Minimum new beardie age & midwest pricing?

[beckys19]

We're getting our 8 year old a beardie setup for Christmas, and going to the Midwest Reptile Show in Indianapolis in January to pick one up. What is the ideal youngest age for the beardie to be, and what is a reasonable price range for the more common (inexpensive) coloration/s? Also, if anyone has breeders they could recommend that attend that show, please let me know! The only one I could really find a good amount of online reviews for is A-List Animals.

Thanks!

 

[MrSpectrum]

OK, in no particular order...

That show is one that has its own website, and on that website is a list of vendors (including breeders). BTW, I just took a peek, and it's a far better organized list than any I've seen/worked with before. It's going to take a little effort/homework, but you can make a list of those vendors, sift out the breeders, look each one up, and evaluate. This is what we did prior to getting our first BD--4 times (4 shows). It was worth the effort--we got to meet & chat with a LOT of people, and were confident in the breeder we chose and our new charge.

Interesting... some of the vendors at the shows we attended (in the Northeast) came from the Midwest, but I didn't recognize any of them on this show's vendors list. Don't attach any meaning to that; the market here is quite seasonal, and most of the local breeders have shut down for the winter.

I have no opinion as to youngest age; I trusted the breeder on that--Zardoz was 5 weeks at that show, and he's doing fine now at 8 weeks. As to price, I don't think it's worth nickel-dimeing. IMO, a reputable breeder, captive bred & born, and healthy animals are more important than saving $5 or $10 ...and worth it. What I have noticed is that prices are quite a bit lower at shows due to the higher immediate competition, and breeders not wanting to transport all those baby animals back home. If you see a dragon you really like, you've done all your homework, and the price is affordable, buy it.

YMMV

 

[beckys19]

I did google all the breeders, some I couldn't find, some only had a couple reviews (mainly on facebook). A-List was the only one I found enough reviews to be confident in.

I'm not going to nickle and dime/go cheap on the beardie, I just want to make sure I'm not being price gouged or offered a "too good to be true" deal..... by inexpensive, I meant I'm not going to get him a few hundred dollar color morph as his 1st beardie. I know the majority of breeders are probably great people, just want to make sure I know what I'm doing as much as possible, especially if I can't find out much more on the other breeders. I also know I'll probably get a "feel" for them when we are there, but I want to come as prepared as possible!

 

[MrSpectrum]

That's all good. Just to give you an idea of what we learned/experienced about pricing...

Large pet chains around here (IME--other areas may vary) sell baby BDs for $30-$40 ("Plain" or "Fancy" which is... bull pucky) Risks of pet chain dragons are pretty well known--just google.

We found prices for babies at shows from $40 on up, depending on morphs, colors, etc.
We didn't care about all that--I wanted a plain-old wild looking dragon, which nobody around here had (don't get me going on that one again... :roll: ). When I told breeders that, they all looked at me like I had a tree growing out of my head (it's just a shrub--I promise).

We finally had to settle for as plain as we could find--at least he's spikey. When we asked the prices, the first person we asked quoted us $65. We talked it over betweenst ourselves, and decided to buy one we liked. By this time, the first person had moved on to another customer. When the second person "wrapped him up" for us, we asked how much (not knowing if there was sales tax) and that person said $60.

Moral: I think the prices are better at shows (others' experience may differ) than online, and I think dealers will dicker somewhat (within reason) even though we would have been as happy with $65. Some online articles say chances of a better deal are more likely toward the end of the show because (as I mentioned previously) they'd rather not transport all that stock home if they can sell it reasonably. The downside is that you may not get the dragon you want--things may be picked over by then. That's why I say if you see/find the dragon you want, buy it (providing it's healthy, yadda, yadda, yadda...)

Good Luck!

 

[Claudiusx]

Most responsible breeders don't offer up babies for sale until they are 6 weeks old or at least 10g. The 10g rule is really a must for shipping, but it might not be so important when buying a dragon at a show. Still, any that are obviously underweight or less than 6 weeks old, I'd be questioning the intentions of the seller. Of course there are always exceptions. Like Spectrums 5 week old he bought. But, if the dragons are only a few weeks old, I'd pass on to the next breeder.

As far as the vendor list, quite a few names in there that are recognizable in the herp world, but I don't see any dragon breeders there that I am familiar with.

-Brandon

 

[MrSpectrum]

Zardoz was 15g, 7" from a well-respected breeder. The 5 week age was a guess on our part because of the "5" on his chest. We have no idea how long it had been there--coulda been a week or more. Then I spoze it could also have been a clutch # (?) :dontknow:

After getting home, we contacted some local breeders who weren't at that show. They said they had already sold out at previous shows, and didn't have anything coming down the pipe until spring.

There didn't seem to be much--if any--adjustment period. No stress marks or behaviors; he was just "on" from the git-go.

He's a little hellion now.
(He can also be a bit of an asshat at times). Always got that PO'd look on his puss.

 

[Claudiusx]

Most breeders mark their dragons with a number or a letter to differentiate the babies and keep records of where they came from (what pairing, date, etc.). So the 5 was probably just the breeders chosen number for him

Either way, at 17g he's well past what I would consider the critical stage, and is a good healthy weight/size to be bought and sold.

Back when I was breeding I was doing a kind of "wholesale" to my local petstore and they were basically calling me every other day asking for me to sell. I wouldn't because they were only a few weeks old at the time and I knew that especially going to a petstore, they'd need the best start to life I could give them before then lol. Even though I was very adamant about how they kept "my" babies in their store, I obviously had no say over how the buyers took care of them.

Anyways, I'm rambling now but point is, 6 weeks old and/or over 10g

-Brandon

 

[ComicBookMama]

I'm not sure of prices, so I can't speak to that... but as for the age, I do have opinions as a teacher and as someone who wrote her masters thesis on companion animals in the classroom (different from home, yes, but some similarities prevail... I've been working on a book called "Your Child's First Pet" based on my research.) That said, I'm a relative dragon newbie, so feel free to take my opinion with a grain of salt and defer to more experienced posters.

The key question I'd have is this: how hands-on are you, as the parent, willing to be with your child's pet beardie? Your child is most likely going to have one desire: to hold and/or play with their pet. The younger the beardie, the more challenging this is going to be. You're going to need to teach your child about safe beardie handling (ie, sit on the floor because baby dragons all think they can fly, handle gently, don't squeeze even if they are squirming to get away, keep handling sessions short and positive) and set up a safe space where your son and his dragon can play (a collapsible puppy playpen is very good for this - it keeps the little dragon from escaping under furniture and becoming frightened as the giant hands start searching for it). If you're doing your homework this well and are on this forum, I feel pretty confident in guessing that you're going to be a hands-on parent who knows that most of the dragon chores will be yours in the short term while your son learns the ropes.

My own personal preference for a child as young as 8 (though there are some very mature 8 year olds out there, and your son may be one of them) is a subadult or adult dragon who is already calm and settled and easy to handle. You're not likely to find these at a show, however. That said, look for an older juvenile rather than a hatchling... 3 months old or more, in my fairly-inexperienced-with-dragons opinion. The younger the dragon, the more work you're going to need to put into hand-taming, and from what I've read, all young dragons seem to go through an "ohmygawdthey'regonnaeatme!" phase where they flee from hands and don't like to be handled much, or at all. Young things of all sorts tend to be very energetic and squirmy and hard for a child to hold, so you may resort to putting the little dragon in a plastic shoebox or similar "petting container" so your son can handle it safely and happily.

Again, more experience posters may have differing opinions, which I'll be eager to learn from and adjust my views... my opinions are based largely on book research, reading this list, and my experience with my own 6-7 month old dragon. Good luck!

 

[Claudiusx]

No, You bring up some very good and valid points. It boils down in the end to what exactly you are wanting out of a dragon, much like you're pointing out with your adult suggestion

Some want to see them grow up and have that experience. But if what you want is for your kids to have something they can hold and "play" with, an adult is probably a better choice. The only thing that would throw a monkey wrench into that is finding one that is tamed. As IMO it's harder to tame an aggressive adult than it is to tame an aggressive baby or juvie.

-Brandon

 

[MrSpectrum]

"Your Child's First Pet"

I'm admittedly biased, but it's a well-known fact that every dog/puppy needs a kid!

That was a really good post. All I could suggest is something about hygiene (salmonella, adenovirus, etc.) , keeping BDs away from faces, and washing hands thoroughly after handling. That comes from every vet I've told about getting a dragon--both family & friends, and the one I've chosen to be Zardoz' vet (cuz the others don't do herps ).

 

[beckys19]

Yes, I fully expect to be the main caregiver until the dragon is clam enough for my son to start taking over. :lol: I only work a few hours a day (I'm a lunch lady....) so I will have the time to dedicate to a needy little bugger....

I don't mind juvenile as opposed to baby, I know he would enjoy watching it grow up as much as possible though. Mainly wanted to get a good idea, since I have no idea what they will have in stock.

Thanks for the suggestion on the puppy playpen, I'll look into something like that! I will make sure he knows it will take a bit to get it used to being handled. As for the salmonella, we used to live in Wisconsin, and Steve Keller would bring his snakes to Cub Scouts Mom & Son and Dad & Lad weekends, so the boys know the drill.