traceyb73":2c5lopfz said:
she says she has a customer whose beardie is now PARALYZED FROM OVERFEEDING. She said, and I quote, "the fat pads on the beardie's back legs got so big (from overfeeding) that she lost the use of her back legs". Ok, for those of you who are reading this and are still learning, they don't have fat pads in their back legs (it's all muscle) and this is impossible. I have a beardie who turns 2 years old in a week or so and I feed her as much as she can eat in about a 10-15 min. period of time. Please don't believe the things they tell you. It's like they are trying to scare you into believing what they have to say!!
Thank you for listening to my rant. :roll: I am going to go over there myself next time and have a talk with this woman. I've just had it with all of this rumor starting, scare tactics. Ugh, I love people. lol
This woman has misinformation, but half truths. The abdominal fat pads are on the underside of the belly along both outer sides, and they are tube like vessels that run down to the back legs. But I don't know if they are related to paralyzed legs. If a dragon eats something too big for it to digest, or becomes impacted from overeating and not pooping, their back legs CAN become paralyzed.
This is just one more thing that is cause for misinformation, not intentional but heard incorrectly, and then wanting to help someone else.
I can completely understand your grandfather's concern about trusting a pet store owner/manager/employee over a forum of people who do not work in the petshop industry.
It's similar to having a medical issue and going online to check it out and finding so much information that eventually a wart on the foot leads to death.
I take lunesta sometimes to help me sleep, and before I got my job, I had to take a drug test, I looked up lunesta and if it will show up negatively in a job drug test, and found a site that stated that lunesta can give a negative result that is similar to heroine. I became extremely paranoid about passing the drug test just because of that! Just an FYI, according to my MD that is NOT true information.
Your grandfather, however needs to keep in mind, that this is similar but not the same. The petshop worker does not specialize in ONLY bearded dragons. (S)he did not go to school to get a degree in dragons, and it's probably even safe to say that (s)he does not even have one at home to take care of. They are also not a herp vet. Obviously, neither are most of us. However, we have found things out based on trial and error, and our highest goal is to have our own PERSONAL dragon be safe and healthy. Each of us is here because of our own dragons that we care about and have a vested interest in.
I got my dragon from a store that specializes in ONLY reptiles. They also have a reptile museum in a neighboring town. However, every time I go into that store, I give OTHER information to the patrons than what the store employees give. I stared with a loose substrate because I was told that was what they need. That loose substrate is $21 a bag, and you need a new bag every time you clean out the viv. the stuff is stinky, and if water is spilled it absorbs and stays damp, causing bacteria. The dragon poop will stay on some of it till it's completely cleaned out, obviously. and if feeding live feeders in there, they burry themselves into the loose substrate, coming out at night and possibly chewing on the dragon. It's a HORRIBLE choice, IMO, but if you talk to the employees, they ask all the time, "do you need more substrate? It should be changed regularly!" Of course it should be, unless you have tiles!
One of the employees talked to a new dragon owner and said, "you should get a leash, they love to go on walks, mine goes on walks with me all the time" this told me she probably doesn't REALLY have a dragon. They obviously do NOT like to go on walks like dogs, but rather IF they will tolerate a leash, it's more to keep them from running off if they are in the backyard with you, than to "go on a walk" in the neighborhood. This was a brand new BD owner, and as far as he knew, he was getting a substitute for a dog. And THIS IS A REPTILE STORE!!!!!!! If anything, one would think they are getting CORRECT info as a new BD owner from a reptile store employee.
They do what they are taught to do by other employees. They might like the reptiles, but just like the misinformation that the employee gave to tracey's daughter, and the employee gave to me and another customer...they have been trained by other employees and do not have a special interest in keeping ONE or TWO BDs healthy, but their vested interest is keeping the shop owner happy. Cutting corners with the reptiles they have on display, for sale, is often a part of keeping the store owner happy. So, if you would look at the dragon on display, you might think that several can be kept together and worse yet, that maybe you only need a basking lamp and not UVB and the feeders might be the cheapest and not the best, without dusting them first. And giving misinformation is something that makes them feel knowledgable but it's not something they found out by keeping their own BD healthy, but rather info they get from the owner to sell more items, or from other employees or customers...like trying to sell $21 loose substrate all the time, that's probably a very high mark up, and if they tell you to get tiles, they LOSE the income on selling the substrate, so they are not going to suggest tiles, or give you the choice to make your own educated decision. They just aren't. And maybe they don't realize there's an option, if they've been told.. "this is what dragons need for substrate"
The old saying GIGO...."garbage in, garbage out", applies to more than just computer data entry. It also applies to giving advise.
Not everyone here is going to give correct information. the more info I give, the more I have a chance to being wrong. In fact, in the past couple of days, I've been given information from a couple of people who tell me very nicely that maybe I need to reanalyze my way of thinking about what I am doing. And that's okay too. That's what's great about having so many people giving their advise. There's usually someone who can correct misinformation quickly.
And what works for one dragon might not work for another. But gathering as much info about what works and what does not work, and knowing the variation of personalities of dragons, makes it so much easier to raise a healthy dragon, than just lumping them all together and pushing one person's advise as gospel. Keep your ears open, and don't discount the advise of a shop worker automatically, but use your own rational reasoning to make decisions.