I kinda just want to rant a sec and not sure really where to put this.
Got a bearded dragon from petco almost a month ago. (june 11th).
We had a 55 gallon long tank that we used to have fish in. We recently relocated and gave the fish away. After we got settled we wanted to get the tank set back up but we were burnt out on the fish and decided to get some sort of lizard. We read about Bearded dragons and decided that they were what we were looking for.
We went to petco and asked some questions about our tank and other info.
I ask a worker near the reptiles if he knew much about the bearded dragons. He said yeah I have eight etc.. (find out later eight in same tank sigh). Anyways I end up buying a bunch of stuff I don't need and proceed home to set up the tank.
Through my own stupidity I end up shattering an $80 mvb bulb, and manage to set up the rest of the tank.
Go back the next day and get one dragon (6" 9g), some crickets and bring it home.
Spend the next two days reading constantly on this forum about everything that is wrong with my setup and what I was told.
I spend a bunch more money getting the things I need and perhaps some things I don't and am just cheerful at our new pet and what the future with it will bring.
Fastforward two weeks...
It was eating a couple of crickets a day for the month and I realized that wasn't enough. Called around for a vet that looked at reptiles and found one. Brought it there and she said.. oh it's skinny but can't find anything else wrong. I should feed it mealworms she says to try and help him gain weight.
We get home and he eats 5! mealworms right away. I was so excited that he was finally eating and maybe this is all going to be okay. Next day he wouldn't eat anything and we found some poo and looked like it had blood on it. He also would not eat mealworms anymore.
Started going through a full body shed and we made sure to bathe him almost every day.
A week ago or so later vet calls and checks up and I say nothing has changed that he still won't eat. She explains to buy meat based baby food and feed it to him out of a syringe.
So now I've tried offering it: crickets, dubia, mealworms, phoenix worms, and putting baby food on lips. Just doesn't seem to care.
So now twice a day for past few days I've been giving it 1/2 tsp of babyfood via forcing his mouth open and giving it to him with a syringe. Now he has some poo but it looks very spotty almost like he has the movement then drags the liquid around his tank. I still try to offer live feeders every day but it wont' even give them a look.
I'm just really burnt out now, and sad. I feel like we're doing everything we can and nothing really matters because it's just going to die anyways.
I'm not sure if it's something my wife and I are doing wrong, or cause of poor treatment at the pet store. If this one passes on I'm not even sure we can get another beardie since we could be the reason it died.
I feel sick to my stomach over this whole thing.
Not only that but there is the financial aspects.. Not that we're hurting for money but the amount we've spent is quite high.
Lets see off the top of my head:
$50 for beardie
$80 mvb light 1 i broke
$80 mvb light 2
$20 pet store crix
$15 basking bulb
$30 tank deco/hiding spots etc
$30 ghanns crix
$200 dubia colony
$20 two tubs for crix/roach
$20? reptile carpet
$20 switched to tiles
$200 buy a 40g breeder tank + a bunch of extra lights off craigslist after realizing a 55 long will suck for a beardie
$60 for a reptisun 10 bulb + bulb enclosure thing
$10 for 10g feeding tank
constant veggies my wife keeps buying that he won't touch.
$15? for supplements
$50 vet visit
$900 just a rough estimate
etc... haven't really sat and thought about the cost so far. I really like my dragon, and love looking at and reading about them on here. I want this to be a pet.. but right now... ugh.
So depressing
Got a bearded dragon from petco almost a month ago. (june 11th).
We had a 55 gallon long tank that we used to have fish in. We recently relocated and gave the fish away. After we got settled we wanted to get the tank set back up but we were burnt out on the fish and decided to get some sort of lizard. We read about Bearded dragons and decided that they were what we were looking for.
We went to petco and asked some questions about our tank and other info.
I ask a worker near the reptiles if he knew much about the bearded dragons. He said yeah I have eight etc.. (find out later eight in same tank sigh). Anyways I end up buying a bunch of stuff I don't need and proceed home to set up the tank.
Through my own stupidity I end up shattering an $80 mvb bulb, and manage to set up the rest of the tank.
Go back the next day and get one dragon (6" 9g), some crickets and bring it home.
Spend the next two days reading constantly on this forum about everything that is wrong with my setup and what I was told.
I spend a bunch more money getting the things I need and perhaps some things I don't and am just cheerful at our new pet and what the future with it will bring.
Fastforward two weeks...
It was eating a couple of crickets a day for the month and I realized that wasn't enough. Called around for a vet that looked at reptiles and found one. Brought it there and she said.. oh it's skinny but can't find anything else wrong. I should feed it mealworms she says to try and help him gain weight.
We get home and he eats 5! mealworms right away. I was so excited that he was finally eating and maybe this is all going to be okay. Next day he wouldn't eat anything and we found some poo and looked like it had blood on it. He also would not eat mealworms anymore.
Started going through a full body shed and we made sure to bathe him almost every day.
A week ago or so later vet calls and checks up and I say nothing has changed that he still won't eat. She explains to buy meat based baby food and feed it to him out of a syringe.
So now I've tried offering it: crickets, dubia, mealworms, phoenix worms, and putting baby food on lips. Just doesn't seem to care.
So now twice a day for past few days I've been giving it 1/2 tsp of babyfood via forcing his mouth open and giving it to him with a syringe. Now he has some poo but it looks very spotty almost like he has the movement then drags the liquid around his tank. I still try to offer live feeders every day but it wont' even give them a look.
I'm just really burnt out now, and sad. I feel like we're doing everything we can and nothing really matters because it's just going to die anyways.
I'm not sure if it's something my wife and I are doing wrong, or cause of poor treatment at the pet store. If this one passes on I'm not even sure we can get another beardie since we could be the reason it died.
I feel sick to my stomach over this whole thing.
Not only that but there is the financial aspects.. Not that we're hurting for money but the amount we've spent is quite high.
Lets see off the top of my head:
$50 for beardie
$80 mvb light 1 i broke
$80 mvb light 2
$20 pet store crix
$15 basking bulb
$30 tank deco/hiding spots etc
$30 ghanns crix
$200 dubia colony
$20 two tubs for crix/roach
$20? reptile carpet
$20 switched to tiles
$200 buy a 40g breeder tank + a bunch of extra lights off craigslist after realizing a 55 long will suck for a beardie
$60 for a reptisun 10 bulb + bulb enclosure thing
$10 for 10g feeding tank
constant veggies my wife keeps buying that he won't touch.
$15? for supplements
$50 vet visit
$900 just a rough estimate
etc... haven't really sat and thought about the cost so far. I really like my dragon, and love looking at and reading about them on here. I want this to be a pet.. but right now... ugh.
So depressing