Baby Bearded Dragons - The WORST Thing About Breeding Reptiles 

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"... so I fed them to a monitor." Seems like the solution to many of life's problems.

Runty was an adorable little dude. At least he experienced a few days of life outside the egg. 💕

You can just hear in Clint's voice how much he loves reptiles...

Clint, thanks for giving that little guy every opportunity to thrive. Unfortunately Runty wasn’t able to pull through, but what he DID do is help to educate thousands of people. Now, you have 25 beautiful dragons to continue to bring joy to people that you should be proud of. On a side note, I don’t think there is anything wrong with feeding the monitor. When an organism has died, the only thing it can do anymore is feed and nourish other creatures. In my eyes there is no reason to deny them that final purpose of theirs. (Of course when they are close to us, sometimes a funeral can be helpful closure to us.)

Beardie: "I'm gonna lay them right here" Clint: "No stop that's not moist enough" Beardie: "Ok, next I'm gonna lay them right in the water" Clint: "No wtf are you doing stop"

Even though I believe in a "let nature run its course " mentality, it can still be hard. Sympathy for you.

that was the biggest roller coasted of a story ever

Atleast you gave the little guy the best chance at life as possible!

I understand the problems with breeding. My family has a farm and our livestock are goats. one of the most difficult parts was seeing a kid (what a baby goat is called) not make it out. The problem with goats is that if the baby cannot stand up within a little less of an hour or so, the mother abandons the baby to die. Even if you assist the baby, the mother will reject the baby. I’ve been working with our a family farm for 21 years, so I know the issues of breeding.

This is why I refuse to breed my dogs. Everyone is always like "why wouldn't you breed them, can you imagine how adorable their babies would be?" I'm like yeah I'm sure the babies would be precious, but I'm not emotionally capable of handling it if something goes wrong.

RIP Runty and those surviving siblings are just awesome - so cute seeing a literal handful of baby dragons lol

You are such a kind person. Intelligent enough to know the reality of it, but sweet and kind enough to feel it as well. I’m sorry about Runty. You did a beautiful thing by giving him a chance. 💜 Hugs.

Wasn't planning on crying today, but I guess I did anyways. Rip Runty ❤️

Runty was a beautiful baby, and he lived a good life in the short time he had. He got to run, and he got to experience being held by a keeper that loved him so very much. You're a good reptile dad, Clint. I'm glad he got to spend his brief moments on Earth with you 💕

Fish breeding is even worse as far as individuals not being fit to survive, especially the ornamental species (goldfish, bettas). There's definitely a "dark" element to breeding anything.

It really sucks. My rabbit had babies when I was a kid and she caught a cold right before she had them. She didn't produce milk until a week after. By that time all six babies had passed away (in less than 24hrs actually). It was really heartbreaking because we tried to feed them but they refused to take it. I still think back and wonder if I should have done something different.

Thank you for sharing the sad side of breeding. Nature can be wonderful and also cruel. Also, good on you for recycling eggs with your legged disposals. Might seem uncaring, but that's just a little less money spent on food and the organic mass doesn't go to waste. Emily from Snake Discovery helped me understand that.

I'm glad you didn't have to call Maury to figure out who the dragon daddy was lol. Sneaky little devils!!

You are a great channel! Between you and Snake Discovery I have learned so much! Thank you so much for all of the valuable information you provide! On a sadder note. I was really routing for that little guy, so sorry he didn't make it. It breaks my heart.

Rip runty at least he Experience love and care 2019-2019

Hey Clint, I have a video suggestion. On April fools day you could do a imaginary reptile the best pet reptile and give it 5 out of 5 or you could do a rubber reptile.

Clint, I am so glad you put this out. Casual viewers may never have the opportunity to understand that breeding animals of any sort comes with this risk of heartache. As you so very honestly and gently put it, there are just some situations where the genes that particular animal has means it is not able to thrive. You did all you can, my heart really goes out to you. And awesome babies no matter what.

So sorry Runty didn’t make it, but it wasn’t for lack of care and concern on your part. You literally did everything you could’ve done to help him. His siblings are beautiful, and a wonderful tribute to his little life. Congratulations!

Runty... 😢 That was a great job of conveying the emotional roller coaster we all have gone through with an ill or dying pet, it is tough but it is something every one needs to see before getting or breeding any pet.

Clint, your level of caring for these tiny buddies is what keeps us coming back to you. Keep being awesome, man.

I don’t know why people had issues with you feeding Runty to a monitor. Like, circle of life and all that.

Haven't bred my reptiles before, but I do remember when I bred my dogs. The litter was 11 pups, and 1 was born dead. It looked just like it's mum :( Then another one died after being accidentally crushed by the mum. Then one was dead one morning for seemingly no reason. The rest were very happy and healthy and after a few months we started finding proper homes for them.

Thank you for being awesome. I love how you are always dressed so nice tie and all. I like how calm your voice is and the easy tone presenting the info in a great way.

Runty had a rough hand dealt to him, but you showed him so much love in his little life. I love how you can tell how much Clint actually cares about his reptiles by how he talks.

I had my 1st and 2nd clutches ever of beardies hatch 4 and 1 week ago! I'm in there with you Clint. 34 babies

That was moving - I can tell you are very caring. I think Runty knew you were doing everything you could for him. You're awesome.

Clint, your love, respect and compassion for animals is always apparent, but especially at times like these. All the love, Sir!

Recently, my best friend and bearded dragon named Ray passed away. After 7 years of growing up together it was a real hard hit to me and I cried for a long time and still do at times. He was the best pet I have ever had and was the sweetest bearded dragon that never bit, blackebeareded, or turned aggressive towards me or anyone that he met. They say that once an animal that has been loved so much pass away they go to a special place in heaven called the rainbow bridge. I hope Ray and little Runty have met up there and are having a blast.

You’re a kind hearted person, you can tell by your emotions in this video... I really admire that

I keep Coturnix quail, I have for about 6 years now. I breed them about once, sometimes twice a year. They have never sat for me, I just put the eggs in an incubator when I want to breed them. And quail, in my experience only about 1/2 - 1/3 of the eggs hatch, so I normally put about 6 eggs in and get about 2-3 chicks. And quite often if 3 do hatch one doesn't make it. But sometimes they seem like they won't make it and then they do. I'm going to tell you three stories, two of which have happy endings. I'll tell them in order of longest ago to most recent. Story 1: Two eggs hatched, but one of the chicks stayed attached to its egg by a blood vessel. I was still relatively new to hatching eggs at this point, and I was afraid to do anything for fear of making it worse, I thought it would be best to leave it and hope it got detached on its own. I know now this wasn't the best thing to do but you live and you learn. So this poor chick was dragging its egg around after it, and I left it in the incubator until it dried, along with its sibling, so a good number of hours. Eventually I moved them to the brooder and the egg was still firmly attached. Eventually I contacted a friend who had been keeping quail a lot longer than me, and I asked her what to do. I think she actually came to have a look herself, and she cut the blood vessel (it was completely dried up at this point) and finally freed it from dragging its egg around. But after dragging the egg around for so long it had completely screwed up the poor chick's balance. It fell all over the place. For context we have a wide flat bowl of food in the middle, something like a mayonnaise jar lid, and around the edges we have milk bottle lids with water in them. Well this poor little chick was falling all over the place, and kept falling into the water dishes, and getting wet and cold. When this happened its sibling would cheep loudly to call for help. Whenever we heard this we would come, and we would find the poor little thing soaked and shivering, so cold. So we'd hold the poor little thing right under the heat lamp until it got dry and warm again. If it started to get too hot it would wriggle and we would lower it a little. My mum mostly came to it in the night, but she thought it probably wouldn't make it, and that if it did it would always struggle to walk. But, its balance got better over time, and after a few weeks it was completely normal. It grew up to be a perfectly healthy adult and you would never know there was ever anything wrong with it. Story 2: This was my first time using a new incubator, and I had the best hatch rate I've ever had before or since. I put in 6 eggs and 5 of them hatched, but one died due to a design fault of the incubator, which after this happened I found a DIY fix for. But I had 4 that survived the incubator and moved to the brooder, however one of them couldn't walk. It hatched just fine on its own, no assistance, but once it was out it lay on its side on the incubator floor. At first we thought it was just exhausted after hatching, but after a few hours and all it did was kick its legs and spin on the spot, we were worried. By this point I was more comfortable intervening, so I put my hand into the incubator and tried to help it stand up, but it just fell over again. I decided to at least move it onto the other side so it dried on both sides, but within a minute or so it had flipped over again. When I moved it into the brooder I put it inside the food bowl, keeping it under the light. Every few hours I would pick it up and dip its beak into water and then food (just a little bit, making sure it wasn't up to its nostrils). Helping it like this I got it drinking, and after a while eating too. After a day or two it was eating independently and drinking with just me holding it above the water, so I was hopeful that it might be going to survive. Maybe even learn to walk normally like the other one did. It grew bigger, which seemed like a good sign, but the bigger it grew the more deformed it seemed to get. When it first hatched and for the first few days I couldn't see any reason why it shouldn't be able to walk, but as it grew bigger its legs looked more deformed and didn't move normally, by a week its body looked slightly bent backwards, and eventually it stopped eating and drinking and died soon after. Although it wasn't really apparent when it first hatched, I think there was something seriously wrong with it, and I don't think there's any way it could have survived. I gave it it's best possible chance, and it died surrounded by its siblings. Story 3: I was excited to notice that an egg looked like it was within a maybe half an hour of hatching, so I stayed watching it and I started filming it. Eventually it had broken all the way around the egg and was trying to push its way out, each push I could see some of its body, and after each push the egg seemed to close slightly less. Normally at this point they get one big push and then they just kind of fall out. But it just wasn't. It managed to push some of its body through the crack so that it stayed there even when the egg tried to close again, but it couldn't get any further out. It was stuck. I noticed a translucent fibre, thread, I don't really know what it was, it was kind of like one of the blood vessels but it wasn't red, anyway this was going across the two sides of the egg and preventing the chick from pushing its way out. I watched for probably almost an hour hoping it would manage to push through, it was so close to hatching, but eventually I realised I had to intervene. I suspected I would have to try and cut this thread, but as a first line I just broke off a little bit of the shell from where the chick had got it open, hoping that little bit more room might be enough. Several minutes had passed, and I'd managed to find tiny, blunt-ended scissors meant for cutting sewing thread, and I was getting ready to open up the incubator and try again - my mum was going to open and I was going to cut, and we were going over the plan to have it open for as little time as possible, when the chick managed to get out of its egg. It had to rest for a little while after trying for so long, but it turned out completely fine and normal. Turns out pulling off a little bit of shell to give it more space had been enough.

Its definitely hard to see such a little fighter loose the fight. But, it does happen and all we can do is give them the best life we can while we have them. RIP Runty. It's good to see his brothers and sisters doing so well. Beardies are amazing reptiles!❤

“It looked like it had died.... but it hadn’t!!” “It really looked dead this time.... but it wasn’t!!” “It was dead for sure.... but it moved!” Dang Clint, that was a rollercoaster.

Runty was a shooting star of a short term but big story of life little dragon his story will live on and he won't get picked on by his siblings because he was so little R.I.P runty you were so cute 🌹

I love that you care about each and every baby. They are so much more than just inventory or a collection piece, and they deserve genuine regard for their wellbeing. Runty didn't live long, but he knew love and and a peaceful passing. Thank u for sharing his story w/ us.

My Sympathies Chris! I was in tears. I’m sorry for your loss. Great job in doing what you could do. Dante

I'm a substitute teacher and am sometimes in a classroom w a bearded dragon whose quality of life is questionable.... Her name is Sharpy and I AM OBSESSED WITH HER..... Anyway I've been thinking about her since school let out and this video came up for me and now I'm crying so thanks for caring about baby beardies the appropriate amount cause I cannot

Videos like this are why Clint is the best. Honest, heartfelt fantastic. Mr Rogers and Steve Irwin are smiling down on you.

F for Runty. :( its amazing you have him the chance to thrive. You’re amazing.

Clint, this is exactly why I follow you. Your raw emotion and honesty about everything. If it’s a vid about if it’s the right pet for you or breeding difficulties or how to give the best husbandry and cage set up. You are the truest of the true and the best of the best! I wish I had a FB just to get one of your dragons. Thank you for all the time and effort you put out for our education and enjoyment. God bless you!

This video is wonderful. I went through a wave of emotion with it. I was in awe of how adorable they were to hearing the story of Runty made me cry. Clint I am sorry for your loss. He was lucky to have such a wonderful person to take care of him in the time he was on earth. Thank you for these wonderful videos.

Geez man i can feel how you felt. This man really cares about his reptiles. Sorry you went through that man. I love this channel

They look so cute as babies! We got our bearded dragon at four years old, so we never got to see him as a baby :) he is still very handsome though

One of the best pet reptile keepers! Did I mention Clint is the one of the best!? He's not for everyone but he is pretty dang amazing! I remember your posts about Runty, thank you for sharing. ❤❤❤ Your channel is one of the best.

The shared love and empathy shown for this little one, gives me hope. Hope for mankind. Thank you Clint ❤️

Thanks for being compassionate enough to try. I've had a couple sad little experiences like this breeding crested geckos, but every so often one of these little guys will actually come around the corner and make it and I always think that's worth all the effort. I too feed my dud eggs to a monitor. Seems like a shame to just throw them away, and he always enjoys it.

Can't believe I only found your channel but I love it. I'm a massive reptile fan and own quite a few myself. I love you enthusiasm. Your channel definitely needs more subs

Runty lived as long as he did due to your loving care. He was doomed from the get go but you fought for him! Rest in peace Runty!

So much love for your reptiles it really is amazing! Just wanted to tell you thanks for your videos they really are very informative. Bought my first leopard gecko and he should be arriving June 2nd! Have to be patient so he arrives on time and healthy! Thanks for the videos Clint

You're amazing Clint! And this is a very important and touching video. I'm caring for my first bearded dragon and he's doing very well so far. You are an inspiration! I'm currently waiting on his Zen habitat upgrade and excited to see if the little fella enjoys it.

What cute babies! Thank you for sharing Runty`s story. Its a sad fact that not all babies make it. Runty was a beautiful soul and he will live in spirit through his brothers and sisters. I love watching your videos and learning so much. Keep it up!

This is so sweet, I’m learning this with fish and the way you conveyed this story is just exactly how it goes, and you know it probably won’t work but it might. It is really hard, but it helps me understand death in the context of life. Thank you Clint

Thank you so much for your story! I'm planning next year to pair my two Leather Backs up (both hypo and the dad has Paradox in him) it's really great to hear of the journey you've been through. I'm super excited but nervous all at the same time!

It's sad to see young ones die, our 11 month old bobtail just passed away from suspected kidney problems. The vet did some tests and x-rays etc and said that it was a birth defect and there was nothing we could have done to save him. It was very tough to see our guy go after we were ready to have him for the next 20 years maybe. We now have a new born Northern Blue Tongue, hopefully for both of us we don't have any issues :)

Hey Clint, been watching your channel for awhile and I enjoy your calm delivery and great content. We were actually thinking about doing a video on this exact same subject, but since we couldn't think to say anything any better than you covered here, just want to say, Thank you for covering this topic in a very good video. This industry sure does have it's heartbreaking moments. I have had my heart broken breeding reptiles as often as anything I have ever done. But we keep going for none other reason than I wouldn't want to do ANYTHING else. Reptiles are awesome!

I knew watching this was a mistake. I didn't want to cry today :( But I learned a lot and grew to love these little guys even more. Thanks, Clint.

So many beautiful babies! Gosh Clint, I am so sorry to hear the emotional rollercoaster of Runty's short life. I couldn't imagine how rough that must have been for a truly passionate animal lover such as yourself. :( I also use McGillicuddy for our beardies last name! Umphrey McGillicuddy, a beautiful red/orange leatherback grumpy mcgrumperson!

Omgggg the same thing happened to me… I’m so sorry about Runty. My little runt was named Rover and he made it to adolescence and he was beautiful but his health suddenly declined and I was so sad when he passed.

Bless you man for being as loving and dedicated to beardies as you are...the world needs more people like you...

One might feel bad when reptile embryos don't develop well... but when the baby hatches and dies a few days later, it feels much worse. Example of mine: there was a tortoise clutch that was going pretty well, except for one baby that had broken through the entire egg except the lower left section. Thinking it was just a lazy baby, I removed that portion of the egg, only to find out that it had the leg completely stuck inside the shell (as in that the claws were inside, and no one could get them out). Before even hatching, it had a death sentence (and a horrible one at that, it was going to drown) - so after not finding any possible way to help, I instead focused on making its obviously short life as nice as possible. It lasted three days where I pampered it as much as I could and even gave it the chance for some exploring time (which was literally the last meaningful thing it did). Runty deserved that burial after everything it fought.

We had two clutches of ~30 eggs each, one single egg hatched, and that beardie died within hours :c Our two beardies are rescues so we don’t know what happened to them before we got them.

I’m sure you get this all the time but you are by far my favorite reptile/fish person on you tube. You have an amazing heart and true passion for the animals. My daughters watch your channel and I thank you for being a good role model for them.

Dude you need to update your intro bio to list your PhD!

Honestly Clint.. one of your best videos I have watched yet!! Thank you for sharing!

Good for you, Clint!! And thank you for making this video!! I work at a large pet retailer and our supplier keeps sending us baby dragons that are LESS THAN TWO WEEKS OLD! Policy is 4 inches in body length. The team takes it really hard when we get a dud, but I can usually tell within 2 or 3 days if we have one. Just lost a leather to genetics a few weeks ago. Grr!

This video is so emotional with the triumph and fails. The story telling is amazing

I work at a pet store. We get quite a few baby beardies in that go downhill so fast as soon as they get to our store. I honestly don’t like the breeder we get our reptiles from because we’ve had so many young reptiles die. I rescued a baby crestie who had neurological problems and was obviously a hatchling. I have 3 other cresties and I knew I could take care of him and he’s doing awesome now. It’s hard to see such little guys just give up and waste away no matter how hard you try to save them.

Clint, you're the best! You're such an awesome role model for the reptile community!!!

Such a sincere and moving presentation, my Beardy was quite enchanted with this caring human. L/S

Thanks for sharing! Baby bearded dragons are the one of the cutest things ever. I admit I almost cried hearing your story of Runty.

Love your vids Great work keep it up😀👍

I'm so sorry for your loss. You're a kind and caring person, obviously. I'm sure it *was* tough. Take care of you and your beautiful family.

Great video to let people know it can get to you and it could be hard. But it can be rewarding as well. Thank you.

So cute! I don't know if this technique is possible with beardys but there is a technique with hognose to change the entire enclosure to a lay box that way they can't mess up and lay outside of the laybox. Just thought I'd mention it. Love your stuff btw.

Dam Clint ! Almost 500k 👌🏻🤙🏻🇺🇸🙏🏻 congratulations brotha !!

Great video Clint! Ive started breeding jeweled lacertas recently and I had a little runt egg and i was super worried as well but he hatched and eats on his own! just smaller then his siblings lol.

Beautiful babies, sorry about your baby passing. Recently had to put my old boy to sleep, it's always painful losing a part of your family. Keep him in your memories.

Should’ve gave little Grumpy a little kiss on the snoot! Lol Nice baby beardy perspective in the end too! Lol

I think its amazing you tried so hard giving that baby a chance. A lot of people wouldnt have tried at all. You have a huge heart 💕

I had a similar situation happen with a baby betta I found at a pet store. She was smaller than all the others and she didn't look very healthy and I thought she would have a better chance if I brought her home and gave her the right environment. And for a week or two it seemed like she was really getting better but then out of nowhere she just really quickly got worse and died two days later. My heart goes out to you and all of Runty's siblings 💜

Excellent video as always! Personally, I think it was a very kind and noble thing to give Runty a chance. At my work (animal hospital), we have quite a few accidental puppies from inexperienced people, and quite a few expert breeders. Both groups will generally decide to just let the runt die. However, some of them will sign them off to us so we can give them a second chance. Even with veterinarians and vet techs taking care of them, they don't always make it. It's definitely hard losing an animal you spent time and effort on to keep them alive, but the ones that do make it are worth the effort for me. I hope if something similar happens again that you'll be willing to put in extra effort to help it.

Good educational video with a strong message

Lost my rescue female dragon earlier this year, not sure how old she was when I got her but I had her almost 8 years. She had a lot of deformities and her growth was stunted a lot. I took her home and wasn’t even sure if she would live past the next day as she was so thin. She proved me wrong time after time, she showed me she could do pretty much anything she wanted to, including showing up my two male dragons. She was something special and I still miss her 😢

Even if it is sad, it was also a heartwarming story. Great video!

Man. It wasn't the story that got me as much as your delivery.

Love these little guys. We are very lucky here where we live, we get bearded dragons, blue tongues, little water monitors & even have a resident Lace Monitor. Occasionally we see Frill necks but not as often as we'd like.

Thank you for giving Runty a loving and happy home, however brief.

My 13 year old beardie passed away last week. I’m emo crying for little Runty and my Rusty. Thank you for giving him a shot, Clint.

This reminds me of a few months ago on my way to the bus stop to go to work I found a tiny little garter snake on the sidewalk, clearly struggling. He was VERY small and thin(yes even for a baby garter). I wanted to help him but I had to get to work. I had a tiny pill bottle in my backpack of benadril, so I emptied it, cleaned the pill dust off the inside, and put him in there while I was at work(of course I didn't tell anyone I had a snake in a pill bottle in my backpack at the restaurant I worked at), opening it for some air every couple hours. I got home and set him up temporarily in a critter carrier with a heat mat(I live in a basement, basking bulbs etc. weren't really an option) and gave him a little deli cup of water, found a worm and cut it up into tiny pieces tried to get him to eat. Wouldn't eat even trying to assist feed. He ended up dying after 2 days. This is even more common in garter snakes than other reptiles, and I'm well aware of the Natricinae and their problems. But it was still sad. But the fact of the matter is, I tried. Whether with me, or left on that sidewalk, or in the golden gifted angelic reptile-whispering hands of Emily(shoutout to Snake Discovery), that snake was just not going to make it. I weighed him when I first got home with him that night. That Garter Snake, which was in fact alive and moving around, weighed in at 2 grams.

Awesome video. First time seeing a baby bearded dragon. Thanks for the informational video.

So sweet, enjoyed your video!

I love these little guys. We had a lot of them on our 10-acre property in south-eastern australia, and it wasn't unusual to find clutches of eggs in our sandpit from time to time. They LOVE eating european wasps (I think they're what you would call yellow jackets in the US).

I've no doubt you did everything you could to give that little bitty dragon a chance! Just look at your other dragons! They're so colorful and got full baby tummies and they're so calm when you pick them up. You obviously take excellent care of them :) Like you said, sometimes things just don't work out. I wouldn't have even blamed you if you'd fed him to the monitor, as upsetting as that may sound, but it's because I trust your judgement and sometimes you just know that things aren't going to get better. But you gave him a chance anyway, and that speaks volumes about the kind person you are and how much you love your animals

U are the father of all reptiles! Love your videos, i watched pretty much all of them! I will get a bearded dragon soon, now i save money to make a nice home for him! Keep up with your work, happy for u getting ur licence!

Earlier this year one of our calves whom also was never "right" since birth didn't make it despite our best efforts as well and it really is hard, the worst with cows is when there's a complication at birth and you try to help assist pulling it out and the legs move and everything and by the time you get it out it is gone and won't revive. Some do revive and most get out in time and everything but it is the ones that are exceptions that hurt the most for sure. Second hardest is saying goodbye to the animal you've cared for though since birth! I love breeding though and there's a thought in my head that there's a sliver of possibility that I might take the route to lizard breeding eventually because I love being a breeder, it's definitely my passion! Congrats on all the successful strong healthy cute babies!