Bearded dragon care guide filled with B.S.

[RachelG]

I was shopping on Amazon for Christmas gifts for my sweet Lenny (I searched bearded dragon accessories looking for a new hammock or something) and I came across a bearded dragon care book that I could read for free in kindle format.

Of course I downloaded it, thinking I could always learn more about how to serve and care for my beloved little reptile... but I was wrong. First, aside from "more food," the author does not differentiate between care instructions for babies, juveniles, or adults.


The author states the need for a water bowl

Endorses sand as substrate

States that beardies can and will regrow their tails

And just goes on to give a wide array of misinformed recommendations. The only worthwhile print in the whole thing was actually the last page, where the author recommended this site as a resource.

I left my two cents

It makes me so angry that some ***** actually published a book full of potentially unsafe ideas, and marketed it as a care guide for living beings...Living beings that the author seemed to know little about. Thank you all for being a reliable, accurate resource for bearded dragon information and care instructions. My Lenny is very dear to me, as I'm sure everyone's respective Lennys are to them. Lenny's our first reptile, and I don't know what we would've done without the help and guidance of this site.

Maybe I'm making too much of it, but I hate to think of beardies (or any living thing) suffering from improper care due to ****ty "guides" like this misleading owners.

 

[PodunkKhaleesi]

That’s great that you left a review citing some of the misinformation in the book. If enough people do this then over time it may make someone think twice before reading it. Unfortunately, Amazon has become a lot like YouTube—anyone can upload a self-published book, so it becomes harder for a consumer to find the legitimate stuff in a sea of junk. That’s really baffling that the author linked to this site as a resource yet doesn’t appear to have read anything on it.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Wow, that is too bad so much disinformation was printed in that book. Unfortunately,
bearded dragons do not & never will regrow their tails. However, iguanas & geckos do,
though.
Maybe enough people will post reviews on it to help out others.

Tracie

 

[RachelG]

That’s great that you left a review citing some of the misinformation in the book. If enough people do this then over time it may make someone think twice before reading it. Unfortunately, Amazon has become a lot like YouTube—anyone can upload a self-published book, so it becomes harder for a consumer to find the legitimate stuff in a sea of junk. That’s really baffling that the author linked to this site as a resource yet doesn’t appear to have read anything on it.

I immediately read the reviews, thinking that surely, they'd be fake, I'd report them to Amazon, and the rating would drop accordingly... to my surprise and dismay, the reviews were real. They were mostly verified purchasers of the book, and they said things like "so glad I got this to go with the bearded dragon I'm giving my child/grandchild," "excellent resource for beginners," and "good information so I can care for my new baby."

I am so appalled at the thought of new owners following the guide and accidentally mistreating their animals, especially if they get a baby, as most do. I don't usually hold a grudge against products I am dissatisfied with, but I'm going to allow my personal vendetta here to flourish. I'm going to do everything in my power to ensure that this piece of trash book is regarded as such.

 

[PodunkKhaleesi]

Good for you! And if you’re curious why this guide has such glowing reviews, here’s a dirty little secret about Amazon book reviews: Ever see an obscure, self published, poorly written (and in this case, riddled with misinformation) book and wonder why there are dozens of rave reviews? You note that all the reviews have a “verified purchase” tag, so you scratch your head and wonder how anyone that forked over money to read this abomination could give the book more than one star. Well, these reviewers did indeed purchase the book—just as the author told them to. Because most of them are friends and family, and in many cases several different Amazon accounts the author created so they could post multiple glowing reviews of their own book. Some authors have even been caught posting Craig’s List ads offering anyone with an Amazon account money to “review” their book. The author figures the initial investment of bribing people to write positive reviews will be worth it when people, say, search for the words “bearded dragon” and then tell Amazon to sort the results by “highest star rating.” This is a very common practice with self published material unfortunately, and Amazon is often at a loss over how to deal with the problem. Because many of the people that leave these fake or biased reviews haven’t actually read the book, if you catch a review that mentions something that wasn’t in the book you can, in rare instances, successfully bring it to Amazon’s attention. I’m a bit curious about what other misinformation (beyond what you posted) the book contains. If it’s as harmful as it sounds I’d be willing to leave an honest critique of it as well. One thought: What if you asked a moderator/beardeddragon.org site manager to leave a review along the lines of “beardeddragon.org does not endorse or recommend this care guide, as it contains a plethora of misinformation, and recommendations that can be outright harmful to these animals.” I’m not sure how doable this is, but it may be worth a shot. Nothing would make me scramble to remove a pet care guide from my shopping cart faster than learning the very organization the author cites as a credible resource condemns their very work.