venting a little about care issues

[Stolzieren]

so my grandpa is utterly convinced that the pet shop lady knows everything. she said that just 80 degrees is fine for poncho and that she "NEEDS" sand so he bought digestable sand for her and everything and says the ceramic tile is WRONG!! he says I can do whatever I want though so I'm leaving the tiles because I never trust sand and besides it's so much easier to clean up her poop and make sure there's no bacteria left

he says he believes the pet shop lady over you all on the forums and I said "why would you believe her when the people on these forums have been raising these lizards for years?" and he still won't listen :roll: old people and their distrust of the internet lmao

he says because the other owner had her on sand that means it's fine and she should be on sand because she was on it in the wild blah blah blah

 

[Stolzieren]

oh and the pet shop lady also says poncho NEEDS the low visible light red bulb at night and I was told it can actually disrupt their sleeping

 

[CooperDragon]

This forum is just a bunch of people getting together to ask questions and have discussions about a common interest. The care suggestions are people discussing what has and hasn't worked in their personal experience. After a while, there are enough voices to form some guidelines based on positive results for many members of the forum. While what is said here is by no means the last word or rule, it makes sense to discuss things like terrarium setup and general feeding with hundreds of different people and then doing what you think is best rather than basing your decision on the word of one pet shop owner. That said, I'm glad most people who come here follow our advice and share their experience with others =)

 

[Stolzieren]

This forum is just a bunch of people getting together to ask questions and have discussions about a common interest. The care suggestions are people discussing what has and hasn't worked in their personal experience. After a while, there are enough voices to form some guidelines based on positive results for many members of the forum. While what is said here is by no means the last word or rule, it makes sense to discuss things like terrarium setup and general feeding with hundreds of different people and then doing what you think is best rather than basing your decision on the word of one pet shop owner. That said, I'm glad most people who come here follow our advice and share their experience with others =)

yeah I mean I do realize the things people say here may not always be right, but I got opinions from you and so many others here who have had dragons and the time to spend on taking care of them against one lady at a pet shop but I dunno, my grandpa's got some huge thing against the internet and won't listen to anything that comes from it

I'd just rather listen to you all because it sounds like the best ideas to me and if it's worked for you it can work for me too

 

[CooperDragon]

Thanks =)
That's how I see it too. It's frustrating when pet shops give misinformation about such a popular pet.

 

[diamc]

One thing I'd like to share with your dad is that all we have to gain for helping other beardie owners is the satisfaction of giving the best info we can from experience to help the beardies themselves. Pet stores are trying to make money so it stands to reason that they would suggest using calci or vita-sand, etc that needs to be replaced quite often to help boost their sales. So, of course they wouldn't recommend slate tiles as they don't sell them.

It's really impossible for a pet store to research a particular critter like a beardie when they have so many animals/reptiles for sale at the store.

We have an obsession with them so we do our best to share what we have learned, researched & experienced so that new owners can then decide what they feel is the healthiest environment for their beloved beardie.

 

[Pushkin]

Stolzieren, is that your beardie in your icon? If so, it's gorgeous! Do you have any more pics? Sorry to be off topic!

 

[CooperDragon]

I second what Diane said. I'm on here only because I love these little guys and want to use my experience to help make as many of their lives as happy as possible and to learn more about them. That's it.

 

[Stolzieren]

@diamc and Cooper
you two are good people and I'm glad for how much you care for bearded dragons. I would always trust your judgment over a petshop owner because you're right, they give the advice that will bring them income and you all are giving this advice because you genuinely care for these animals and want the best for them

@Pushkin
yes that's my poncho! here is a whole blog with pictures of her! http://yeahponcho.tumblr.com/

 

[Pushkin]

Gosh, she's really a gorgeous dragon! I would love one like her!

 

[Stolzieren]

thank you so much! she's one of the prettiest I've seen. you should get some photos up of your beardie!

 

[Mattrg]

I know what you mean, the other day I went to the pet store and saw a horned mountain hanging upside down from his screen lid with his eyes closed. I told an employee I've been doing research on lizards and I think he's knocked out. She went in the back to talk to her manager or whatever and when she came back she said "it's fine he does that all the time".

 

[traceyb73]

so my grandpa is utterly convinced that the pet shop lady knows everything. she said that just 80 degrees is fine for poncho and that she "NEEDS" sand so he bought digestable sand for her and everything and says the ceramic tile is WRONG!! he says I can do whatever I want though so I'm leaving the tiles because I never trust sand and besides it's so much easier to clean up her poop and make sure there's no bacteria left

he says he believes the pet shop lady over you all on the forums and I said "why would you believe her when the people on these forums have been raising these lizards for years?" and he still won't listen :roll: old people and their distrust of the internet lmao

he says because the other owner had her on sand that means it's fine and she should be on sand because she was on it in the wild blah blah blah

First of all I want to say you have a beautiful beardie!! I am so glad you are open minded enough not to believe everything the pet store employees tell you. I have been in your shoes. Infact when I got my Zoey I had everything wrong (except for her cage!). I wish I had kept count of how many times I'd gone back to a pet store to return things that were just flat out WRONG. Unfortunately they are not trained properly but do believe they know EVERYTHING there is to know, plus some. :roll: lol You are so right about the sand (as beardies lick to get familiar with their surroundings (as opposed to a dog who would sniff with their nose). I made the mistake of getting those red lights too....the pet store guy convinced me that my beardie "couldn't see the red light and it would not keep her awake. We proved that wrong in 2 seconds! I have to ask, beore I forget, what type of thermometer do you use? It wouldn't hurt to increase the basking spot temps to at least 102 for easier digestion.

Beardies do have access to sand in the wild, but their life span is also closer to 3 years as opposed to the life span of a dog in captivity. There is only one time that it is okay to purchase sand for your beardie and that is if you have a female about to lay eggs (but in that case it will be mixed with dirt and water also).

It was said before that the difference between listening to a pet store employee and those of us on this site is we have nothing to gain by selling you a $40+ basking bulb when you can get one for .50 cents. My beardie is my first also and if not for this site she would be in bad shape by now. I got mine young also she was 8 weeks old) and she will be 2 years old at the end of the month. This site has been a god's send!

I am glad you have joined us and you are doing your research! I want to thank you for listening to me ramble on. lol Like I said, I went through the same thing you are going through now and I feel your pain!

I want to congratulate you on your new beardie and feel free to ask any question, there are no stupid questions.

Welcome! :wave:

 

[Pushkin]

thank you so much! she's one of the prettiest I've seen. you should get some photos up of your beardie!

She really is! Do you know how her color is described? Citrus?
I need to work on that for sure!

 

[Taterbug]

It's frustratingly common in so many pets that folks choose to believe/accept wrong information for whatever reason (and there are many). I'm going to have to agree who the poster above that as far as pet store go, money is the bottom line. The only thing that is "needed" is the petstore to sell you more junk. If your pet dies, well they sell new ones of those too. After all it's "just" and animal.

I'm glad to hear that you are free to choose your own husbandry though, so you can still make good choices. There is a lot of scientific literature to back up a lot of what is recommended here, and many keepers on the internet are pretty savvy about strong up to date on the latest. I wouldn't be surprised if many petshop employees learn everything they know from the back of the boxes.