Pet Store (Petco) Beardies ok??

[Caren]

Hi Everyone - I am new here! Glad I found this site!

We bought a beardie hatchling (Thomas) a year ago from a reptile store in our town - he's an awesome pet - we are totally in love with him!

Would like to purchase another one for our daughter next week for her birthday - the reptile store where we got Thomas only has one hatchling now and it's tail is broken and they want $75 for him which seems steep to me? (Thomas was $35) this is for an Orange Citrus which is what Thomas is.

Our local pet store has hatchlings roughly 4 weeks old - I am wondering if any of you would recommend buying one from a "chain" pet store? I have heard it's best to get them from a breeder or store that deals with reptiles. That said, our Petco store is very well run and many of the employees have beardies ad they are extremely knowledgable people.

I saw on Craigslist someone has hatchling which are only 2 weeks old, it looks like someone who just breeds as a hobby. But is 2 weeks old too young to be selling them?

Obviously I want a healthy pet and don't want to have any issues down the road. Any advice much appreciated!!

 

[LoveMy4BeardieGals]

I honestly think it all depends. I have 2 pet store babies from Petco and I have 2 breeder babies from reptile shows. My Petco babies are just as awesome as my breeder reptile show babies. My biggest one is my male Leo who was bought by my hubby from Petco, and my next largest is my female Ryelee who was from a breeder at a reptile show. It would than be my other breeder baby from the reptile show Audrey, and Bailey who is my other Petco baby. The only one I actually had *any* issues with, was actually Audrey. She had a bad prolapse 2 weeks ago, but all is good with that.

Just look for the one who seems the healthiest, and is most alert, and has its eyes open.

Best of luck with whatever you do!

 

[brittani299]

If you feel comfortable buying from your Petco go for it

 

[Caren]

Thanks for your feedback - my gut is telling me the Petco ones are fine, and I'm nervous buying one only 2 weeks old. Thanks again, appreciate it!

 

[bunnyrut]

it really depends on the actual location.

sometimes i go in and there are a bunch of babies running around, other times the babies are missing limbs and looking half dead.

if you can go to a reptile expo or Repticon you can see many beardies of different colors, sizes and prices.

http://www.reptilechannel.com/reptile-events/reptile-events.aspx

i also think taking your daughter there to pick one out would be a fun and exciting thing.

 

[tgolden]

All of my reptiles have come from one of the stores and have had no major problems. I did have I water dragon die on me about 2 months after I got him but I knew he was sick when I got and expected it.

 

[Duriel]

It's really a mixed bag. On the one hand you see these mistreated animals in pet stores and want to rescue them. On the other hand, you want a pet that isn't going to die a horrible death within a few months. It's really up to you. My local petco had some pretty bad shape beardies, and since I am extremely new to this, I opted to go some miles away to a small pet store that had properly cared for beardies. Trolled through that petco a week later and they were all gone (I assume dead because their condition was very very bad). A week later I went back and they had 3 water dragons living in the same enclosure (nothing had been moved, so it's safe to assume it hadn't been cleaned). They looked healthy enough. A week later I went back in and there was an iguana living in the enclosure. Still appeared to have not been cleaned. I did get 3 firebellied toads from petco though, as they seem to be able to handle almost any kind of abuse (they're quite happy now... and one, a male, is quite the escape artist). Was confusing because they had me fill out some kind of "adoption" paperwork for them... just thought "wtf? You have like 15 of these in a 10gal with crickets roaming around at all times.. how can you question ME?"

 

[tgolden]

unfortunately its all about the money for the big chain stores. I'm lucky the Petco I go to the folks that work with the reptiles also own and understand the different needs of reptiles. Your gonna get a better lizard from a breeder but your also gonna pay more so you just have to go with what your budget allows I guess.

 

[Caren]

Thanks for all your feedback - lots of food for thought. Checking into my options and will let you know what I decide!

 

[beardie parents]

I find it hard to suggest places like petsmart and petco as the last several times I've been in to our local town's petsmart the beardies look, to me, way to small to sell, but then the size tank they have them in is way to small for beardies that are even a couple of inches bigger to house in it.

I do suggest checking out Barbara's thread about her babies here: viewtopic.php?f=30&t=172064
or check out www.tnddragon.com. He only had a couple of beardies listed but you can contact him, I'm sure, to see what's available and the cost.

 

[Esther19]

If you do decide to buy locally, I'd scope out the beardies first before took my daughter. You probably would anyway, but just wanted to make sure.

 

[Caren]

Thank you both for your great advice - I'm looking into other options now. I so appreciate your help everyone!

 

[Flynnthedragon]

My first beardy i got from Petco. I had to take him back 14 days later (didnt want to go past the return date) and he probably died just after that he was pretty sick. IT all comes down to the store really. You cant really say bad things about Petco or Petsmart in general because some stores take great care of their animals. some not so much. Mine sadly didnt so much. I bought the dragon to try and save its life but on that 14th day i took him back. Was not going to waste 60$ or so. Check your Petco's and see what ones look the healthiest and see how clean the tanks are. Dirty tanks make for sick dragons. In my opinion i would NEVER buy from my petco again because they just stick a big bowl of mealworms in there for more then 30 mins. Also petstores like that sell their reptiles WAYYY to young. Young dragons need special care, maybe not special but they need more care and looking after. I would say look at what breeders have, There are some out there with great looking dragons that sell for under 100$ but then there is shipping costs. Id never buy a dragon that is under 6 weeks old which is usually when the breeders start selling/shipping out theirs. 2 weeks is way to young in my opinion. If money isnt that big of a factor i would def go the breeder route though

 

[Erikusan]

I had a positive experience with getting my bearded dragon from a Petco, but it's worth pointing out that I actually went to two different Petcos and bought one from the store that had its beardies in better condition. Sometimes I've seen bearded dragons at stores (not just Petco) that are missing toes or the tips of their tails. I'm no breeder, but I can see how that can happen when you've got animals of varying ages in the same tank. That said, I know some Petco staff who make sure to separate the older and younger beardies in order to avoid this. I'd assume that beardies of the same age can be housed together safely when they're very young.

Another factor to consider is that Petco and Pet Smart (as well as other retail stores) get their animals from breeders. Sometimes they get animals from the breeders that don't show signs of illness until they've been at the store for several days, and by that time, in close confinement, several of the beardies can be infected. I've seen it happen, and assisted in making sure the beardies got proper veterinary care.

I'm not going to go so far as to over-generalize and say that all Petcos or Pet Smarts or breeders are good or bad - you really just need to comparison shop a bit and see which has the healthiest beardies.

As a final note, a missing toe or tip of a tail isn't necessarily a problem. I didn't check too carefully when I first met him, but I realized after he grew up a bit that my dear Baz is missing the thumb toe on one of his back feet. He's still a happy, healthy boy who enjoys climbing on my shirt and throwing his food around.

 

[Flynnthedragon]

the lil nips can be caused when the babies are housed together as well. They can get into fights or when they are eating all together they might mistake ones tail or toe os food and nip it off But yeah all comes down to looking around and finding the healthiest