Dragon has been hybridised with the Black-Soil Bearded Dragon to produce what has been called a Vittikin Dragon. The hybrids are apparently fertile. (Note that hybridising reptiles is illegal in some states of Australia.)
In Western Australia there seems to be some confusion between species of bearded dragons.
The Dwarf Bearded Dragon - Pogona minor
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pictured above has 3 subspecies:- the
Western Bearded Dragon Pogona minor minima Click here for distribution map
Mitchell's Bearded Dragon Pogona minor mitchelli
These dragons are all dwarf species which are rarely seen in the pet trade outside of Western Australia.
Dragons looking like hybrids between the Mitchell's Bearded Dragon and the Inland Bearded Dragon have been reported from where the distributions of the two species meet. Another dwarf species (which is not available in the pet trade at the time of writing) is the
Nullarbor Bearded Dragon Pogona nullabor
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The poorly known Kimberly Bearded Dragon Pogona microlepidota appears to have the smallest known distribution of any of the bearded dragons and is found in the remote North- West of Australia. I haven't heard of this species being kept in captivity yet. Another yet to be described bearded dragon is said to be similar to the Black-Soil Bearded Dragon but brick red with a white belly.