Maleficent27
Member
Hello all,
I have posted on here twice before about my own baby beardie who I love more than anything. She is doing really well and this post is not about her.
Two days ago a coworker of mine impulse bought a bearded dragon after listening to me talk about mine. She did little to no research before buying him and only told me about him yesterday at work. I had no idea she even wanted a bearded dragon.
She asked me for advice on how to properly care for this baby lizard and I gave it to her after I realized that she really hadn't done any research. This baby can not be more than 8 weeks old at the most. She told me that she has been holding him and cuddling him since she brought him home but that he isn't eating. I told her that sometimes they don't eat at first because of the stress of moving. I asked her what she had been trying to feed him and she said mealworms and crickets. I recommended that she cut the mealworms out of his diet for the time being and gut-load his crickets before offering them to him. I asked her about the tank that he was in, what his temperatures are and what lighting she had for him. She told me he was in an old fish tank, she had no idea what the temperatures were because she didn't have a thermometer and that she had simply purchased the heat/compact uvb duel dome lamp that most chain pet-stores sell. This is when I started to worry a bit. After our conversation I went in depth about the daily routine that I have for my baby girl. My coworker was surprised about the level of care that I provide my beardie and I showed her the setup I have and that made her even more surprised. I don't think she realized how much time and care these animals actually need. That's when she told me that she had actually owned a bearded dragon years ago but she had gotten it from a friend when it was already an adult and it died after only 3 months in her care. This was concerning to me. My coworker asked me to text her a list of basic baby bearded dragon care tips so I did. I sent her 7 long paragraphs detailing the basics of bearded dragon care. Then at 1130pm last night she sent me a picture of the setup she has her baby beardie in and I was so shocked I actually cried. It just proved to me that she hadn't done any research into caring for this lizard and bought him on a whim. You can barely see the baby in the photo but he is there on the bottom of the tank under the stick. I am very scared for this baby, maybe I'm being over-dramatic but I'm worried he might actually die in her care. We live in Canada, it's still snowing and below freezing here, the days and nights are cold so unless her house is extremely hot there is no way he is warm enough or receiving the uvb that he needs. I'm worried that maybe the reason he isn't eating is because his husbandry is so poor. She told me she is on a very limited budget so I'm worried she wont be willing to make the upgrades that I know this baby needs.
I am going to work today and I will be seeing this coworker again. I have no idea what to say to her. This woman is more than double my age and only views me as a kid, I'm scared she wont take my concerns seriously. How do I explain to her that I'm worried she might be seriously hurting her lizard without upsetting her? I could barely sleep last night thinking about this baby, any advice you can give me is more than welcome.
I have posted on here twice before about my own baby beardie who I love more than anything. She is doing really well and this post is not about her.
Two days ago a coworker of mine impulse bought a bearded dragon after listening to me talk about mine. She did little to no research before buying him and only told me about him yesterday at work. I had no idea she even wanted a bearded dragon.
She asked me for advice on how to properly care for this baby lizard and I gave it to her after I realized that she really hadn't done any research. This baby can not be more than 8 weeks old at the most. She told me that she has been holding him and cuddling him since she brought him home but that he isn't eating. I told her that sometimes they don't eat at first because of the stress of moving. I asked her what she had been trying to feed him and she said mealworms and crickets. I recommended that she cut the mealworms out of his diet for the time being and gut-load his crickets before offering them to him. I asked her about the tank that he was in, what his temperatures are and what lighting she had for him. She told me he was in an old fish tank, she had no idea what the temperatures were because she didn't have a thermometer and that she had simply purchased the heat/compact uvb duel dome lamp that most chain pet-stores sell. This is when I started to worry a bit. After our conversation I went in depth about the daily routine that I have for my baby girl. My coworker was surprised about the level of care that I provide my beardie and I showed her the setup I have and that made her even more surprised. I don't think she realized how much time and care these animals actually need. That's when she told me that she had actually owned a bearded dragon years ago but she had gotten it from a friend when it was already an adult and it died after only 3 months in her care. This was concerning to me. My coworker asked me to text her a list of basic baby bearded dragon care tips so I did. I sent her 7 long paragraphs detailing the basics of bearded dragon care. Then at 1130pm last night she sent me a picture of the setup she has her baby beardie in and I was so shocked I actually cried. It just proved to me that she hadn't done any research into caring for this lizard and bought him on a whim. You can barely see the baby in the photo but he is there on the bottom of the tank under the stick. I am very scared for this baby, maybe I'm being over-dramatic but I'm worried he might actually die in her care. We live in Canada, it's still snowing and below freezing here, the days and nights are cold so unless her house is extremely hot there is no way he is warm enough or receiving the uvb that he needs. I'm worried that maybe the reason he isn't eating is because his husbandry is so poor. She told me she is on a very limited budget so I'm worried she wont be willing to make the upgrades that I know this baby needs.
I am going to work today and I will be seeing this coworker again. I have no idea what to say to her. This woman is more than double my age and only views me as a kid, I'm scared she wont take my concerns seriously. How do I explain to her that I'm worried she might be seriously hurting her lizard without upsetting her? I could barely sleep last night thinking about this baby, any advice you can give me is more than welcome.
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