I'm not sure what this guy was thinking. Maybe he was making things seem as bad as possible so you couldn't say you were not warned.
1. Poop stinks. None of it smells good. It's poop. If the Beardie has parasites it can make the poop smell REALLY bad. But if it's like that, you go to the vet with a sample and they give you something to kill the parasites. I can vouch for smelly poop. When I got my first dragon, I put his tank right outside our bedroom. The next morning, I woke to a horrible smell and my dog whining and sniffing in the direction of the tank. Yes, he'd done it! And was running back and forth thru it. And oh God! did it stink! I was afraid my husband would tell me to get rid of him, so I came here and started reading. I read about people potty training them to poop in a pan of water and then you pitch the water out.It really cuts down on the smell. That running thru the poop was him trying to get away from it. As a rule, they do not like to be near it, so that potty training thing seems to work because they want to avoid being in the cage with poop. It really worked for us. Also, keep in mind that when you move them, they suffer relocation stress and if they have even a mild parasite load, that stress can enable the parasites to multiply and that will give you STINKY POOP like you have never smelled!
2. Crickets stink. But there are other feeders. Dubia roaches are a favorite. Read up on them.
3. You can buy the necessary UVB bulbs from a site called petmountain.com. You change the UVB bulbs every 6 months, so for a 24 inch bulb, you pay approx $25.00, so that is about $50/yr for bulbs. You will also need a basking (heat) light, but that can be a bright bulb from Walmart for about $4 each. Figure 3 or 4 a year. My lights (basking and UVB ) are on timers; most people put theirs on a timer. If you do the timer thing, that can help you keep the dragon on a schedule, and that will aid that potty training.
4.If you are holding your dragon too tight or he wants to get away, he can make his spikes stand up and be rigid. Maybe I am too gentle, but I have never held a Beardie tightly enough to make his spikes draw blood. I never intend to, either. They do have claws that can get sharp, but there are ways to handle them. Instead of carpet, put slate or rough ceramic tile in the bottom of the tank. This rough tile will help to file his nails. You will probably still need to clip them from time to time, and it is not hard to do. I dont wear delicate clothes when I handle mine, so I havent had any shredded clothes.
As with all other pets, there are responsibilities with keeping Beardies. You will need to be prepared (financially) for at least 1 vet visit a year. Find yourself a good herp vet, and lay some money aside. Perhaps the guy was trying to convey that there is a significant amount of responsibility with owning a Beardie, but there is with any other pet. I have a dog, a horse and a beardie, and I refer to my Beardie -her name is Big Bertha- as The Good Pet. I can only wish that my dog's (the Evil Pet) potty training would be half as good as Big Bertha's. IF you have more questions, send me a Private Message with a phone number where I can reach you and we can set up a time for a phone conversation to answer more questions.