New beardie parent experience

Hello everyone!

I purchased my baby Theo at Petsmart (I know, I know) on September 2. They did not know how old he was when I bought him, but I would say he is around 5 months old and my vet agrees. I just wanted to put this out into the webspace to help new beardie owners with my (little) experience so far.

I have been worrying non-stop since bringing Theo home that there was something wrong with him. Not ever having experience with a bearded dragon, or a reptile really, I didn’t know what was normal and what might be signs of illness. I HIGHLY recommend that when you bring your new beardie home that you establish a vet to bring him/her to within the first month. I finally took Theo to the vet at the end of November although he was still eating and was seeming “okay” acting. He ended up having Coccidia, a mild respiratory infection, and eye inflammation. After just a couple days of starting the medication he is a new dragon. So curious and putting on weight like crazy!!

Though pet care can be expensive, I feel it is our job as their humans and caretakers to give our beardies the best life we can. This includes time, money, and effort put in to research and constantly learn and ask questions as we never can know too much!!

I’m so thankful for this site as it has given me so many perspectives from more experienced owners.

I'm glad to hear he's feeling better! I certainly agree with you about vet care. If you can establish routine care /wellness exams with a vet it is helpful both for being able to trust a vet (or not and switch) before a problem occurs, and to establish some baseline numbers for your dragon which can be helpful with future treatment. It's also good to have an emergency fund set aside so if vet care is needed it doesn't add another dimension of stress (financial).