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Jesphet

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The pet store I work at has care sheets for all the animals they sell. But they haven't really updated them or added info that really would be helpful for new owners.
The sheets really just have basic information. The more research I've done for myself the more i've come to realize the sheets need more info on them.
Is there anything that you wished someone told you when you first got your bearded dragon??(or any other reptiles)
Common mistakes first pet owners make??
The care sheets don't really go into much detail about feeding either. The ratio of veggies and meat they should have.
Honestly a few of the employees I work with concern me when they talk about how they feed theirs.

I've done my own research :study: and such but getting opinions from others on how they care for their bearded dragons would be helpful!
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
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It's hard to put all of the necessary information on a single sheet/document and not have it be overwhelming to people. It's best to do plenty of research ahead of time and ask specific questions as they come up although general care guides can be quite a helpful place to start. My biggest advice to people starting out is to get an enclosure large enough to provide a heat and light gradient, and to invest in high quality and appropriately powered lighting for your pet. This in itself will take some research but it's critical to their wellbeing and is where people should start.
 

vrenee1018

Juvie Member
I agree. There is so much information that is needed to care for them and I believe you need almost a book rather than one sheet. Haha With that said, I think the one thing that I didn't take into account and/or the reptile store didn't tell me when I was purchasing thermometers for my beardie's tank, was that I needed at least one hygrometer to measure both humidity and temperature in her tank. Her tank had a great temperature, but it would get really humid at night without me knowing and when I finally realized it, she had already gotten a small respiratory infection. Then off to the vet we went.

I also think that as a new beardie owner, you learn a lot from just watching and paying attention to every little think they do and their actions when you feel they're unhappy. One thing I've learned from Tampico, or Tampi as I call her, that is different from all research that I've done about glass surfing and going crazy in her tank, is that she doesn't get stress marks on her belly. She turns a nice bright white color and her colors are even more vibrant, which leads me to believe that she's not stressed out, more or less that she just wants to roam free around the house. Even when I open the tank for her to hop out, half of the time she just goes back to running and climbing all over her tank without fuss or stress. They really have their own little personalities and such and I love watching hers come out.
 
Yeah more like a care book instead of a care sheet lol this is why they need more experienced people selling these because these are not beginner Pets As stores might want people to believe for a profit. They sell those expensive starter kits and then people just never seem to want to invest in anything further. They should try to talk people into buying bigger tanks to begin with instead of upgrading later which a good percentage of people never do. Also when feeding your dragon vegetables it should really be called greens because they really need Collard,mustard,urnip greens and endive,kale Etc.they don't need a lot of fruits and vegetables because a lot of those are high in sugar those should be given as treats.I know someone that was feeding their beardie cantaloupe all the time and never greens. Also they need to explain the lighting better that's where a lot of people including myself always fail. The most important is a UVB light and proper temperatures. You're going to have to buy a new bulb a couple times a year in a lot of people can't afford that this needs to be explained to people that owning a bearded dragon can eventually be costly. They push them as easy cheap pets and I can assure you they are not they also need to explain how the insects and food needs to be dusted regularly because these dragon's function on calcium and multivitamin supplements and in order to process those things they do need proper lighting this is not stressed enough at the store.
 
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