I bought a very sick beardie...

CooperDragon":1dzs9l3i said:

Makes me wonder if they are actually breeders or just reptile flippers making money off of rehoming dragons.

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EllenD":3j0m7azx said:

CooperDragon":3j0m7azx said:

Makes me wonder if they are actually breeders or just reptile flippers making money off of rehoming dragons.

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Very well could be doing that on the side, but I'd say they are definitely breeding them too, as evident by not only this poor girl that they bred nearly to death, but also from their prior posts, photos, and videos on their Facebook page.

It's unfortunate, but right now Bearded Dragons are hot pets, as we all know from the massive amount of new owners coming on here every single day, and that all seem to have health issues because they are being given horrible advice, not only from pet shop employees from PETCO, PetSmart, Petland, etc., but also often from breeders they are buying them from. I've often wondered how people can be given terrible husbandry advice from a Bearded Dragon breeder, such as being told to use a coil UVB bulb, UVB bulbs meant for tropical reptiles, being told to used terrible, lethal substrates like crushed walnut shells and calcium sand, being told to feed babies superworms, etc. But this "Breeder" is a perfect example (and perfect explanation for me) as to how this is happening daily to people who genuinely just want to bring a young beardie into their homes to be a much loved pet and family member. It's sad.

The problem right now as I see it is twofold; #1, a normal baby bearded dragon, nothing special at all as far as morph or color costs between $50-$100 from a pet shop. I was shocked the other day when I went to a privately owned pet shop about an hour away from me and saw a normal baby Beardie for sale who cost $99! So obviously special morphs and colors, leatherbacks, silkies, etc. cost hundreds of dollars. And this doesn't seem to be stopping the demand for them. So "Breeders" like this a*****e get ahold of a leatherback and maybe just a normal either by posing as someone who wants to "adopt" a Beardie in need of a home, or by just buying two babies, they buy a used incubator on Craigslist, some vermiculite, then they just start cranking out clutch after clutch after clutch, like they did to this poor girl...You can all do the math, have a clutch with 20-30 babies, maybe out of that 20-30 they get 1/3 or so that are leatherbacks, so they get a minimum of $50 a baby, probably more, and for the leatherbacks, silkies, and any special morphs and colors they are getting $100+ per baby... They're making thousands of dollars in very short amounts of time...#2 problem is that there are soooooooo many Beardies on Craigslist, Petfinder, etc. that are being rehomed either for free or very cheaply, INCLUDING EXPENSIVE ENCLOSURES, LIGHTS, FIXTURES, ETC. and people are just collecting them and reselling them Beardies and especially the enclosures and set-ups for a large or possibly a 100% profit.

Why do people not care about living creatures? And how can they not care at all about living creatures that they themselves purposely brought into their homes? It's sickening and I just don't get it...

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EllenD":yjkqo7ah said:

Very, very true. Unfortunately. I have gotten the same reactions from people many, many times. It used to anger me, but now I try to educate the public as much as I can, especially about Beardies, because the general public has no idea how loving and affectionate they are! They have no idea that they cuddle, like to petted, can learn their names and come when they're called, etc.

I currently have 4 parrots, 2 dogs, and a Bearded Dragon. At least once a week I take a different bird, dog, or Izzy my beardie out to several pet-friendly stores like Petco, Lowes, Home Depot, and even Walmart while I'm grocery shopping! All 4 of my birds are harness trained and I have a harness for Izzy as well, and you should see the looks I get from people when I'm standing in Home Depot with a 17" Beardie on a harness and leash! I'll walk around the stores with her on my shoulder (while I'm holding onto her with one hand) or usually I'll get a cart and put her in the seat part. She loves it! She'll prop herself up with her front legs on the seat-back and just constantly be looking all around, her head doesn't stop moving left to right, and she gets the brightest her colors can possibly get with a bright white belly! She's about 7 months old, and after her last shed her head, face, neck, and legs became the most beautiful, bright shade of coral I've ever seen, and when she sees me walk over to her enclosure with her harness she will literally jump off of her basking rock across the enclosure to the door! She just loves attention!

The reactions I have gotten from people in stores is so drastically different from one person to another it goes from loving to funny to shocked to creeped out to being yelled at once in Home Depot for bringing a lizard into a public place by a man whose wife/girlfriend had a fit and actually screamed and had to leave the store. SHE ACTUALLY HAD TO LEAVE HOME DEPOT! I mean, it's a big store people! Home Depot just told the guy that Izzy was on a leash and being well contained by me, did not pose a threat to anyone, and they weren't going to ask me to leave just because this woman couldn't stand knowing that there was a lizard inside the same store as her, even if I was on the other side of the store 200 yards away from her outside in lawn and garden.

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EllenD":a45y6q5u said:

My god what a horrible story, and a horrible case of animal abuse! FedEx ground is meant for "stuff", not live creatures! I wouldn't be so worried about the 5 day trip (though little air, too hot or cold temperatures, no water, no food is awful), but rather the fact that the FedEx ground guys literally just throw and toss boxes around, into the truck, out of the truck, they don't take care of stuff even when it's marked "Fragile". I certainly hope the box was at least marked "Fragile" or "Live Animal", but I'm guessing with this piece of garbage it wasn't.
I hope they didn't get thrown all over the place for 5 days. As already mentioned this was illegal, you can't ship live creatures that way. If you could have stopped payment or still can I absolutely would. You absolutely can still stop it if you used your credit card or bank account, all you would have to do is tell them this story and that the seller disappeared and will not return phone calls or emails. I'm sure they will show back up quickly once they lose the money. But they sold you two animals that are obviously older than they told you they were, one of which was horribly sick, malnourished and emaciated, and near death, and that required expensive, specialized medical care. Again, if you paid them with PayPal,
<<< with paypal , go to the transaction and initiate a dispute and the immediately escalate it based on fraudulent sales and got getting what you thought your were getting or the animals in the stage inferred in their advert.... you might be required to return the animal but this will be impossible (will kill it so tell them it arrived near dead).
a credit card, or a bank account, you need to call them ASAP and have the payment stopped/challenged.
<<<< contact the bank / credit provider and tell the transaction was fraudulent (as it was), they'll reverse the transaction and will likely involve the cops at the other end .... sooner this seller is taken out and the animals he holds confiscated and auctioned or sent to vets / rescuers / rehabilators the better.

Take photos of the boxes and the dragons, along with a copy of the vet bill to show ages and her condition. 2-3 weeks is not too long to stop payment.

She's a very beautiful leatherback! I'm afraid the poor ADULT (definitely much over a year old) girl was bred to death, became malnourished, emaciated, dehydrated, and developed severe calcium and vitamin deficiencies BECAUSE SHE WAS OVERBRED TO DEATH (almost literally), and they passed her off on you no doubt for a pretty penny as a young-juvenile, healthy dragon. These deficiencies and the malnourishment I'm afraid developed over months and months of neglect and over breeding, which is why I'm saying she's much older than a year. She's a beautiful leatherback that they probably got close to 200 clutches from in one season, sold each baby for $$$hundreds$$$ of dollars, then threw her away like a living baby incubator ? And god knows if she even had any UVB light at all, let alone a good one. I'm pissed right now. Heading to their Facebook page soon.
<<< I'd be going there too , to give them a real good serve Aussie verbal abuse , only I'm no longer on facebook having lost interest in FB years ago .

Did the vet say anything about calcium injections or liquid calcium? Her weight is obviously going up, the Reptisun 10.0 UVB will help her quite a bit (the 5.0 is for tropical reptiles), if her temperature gradient and her basking spot temperature are correct and she keeps getting calcium w/D3 supplements AND a very good Reptile/Bearded Dragon Multivitamin/Mineral Supplement like Herpavite or Repashy us Calcium in her slurries/smoothies (I hope you got her a Multivitamin/Mineral Supplement to add to her smoothies daily) because if you discontinued the Critical Care that's okay to make homemade smoothies as long as you're adding a pinch of a reptile Multivitamin/Mineral Supplement to it each time, she needs it badly and that's what the Critical Care has that babyfood and veggies don't, and it's a big part of the twitching and flopping. It's not a neurological issue per second, but rather a calcium/vitamin/UVB deficiency combo. So please make sure you buy a good multivitamin as already mentioned above and add a pinch along with a calcium with D3 supplement to each homemade smoothie you give her. This should eventually remedy her uncontrollable movements if combined with a Reptisun 10.0 UVB for 12-14 hours a day. Try to get her a few hours outside in natural sunlight until that Reptisun 10.0 comes, as the natural sunlight is better than the 5.0 light.

I'm rooting for her, I hope you do everything you can to prosecute those *****s and stop your payment immediately. MAKE THEM SQUIRM! I'm going to go do my part on their Facebook page now. I'm sure they're still actively posting on Facebook, Craigslist, etc., selling the hundreds of babies they got from that beautiful girl before using her up, neglecting and abusing her, and throwing her away...????☠

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nathb1":16vwac8u said:

doch":16vwac8u said:

nathb1":16vwac8u said:

Hi Do you mean Capital Dragons? I am from ottawa but they are located in Peterborough?
Nat

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No. Capital Dragons sounds like they are the real deal. I wish I would have gone through them.

If you Google search "Bearded Dragons Canada" this "company" shows up about 5 down or so... it's a link to a facebook page with the same name "Bearded Dragons Canada".

In retrospect there were a lot of signs pointing that I should have avoided this d-bag... but hind sight is 20/20.

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aww yeah sorry, also red hot chilli dragons have great reviews right here in Ottawa.Also A&A dragons looks good .
Sorry about your ordeal I would leave a comment on their facebook page about your experience.

<<< I wouldn't go telling them what you are going to do ( re getting your money back or prosecuting these fly by night toe-rags ) , I'd wait til you have your money back (through either paypal (escalated dispute) , bank or credit card provider ( fraudulent transaction ) , then go to town and do your best to wreck their fb page and sales .
They are apt to disappear entirely and pop up again under a new name somewhere else if forwarded

Hopefully the female will pull through they might look weak but its amazing with right care/heat and food will make a difference if nothing physically is wrong with her. She is a beauty but looks worn out....

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nathb1":9pce17rn said:

doch":9pce17rn said:

I contacted the seller immediately after finding out that they were shipped via ground... no reply. I have sent several messages since, no reply. Phoned... no answer. Called the police, they are "too busy". Called and filed a complaint for animal cruelty... not sure if they will actually do anything... They sent my complaint to the investigations department.

The name of the Seller is "Bearded Dragons Canada". If that needs to be removed... I'm sorry. Hopefully saying that is not against a policy.<<< If this mob https://www.facebook.com/BeardedDragonsCanada/ are the who sold this dragon and shipped it surface by FedEx , I can see how the buyer might be conned into thinking they are legit .... but experience says they are not.

I will post pics when I have a chance. My daughter and her Mom are currently taking care of them while I'm out of town.

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Hi Do you mean Capital Dragons? I am from ottawa but they are located in Peterborough?
Nat

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