As I've mentioned in the past, I work at Petsmart and we had a woman come in the other day for crickets and a few other things for her bearded dragon. We were conversing and I asked about her dragon, as I usually do when I get crickets for customers, and how often/much she feeds so I could tell her about how many to get. She tells me that her vet, which is a local one we also take our sick animals to, told her that bearded dragons shouldn't get as many crickets as people are normally told to give them, that they live shorter lives because of it, and that they should only get a predominately vegetarian diet. This wouldn't have upset me as much if it was a much older dragon, but the woman told me her dragon wasn't even a year old yet. According to her, she feeds it large crickets once a week or so, and gets vegetables the rest of the time (all of which were the correct kind, at least). Her dragon is only 8 inches long.
Let me reiterate that. Her nearly year old beardie is only 8 inches long. 8. Inches.
My own beardie, Thorin, is approximately 3.5 months old and he is the same size.
She told me how she talked to a coworker of mine, who has a 3 year old bearded dragon (who does things a little differently than people on this site) and even she gave her a very confused look when told about what her vet said. Honestly, I don't know if this vet is crazy, stupid, or some kind of fanatic (like vegans who try to feed their dogs/cats vegetarian/vegan diets), but she has no right to tell someone they should do something that isn't the "standard" care for a specific animal, regardless of what they do with their own animals.
I dunno why, but this whole thing has had me upset since it happened, mostly because I feel so bad for the little guy. Everything else the woman has set up husbandry wise is A+ in line with this site, disregarding the feeding setup. I just really hope she does more research as I recommended and wises up.
Let me reiterate that. Her nearly year old beardie is only 8 inches long. 8. Inches.
My own beardie, Thorin, is approximately 3.5 months old and he is the same size.
She told me how she talked to a coworker of mine, who has a 3 year old bearded dragon (who does things a little differently than people on this site) and even she gave her a very confused look when told about what her vet said. Honestly, I don't know if this vet is crazy, stupid, or some kind of fanatic (like vegans who try to feed their dogs/cats vegetarian/vegan diets), but she has no right to tell someone they should do something that isn't the "standard" care for a specific animal, regardless of what they do with their own animals.
I dunno why, but this whole thing has had me upset since it happened, mostly because I feel so bad for the little guy. Everything else the woman has set up husbandry wise is A+ in line with this site, disregarding the feeding setup. I just really hope she does more research as I recommended and wises up.
) 
