Are people serious. Why dont you listen to advice given

So many posts ive read where they had poor living conditions ie. Sand coil uvb not enough heat. All of these posts that are over a year old have update of my dragon with mbd, or impaction, or death. Why like its so sad you people buy pets and dont bother to take the advice given to you to fix your setup like its fine or i cant afford it this is ridiculous. Get rid of your pets your not responsible enough.

Hello,

I do agree that people need to be more proactive with caring for their pets & or learning what
the needs are before they bring them home. However, life is never perfect & sometimes you
can have the best intentions but circumstances may change that may or may not be ideal to
be able to properly provide for your pet.
In some cases yes, it is best to rehome an animal, but in a lot of cases, it isn't. It may go from
a loving home to another home that is even worse. It's never a very good idea to prejudge
because we never know if we may be thrown into the same type of circumstances one day. It
is extremely hard to just give up your animal.

Tracie

Sorry maybe a little harsh. i was so sad after reading through a bunch of old posts. Its crazy the carnage out there that was pre warned.

Hello,

I Know. I Saw a craigslist ad for two male bearded dragons that were housed together in a 40 gal tank on wood chips without a UVB and the tank was FILTHY. Unfortunately they were asking 400$ for them and that was out of my price range to rescue them.

A lot of people do need to learn to take better care of their pets. But most people who do have improper animal set-ups are typically told the wrong advise from pet stores. :x

So, that's why I tell almost every new herp owner I meet to Do their own research. :study: :study: :study: and I do hope that people find this website and realise what their doing is wrong and fix that.

-HippieLizards.

I have been talking to my husband about this today, but from a newbies point of view. I have spent hours on this site learning as much as I can about how my almost 2 year old Bearded Dragon's habitat should be. I think I am mostly there. I have lighting and heat pretty much where it should be, but will need to get a bigger tank. I was told it was a 75 to 100 gallon, and it's only a 50. I have never had a tank this big when I had fish, so it was hard for me to gage visually. I have learned a lot in the past 3 weeks, but feel like with there being that much to learn, that there must be many reptiles living in conditions that they shouldn't be.

I should add I bought him from someone that needed rehome him about 3 weeks ago.

I am here to listen. :!:

TracyMarie":f1o6w2a0 said:

I have been talking to my husband about this today, but from a newbies point of view. I have spent hours on this site learning as much as I can about how my almost 2 year old Bearded Dragon's habitat should be. I think I am mostly there. I have lighting and heat pretty much where it should be, but will need to get a bigger tank. I was told it was a 75 to 100 gallon, and it's only a 50. I have never had a tank this big when I had fish, so it was hard for me to gage visually. I have learned a lot in the past 3 weeks, but feel like with there being that much to learn, that there must be many reptiles living in conditions that they shouldn't be.

I should add I bought him from someone that needed rehome him about 3 weeks ago.

I am here to listen. :!:

Click to expand...

That's great that you researched about them before getting one! I Researched for 3-4 years before getting a beardie and am still learning to this day. Because IMO You can never know too much about reptiles. :mrgreen:

Too darned easy for people who are completely clueless to walk into a pet shop and walk out with lizard (this is a huge part of the problem).

Add this the fact the 99% of pet shop salespeople have no idea how to care for reptile or care , and their bosses direct them to try to sell kits full of rubbish and inappropriate stuff because this is where the profit lies.

What is needed is:
>>> licencing of all reptile keepers
>>> restrictions on what pet shops can sell
>>> for the impulse buying aspect to be removed from the equation

I too find it very frustrating how many people come here with sick dragons because of their own stupidity and inability / unwillingness to provide proper husbandry and food and the rest to their pets , inevitably they come here asking for free help / home remedies .

Unfortunately , this will never change so long as people think it's their right to have a dragon and it remains so easy to buy one.

As a new owner i was upset by the way the petstore handled it. There should be small period where u have to go home setup the tank and come back to pick up the animal. Also they gotta stop selling this garbage. I whent home with the coil uv sand they even wanted me to take the second dragon his brother and put him in same tank like they had told me it would be good to keep them together. I think your on to something king of nobby with the licence being a herp is a rising trend i see alot of people buying lizards latley maybe they will start to get some rights. Like cats and dogs

Bluekush":37zwfr4r said:

As a new owner i was upset by the way the petstore handled it. There should be small period where u have to go home setup the tank and come back to pick up the animal. Also they gotta stop selling this garbage. I whent home with the coil uv sand they even wanted me to take the second dragon his brother and put him in same tank like they had told me it would be good to keep them together. I think your on to something king of nobby with the licence being a herp is a rising trend i see alot of people buying lizards latley maybe they will start to get some rights. Like cats and dogs

Click to expand...

The way it works here (in Australia).

No keepers' permit (licence) from the state or territory you are resident in ==> no sale PERIOD , no ifs no buts.

No imported reptiles ( strickly forbidden to bring non-native reptiles into the country , even in many instances to transfer them across state or territory boarders without a permit to do so ).

All reptiles must be accounted for in the Keepers' log book, there are random checks made.

Only petshops who meet very strict licencing conditions are permitted to stock live reptiles for sale , and again , no permit/licence produced ==> no sale. Very few pet shops are licenced to sell reptiles (only one pet shop in my city (800,000 people)) is licenced to stock and sell reptiles.

kingofnobbys":22270213 said:

Bluekush":22270213 said:

As a new owner i was upset by the way the petstore handled it. There should be small period where u have to go home setup the tank and come back to pick up the animal. Also they gotta stop selling this garbage. I whent home with the coil uv sand they even wanted me to take the second dragon his brother and put him in same tank like they had told me it would be good to keep them together. I think your on to something king of nobby with the licence being a herp is a rising trend i see alot of people buying lizards latley maybe they will start to get some rights. Like cats and dogs

Click to expand...

The way it works here (in Australia).

No keepers' permit (licence) from the state or territory you are resident in ==> no sale PERIOD , no ifs no buts.

No imported reptiles ( strickly forbidden to bring non-native reptiles into the country , even in many instances to transfer them across state or territory boards without a permit to do so ).

All reptiles must be accounted for in the Keepers' log book, there are random checks made.

Only petshops who meet very strict licencing conditions are permitted to stock live reptiles for sale , and again , no permit/licence produced ==> no sale. Very few pet shops are licenced to sell reptiles (only one pet shop in my city (800,000 people)) is licenced to stock and sell reptiles.

Click to expand...

Thats amazing i hope more countries start doing this.

In general it's not at all the owners fault. The stores sell sub par + even useless stuff and the average person thinks that it is the right stuff. It may be a person's first time seeing a beardie or other reptile advertised as a pet and they think the store is the authority and has everything they need.

That being said, even if a reptile seems lethargic, many people don't know how to compare what a healthy animal should act like verses an unhealthy one and the animal may start declining before anyone knows anything is wrong. Then throw lack of knowledge on the part of many vets and you have this situation.

In the U.S you can own just about anything, that's why there are large numbers of non native reptiles [ some of which are turning in to big problems ] like burmese pythons , brown basilisks and even chameleons roaming Florida + other warm states. Even where new laws or regulations are made they are not usually strictly enforced. And there are huge numbers of unwanted reptiles [ as a person loses interest or their life turns into chaos for a variety of reasons ] as well.

AHBD":26j76gj9 said:

In general it's not at all the owners fault. The stores sell sub par + even useless stuff and the average person thinks that it is the right stuff. It may be a person's first time seeing a beardie or other reptile advertised as a pet and they think the store is the authority and has everything they need.

That being said, even if a reptile seems lethargic, many people don't know how to compare what a healthy animal should act like verses an unhealthy one and the animal may start declining before anyone knows anything is wrong. Then throw lack of knowledge on the part of many vets and you have this situation.

In the U.S you can own just about anything, that's why there are large numbers of non native reptiles [ some of which are turning in to big problems ] like burmese pythons , brown basilisks and even chameleons roaming Florida + other warm states. Even where new laws or regulations are made they are not usually strictly enforced. And there are huge numbers of unwanted reptiles [ as a person loses interest or their life turns into chaos for a variety of reasons ] as well.

Click to expand...

I Agree. It really is the pet stores fault most of the time.

The main bad advise I hear given by pet stores around here is:
- use sand
- use kritters' krumble substrate
- use kitty litter
- fed it mealworms or superworms as The staple.
- when they are grown up give them dog food (we have huge dog food sausages that you can use)
- fed it pellets as a staple when it's grown up.
- buy our shop brand UV lights (they are just as good as the expensive brands but 1/2 the price ..... Sure they are :x )
- you need a red INFRA-RED globe or a Blue moonlight bulb.
- buy a fish tank to house the beardie.
- sure you can house 2 or 3 beardies together forever.
- lights on 12 hrs only.

Pet stores actually say these things! It's them practically saying "Spend money on these useless things that could kill your pet!"

I also get extremely frustrated of lack of care and improper advice. I did weeks of research before taking mine from a relative two years ago and since then I have learned an incredible amount, and still learning!

I read a few days ago about two beardies being dumped in a cemetery somewhere in the UK. Local charity organizations are working towards stopping the sale of exotics, it's too easy to buy one with too little knowledge and that upsets me.

Through a friend, I know someone whose daughter wanted a beardie for Christmas and her mother gave her the money for it.. A few days before Christmas Eve this girl, I think she is 15 years old, went out and picked one up, a couple month old baby beardie. AND THAT'S ALL SHE WENT HOME WITH. Just the beardie, no tank, no lights, no food, no heat, absolutely nothing and she had kept him in a tub with a blow heater in the room. I was so so angry.

So, what I did was I bought a new vivarium for my baby Rocky and I decided to give this girl my original set up, I spent Christmas Eve changing over tanks to ensure her beardie had a decent start in life, my partner and I carried these heavy things up and down stairs, in and out of the car, I gave her some of the decor from Rocky's old tank, the heat lamp, the uvb and reflector, I told her everything I knew about beardie care, I directed her to this site for help and gave her my number and I also printed her the Beautiful Dragons Nutrition Chart to refer to with regard to foods. I didn't sleep that night, I got home around 7am Christmas morning. But it was worth it, I knew I was doing a good thing.

To my surprise, this same beardie was missing last week. It turns out her very young nephew had gone into her room and opened the tank, they found him the following day in her mothers room on the floor behind the bed.

I totally understand that sometimes people have to give up their reptiles and they may go to an unsuitable home, we can't help that but there's no excuse for this kind of stupidity and laziness, it is a lot of responsibility for an adult, let alone a child. What really should have happened there is, the pet shop owner should have asked questions, as a vet would, as to whether she knows what she is doing but I really don't think he cared to ask. A lot of the time all that matters is the sale which upsets me a great deal. Much beardie illness comes from improper care due to bad advice.

I also would love a license to come into play.

Hello,

I don't necessarily think that giving the government more control over more areas of one's life
isn't the answer. People need to learn to take responsibility for themselves & relying on the
government to do it for you by taking privileges away doesn't help. No one will really learn
responsibility as well. Plus, it wont fix the breeding problems & the problem of having a lot of
them around who need owners wont change.
Here in the US, there would become a black market which would make it worse. Before you
know it, all of your ownership of any animals will be revoked which no one wants. It isn't just
reptiles, it's all animals that need care. Licensing might help in some areas but would hurt in
others.
Maybe I'm old school but I just know that it's not always good to give up too many rights. I
feel it would be better to simply educate people & give them an opportunity to learn.

Tracie

Not the experience here .... only black market is wildlife poaching for the international wildlife trafficking trade and those who are caught wind up sending long periods in prison and a are very heavily fined.
There are always money hungry people who are in it for the quick easy $.


Sure there are those who whinge about not having access to exotic species ( and want imports allowed so they can LEGALLY have these in their collections ) and there are those who want to take from the wild (and not be restricted to captive bred) ,but they are in the small minority.