Vittikin Dragons by Marcia Rybak

Hybridization readily occurs between the inland bearded dragon, Pogona vitticeps, and the Rankin's dragon, Pogona brevis, when they are kept together. These hybrids, which I have dubbed "vittikins", appear to be a compromise between the two parent species. Features such as body size, head shape, spininess, temperament, tail length, color and pattern are affected. P. vitticeps and P. brevis are sympatric, meaning their ranges overlap. Little is known of P. brevis and very few specimens have been collected for study but this hybridization may very well occur in the wild.

I acquired the five original vittikins in my collection from two sources. Three came from an unintentional mating between a female P. brevis and a male P. vitticeps. The other two were sold to someone else as P. brevis, but as the dragons grew it became obvious they were vittikins. Table 1 shows weights and lengths of these vittikins at two years of age.

**Table 1**
Vittikin	Sex	Weight	SVL	Total Length

#1	M	163 g	15.2 cm	35.6 cm
#2	F	205 g	15.9 cm	37.5 cm
#3	F	156 g	14.0 cm	33.0 cm
#4	F	142 g	14.0 cm	28.6 cm
#5	F	130 g	14.6 cm	33.0 cm
Averages		159 g	14.7 cm	33.5 cm

The vittikins make a wonderful pet lizard. Their relatively small size allows them to be housed in a 60-gallon aquarium, which is usually the largest stock tank sold in pet shops. Many reptile owners find it too costly to have a custom cage built for a large lizard, so a compact size becomes an important factor when selecting a pet. The care and maintenance of these animals is the same as for bearded dragons in general. In addition, my vittikins exhibit a temperament more outgoing than P. vitticeps even into adulthood and will eagerly eat any food put in front of them.

Vittikins are not sterile as is sometimes the case with hybrids, they are prolific breeders, producing vigorous young. The four females shown in Table 1 laid at least three clutches of eggs each and one female laid four clutches (Table 2 ). Upon hatching, second-generation vittikins had similar weights and lengths to those of the first generation but as they began to grow noticeable differences appeared. While most young vittikins looked like their vittikin parents, some of the young favored P. vitticeps and some favored P. brevis. It will be interesting to discover the genetic trail that future offspring will follow if subsequent breedings occur .

Table 2
Clutches were incubated in the same incubator at 28.5º C (83º F)
		Vittikin 2	Vittikin 3	Vittikin 4	Vittikin 5

Clutch 1	Date Laid	03/16/95	03/18/95	03/18/95	03/21/95
	Date Hatched	05/15/95	05/18/95	05/15/95	05/18/95
	# Eggs	8	7	9	17
	# Eggs Hatched	8	7	8	15
Clutch 2	Date laid	03/29/95	04/29/95	04/28/95	04/28/95
	Date Hatched	05/20/95	06/28/95	06/25/95	06/23/95
	# Eggs	9	8	15	16
	# Eggs Hatched	9	8	13	16
Clutch 3	Date laid	04/29/95	06/11/95	07/20/95	06/09/95
	Date Hatched	06/29/95	08/07/95	09/15/95	08/05/95
	# Eggs	7	9	10	15
	# Eggs Hatched	7	8	7	10
Clutch 4	Date laid				07/24/95
	Date Hatched				09/18/95
	# Eggs				17
	# Eggs Hatched				9

There is some controversy regarding the creation of hybrids in herpetoculture. As long as hybrids are properly identified as such I don't feel there is a problem. The problem occurs when a hybrid is represented as a purebred species either on purpose or accidentally as in the case of two of the vittikins I acquired. To avoid this situation, make sure you keep good records and properly identify your animals.