How old should babies be before selling?

[GoFast]

I came across this add and 1 week seems kind of young to me....

http://chicago.craigslist.org/wcl/pet/1210836374.html

Am I wrong to feel this way?

 

[GoFast]

BTW, when I asked the seller about this, this was the response I got....

No actually they are ready to go as soon as the breeder knows that they are healthy. They are not like dogs where they have to be with the mother. In the wild they all seperate as soon as they are born. These babies have all started eating very good and are all 4 to 5 inches from head to tail. They are the perfect size and if the person who buys the baby decides he or she cannot keep the baby I will always willingly take the baby back wether its now or years from now. Were you interested in one?? Please do some research on bearded dragons and I will happily supply you with one.

 

[spyder79]

The person is incorrect. At that age bearded dragons are EXTREMELY fragile. Shipping could cause them to die let alone the implications of being jostled around when there bones are so fragile. Though yes they are "supposedly" self sustaining directly from the egg that does not mean they are ready to be shipped. The first few weeks are the hardest with beardies and only the most skilled keepers should keep them at this age. Anyone who sells babies at 1 to 2 weeks old is only doing it to make money and should not be purchased from or trusted.

 

[TheVirus]

I wait until they're 6-8 weeks old. Other species of reptiles are usually shipped earlier, but with beardies usually being bought by inexperienced keepers, I prefer to wait and give the dragon a better chance. However, if the person purchasing the beardie/beardies is experienced and a good keeper, then "in theory" it wouldn't matter if you shipped it after a couple weeks. All reptiles should be shipped over night, in a insulated box, with proper heating/cooling packs depending on weather.

 

[honpup]

I bought mine when he was 2 weeks old! and to be fair he stood a better chance with me then in the pet shop all the other babies died! He is now 8months old and is fighting fit i had a few scares with him but i soon got him better! The pet shop i got him from was ment to be a respectibal shop but i soon found no truth in this! I do think 6weeks is best to get them! but luckerly for sid i got him young and saved him! Even though he does treat my as a human slave lol! :lol:

 

[GoFast]

When posting this I knew that two weeks was too soon but not being a breeder, i wanted to get a feel for some more repsected breeders. To see how lacking in knowledge this "breeder" was I decided to send this in response to his previous answsers...

maybe. How much do they eat? I have some geckos already. I have this stuff called calci-sand for them could I use that for a dragon too? Do they need any special lights? if so what is the best brand?

His response...
Calci sand is perfect! That's what I use. The eat greens thru out the day and crickets once a day. I feed my babies about 10 small crickets daily and I offer greens chopped very finely all day. They usually don't touch the greens till they are a couple months old. But my adults eat a mix of greens and fruits in the morning and about 5 crickets that afternoon. Maybe a superworm here and there. Just as a treat. The are very easy to take care of and from what I have heard the are very much like geckos.
They need a day light for 15 hours and either a night light or nothing thru the night depending what temp ur house is.
You can get these lights at petco. U can just ask for a basking light and a night light and they will direct you.
My babies come with birth certificates and care sheets to start you out.

Call me if u are interested at 708 262 8297
Anais Soto

 

[GoFast]

and my response to that...

Hello Anais...

I appreciate your responses and must make an admission....when I clicked on your ad titled red dragons, I did so with the hopes of adding a red female to my collection and was instantly shocked by the young age that you were selling these for. I also must tell you that I actually know quite a bit about bearded dragons and my last response with those questions was an attempt to see how knowledgeable you actually were and what kind of breeder you were.

With that said...I am very disappointed with the reckless and seemingly uninformed responses you actually gave. First, you should not be selling your dragons at that age or size. You can not possibly ensure it's health and stability in 1 to 2 weeks. The earliest you should even consider selling is 4 weeks but prefereable 6-8. Second, calci-sand is about the worst thing you put ANY dragon at ANY age on, let alone a baby. That is almost a guarantee for impaction and death in the hands of the average dragon buyer.
Also, 10 small crickets a day?! Seriously? You should be offering babies as many as they can eat in a 10 minute period twice a day AND making sure they greens available throughout the day. Are you atleast making sure they are the right size crickets?? Nothing bigger than the gap between there eyes?
Next, your lighting advice is way off base. You should run either a 12/12 schedule or even a 14on/10 off schedule with NO NIGHT LIGHT. The right answer would have been if you need heat at night then use a CHE and what about UVB? a basking bulb doesnt provide any UVB, so what are you using?

In conclusion, I have figured out that one of 2 things is going on here. Either you do not know any better and need to do some research or you are doing htis to make money without ANY regard for the dragons well being or satisfaction of your customers. I truly hope that it is the first thing and if not, then I feel sorry for your animals and I will do everything in power to hinder your sales. If you do want to learn, I sugest checking out beardeddragon.org and talking to some of the more reputable breeders on that site.

Regards,
Nick

 

[lacy_black]

Congrats on standing up and letting him know you're displeased. Tho most likely he'll ignore what you said or blast you for it at least he now knows not everyone will just buy his line of bull. Hopefully he's just misinformed and will rectify it soon.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

The youngest I ever sold a pooper was 5 weeks. And he was almost 1 third bigger than his tank mates at the time. On average I wont sell before 6 weeks.

 

[GoFast]

.....and his colorful response....

First of all the calcisand if perfect for adult dragons. I never sed the babies. My babies are on papertowels. And all the babies eat in a 10 minute period is about 8 to 10 crickets. And my adults eat so much greens they do not need more than 5 crickets a day. And I use a night light because my house gets very cold. And only during brumation do I change the lighting to 12/12 day. Other than that I have the lights on for a longer period of time. Obviously u don't know what it is I know of bearded dragons so y assume??
I know enough of them to breed healthy good quality babies whether you think so or not.

And dam really get a life! Im mean please how much more lame can a person be?? Lol lol lol! Ur not buying a dragon from me so wut do u care what kind of breeder I am?? Is that all you do in a day? Harrass ppl on the internet?? Woooow pretty messed up.....
Anais Soto

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Just let it go. You can keep the back and forth thing going all day and the only thing you will accomplish is getting yourself upset.

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Well said TOM!!!!!!

 

[GoFast]

Well, the convo has ended already. It takes much more than that to get me upset. What I will say though that I atleast feel good for trying to reach out to the guy. If more people with knowledge actually approached and confronted people and companies like this maybe some of it could change.

 

[spyder79]

I sincerely doubt any amount of contact will be able to sway people such as this. Though i dont mind making money off of selling dragons people like this are in it only for the money and nothing more. you can talk until you are blue in the face (or in this case type) and still never accomplish anything other than raising your own blood pressure. but cudos to you for trying.

 

[GoFast]

Brian I agree with you but there are those that are misinformed and then there are those that just don't care. I had hoped he was just misinformed but after his last response, he showed his true colors. At that point, you are right, there is no point.