Buying a female..

[andrewlloyd]

Hey guys, wasnt to sure where this should of been posted, sorry to the mods if you have to change it

Ok, so ive got a 8 month old male beardie named Chace.
Im looking at purchasing a female beardie for him for future breeding purposes, (next season, as i live in Australia, so its opposite to most of you)

Now ive been looking for a week or so, and have found a female in my local pet shop, but to be honest it just dosnt look healthy.
Its supposibly a year old, but its just so thin, and looks under nurited.
They have that female with another male who also looks extremely thin.
They have UV tubes on them in a large tank but they use a CHE for heat, nothing measuring the temps and well its just filthy in there.. Its realy horrible to see..

Im going for a bit of a drive today checking out different reptile shops around my city.


I just want some advice i guess, i feel sorry for the female and would love to buy her and get her back on her feet, but i dont know if it is the wisest thing to do.. Or i keep looking and hopefully come across a healthy female, looked after properly and that has some nice colouring..

Any thoughts would be great..

Cheers,

 

[Okiemavis]

Sounds like she's undernourished and probably full of worms. If you do get her, she won't be breedable until you fix all her issues (which probably includes at least some level of calcium deficiency). That's assuming you'll be able to reverse the damage done to her body to the point where she can handle brumation and the stress of breeding. I wouldn't count on it happening by next season.

You're best off going to a breeder who specializes in beardies. Check with your local herp society to find a reputable one.

 

[Freeie]

Yeah i have to agree with the above poster. I have 3 laying infertile eggs and it takes SO much out of them all three were/are in very good condition. Id make sure if you plan on breeding you might want to get a healthy beardie to start with.

 

[andrewlloyd]

Thanks for the replys..
I was thinking along the same lines, and today i found a 2 year old female, beautiful yellow in colour and looks extremely healthy..
In fact, where i found her is where i got Chace from, and i know that they look after their reptiles very well.

I showed my interest in her, and have put my name down incase they come accross some other sub-adult/adult females.

Thanks again guys,

- should i do anything about the female n male at my local shop? I dont want to be known as a dibby dober, but when it comes to the health and wellbeing of these creatures, (aswell as others) it just gets to me..

Has anyone ever reported a pet shop? If so, how did they go about it and what was the end result?