# German giant bearded dragon...tips?



## pauly7582 (Jun 26, 2006)

Thinking about getting a giant beardie. I want a larger lizard and was thinking of this purely for the temperament (I'm after something that tolerates handling well so my fave the black throat monitor is out lol) I cant really find any detailed care sheets on them.

Are they just the same as regular beardies?
also how big do they actually get?

Cheers


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## HadesDragons (Jun 30, 2007)

Generally a beardie advertised as "German Giant" will get to roughly the same size as its parents. In almost all cases this is the same size as a regular beardie; 17 - 20". Occasionally you will get beardies labelled as "German Giant" that get a little larger than average; occasionally you will get non-German Giants that also get a little larger than average. The largest beardies I've ever seen "reliable" photos of were 23" long. One was apparently "German Giant"; the other one had no known German Giant ancestry. A lot of people claim to have / have seen "massive", "two foot plus" beardies. When pressed for photos the dragons either turn out to be substantially smaller than claimed, or no photos are available at all... It does makes me somewhat dubious, and I personally doubt virtually all of these claims...

A beardie doesn't have to be labelled as "German Giant" for it to have the potential to get big, and labelling a dragon as German Giant won't guarantee it to get any larger than average.

I've heard stories of the largest beardies being somewhat fiesty. Some people claim that "only" large German Giants are like this, but I've seen large non-GG males that don't tolerate handling too well.

Base the expected size of a beardie on the size of its parents - even if a beardie has "German Giant" heritage (whatever that may mean - have a read of http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/lizards/115463-german-giant-origins-p-barbata.html for a discussion of some of the theories) if it's parents are both only 18" long, you wouldn't expect it to be a monster. In the same way, if a beardie has two non-GG parents that are both 20"+, then the fact that it's not a German Giant won't make it stay small. I know some people call their dragons "German Giant" simply because they were 19 - 20" long, without knowing anything of the history of their bloodline.

In short, if you buy a beardie labelled as "German Giant", unless its parents are absolute monsters (and you see them with your own eyes / in *reliable* photos), don't expect it to be any different to a regular beardie...


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## pauly7582 (Jun 26, 2006)

I think that covers about all of my questions.

Thanks!


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## Varanus guy (Sep 30, 2008)

Just lettin u no black throats are the best monitor available when it comes to being handled :2thumb:


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## Schneddon (Aug 24, 2008)

hi mate, dont know if uve got all the help you needed, Hades above me as usual has been very helpful as they always seem to be on this forum and as always very knoledgeable on the subject of beardies... jsut thought I'd say that I have a german giant beardie ( or what is claimed to be by the guy I baught it off lol)

He is I believe on last measuring 21inches long however as Hades said all beardies can be big and yes you are right they are exactly the same for caring and feeding ect. only difference between him and my others is that hes nuts and enjoys running at the females tank when I get him out lol 

: victory:


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## Calucifer (May 1, 2011)

I have a Beardie (Draco) and people ask me if it is a GG, I measured it last week @ 21" long and although the pet shop I bought it from ages ago said it was male it appears to be female :lol2:
This was my first reptile I owned so didn't know to ask the shop what it was; Inland, GG etc as didn't go that deep into them etc.
Are there certain characteristics, headshape/size compared to other breed types?

I posted pics of my 2 beardies up on the photo section incase anyone wants to see what they think.


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## kirky1980 (Apr 4, 2010)

My blood red beardie is also just shy of 21 inches at 10 months old and he dosnt even know where Germany is. 
For me it's a similar thing as the giant leo's that you supposedly get you just get bigger versions of these from time to time. But then saying it's giant is just a ploy really for you to spend a little more cash than you would for a normal


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## Ste123 (Apr 30, 2011)

Am I right (I'm no expert) that due to so many people breeding these days that a lot of well known breeds are weakened? 

For example someone buys a pair of G.G's and breeds them selling the babies and they get bred to normals yet those babies are called giant's but are nit 100% true and so on and on that before you know it you are buying an expensive normal?

So many people say they own sandfire's but that's actually a breeders name and due to so much cross breeding people actually own a nice looking normal. 

Or did I make that all up lol I want a nice new baby beardie so it be good to know what to actually call one I see in the shop and be able to question the shop owner if I think he selling over the price stock.


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## HadesDragons (Jun 30, 2007)

Ste123 said:


> Am I right (I'm no expert) that due to so many people breeding these days that a lot of well known breeds are weakened?
> 
> For example someone buys a pair of G.G's and breeds them selling the babies and they get bred to normals yet those babies are called giant's but are nit 100% true and so on and on that before you know it you are buying an expensive normal?
> 
> ...


Something like that :lol2:

A lot of people are missing the "cross" part out of names, especially a couple of generations down the line.

Potentially you could have Normal x German Giant (or Blood Red or Citrus or whatever you wanted), and the breeder might label all of the babies from that pairing as "German Giant". You could understand the very largest couple of babies being sold as "German Giant", if the buyer's made aware of the ancestry, but not all babies from the clutch will show the trait to the same extent. 

If someone bought one of those (especially a baby showing the trait to a lesser extent) and bred it to another normal and missed off the "cross" from their babies as well, they'd potentially be selling them as "German Giant" babies, despite the fact that they're 3/4 normal.

Add on another couple of generations of that and it explains some of the very dubiously-named normal-looking beardies that you see for sale... :whistling2:


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## Uromastyxman (Jan 28, 2009)

I bought some baby BD'S a few years ago that were sold as half gg from a young woman in south london who is an rfuk member and the parents were there when I went round, she had a few beardies that she said were gg's and they were big. They were running about together in a room with the cage door open. I didn't measure them but they were twice the size of any bd's i've seen anywhere else. I wouldn't say they were aggressive but they were hammering around the room like a herd of elephants like they didn't even notice me. I'm not sure how long they were but it was their sheer bulk that impressed me. They looked like beardies but were almost like a different species. I have not seen any like that anywhere before or since, so I can see how they could be seen as a bit mythical. In fact since seeing them I have been unimpressed by every beardie I've seen since regardless of it's colour. :2thumb:


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## Ste123 (Apr 30, 2011)

Uromastyxman said:


> I bought some baby BD'S a few years ago that were sold as half gg from a young woman in south london who is an rfuk member and the parents were there when I went round, she had a few beardies that she said were gg's and they were big. They were running about together in a room with the cage door open. I didn't measure them but they were twice the size of any bd's i've seen anywhere else. I wouldn't say they were aggressive but they were hammering around the room like a herd of elephants like they didn't even notice me. I'm not sure how long they were but it was their sheer bulk that impressed me. They looked like beardies but were almost like a different species. I have not seen any like that anywhere before or since, so I can see how they could be seen as a bit mythical. In fact since seeing them I have been unimpressed by every beardie I've seen since regardless of it's colour. :2thumb:



Lol where have I heard stories like that before? See size does matter after all! 
You never mentioned if you bought anything from the women.


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## Uromastyxman (Jan 28, 2009)

Ste123 said:


> Lol where have I heard stories like that before? See size does matter after all!
> You never mentioned if you bought anything from the women.


I did buy 3 babies and I sold them on after 3 months to the sussex pet centre. They grew fast and the shop thought they were big for their age.

:2thumb:


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