Mating begins between May and August, and the eggs are laid in September. Dragons leave about twenty eggs in empty nests left by birds called megapodes. The eggs develop for seven to eight months. The eggs open and the baby lizards come out in April, when there are many insects to eat. Young Komodo dragons live in trees, where they are safe from adult Komodo dragons and other animals that might eat them. They take around three to five years to mature and may live as long as fifty years. Female Komodo dragons can have babies without fertilisation (parthenogenesis).