What the petstore told me was wrong?

[Taterbug]

Most of us in this forum started out in a much different place and with way different expectations of what having a bearded dragon (or two or three..) really means.

I am trying to dust off and work in some of my care and education materials, what would YOU want to see on a care sheet or on the kit that comes with a new dragon?

What do you wish you’d been told differently when you started?
What do you know now that you wish you’d known much sooner?
How would those things change your choicesaling the way?
What do you think is critical for new or potential keepers to know?

 

[melissasiobhan]

Just like puppies - they are so cute when babies, but they get bigger, and things change. They will be forever adorable but you need to prepare for diet changes, adolescent hormonal grumpiness, needing more food and pooping bigger stinkier poops. Prepare to need a larger enclosure, different accessories, better temperature sensors, new lights (all the time) including backups for when one blows and the store is closed. Prepare for calcium and vitamin supplements. Prepare for regular fecal testing (annually or even every 6 months) and the possible medicine that goes with a positive result. If you are not prepared for all of this, don't get a beardie.

 

[Lorilyn]

EVERYTHING! Incorrect lights, incorrect heat, incorrect food! Not enough info on how much a growing baby eats or how often. The only thing they got right was that the tiny thing in my hands would grow. But if it wasn’t for this site and the people on it willing to share their knowledge my little boy would be dead by now. Would be nice to know ahead of time how much time and care would be required. I’m sure lots of people go home thinking it’s a throw a few crickets in once in a while, take them out when you feel like it, and forget about it kind of pet ( sorry only a rock deserves to be treated like that) and end up with sick or dead Beardies.

 

[Catzo]

Just lighting really. That red bulbs are good and could be left on 24/7, and that coil uvbs were good.

 

[kingofnobbys]

You really need state wildlife to licence keepers/breeders of native and non-indigenous reptiles and make necessary for anyone who wants one as a pet to buy a licence to keep one , this will result in a lot of impulse buyers disappearing , they wont be able to simply walk into a pet shop or reptile show , pay the shop or breeder cash and walk away with a reptile they know absolutely nothing about caring for on a whim.

Here in Australia
>>> no one can hold reptiles as a pets unless they have the wildlife permit / licence and you must exchange details with the seller , breeder when you buy your pet.
>>> you have keep a record (is online now)
>>> non-indigenous reptiles are strictly illegal to bring into the country or hold in a collection
>>> it's illegal to take reptiles from the wild or even interfere with them unless it's a rescue situation or you have a special permit (very hard to get).

This is what you need over there.

 

[Catzo]

>>> non-indigenous reptiles are strictly illegal to bring into the country or hold in a collection

This is what you need over there.

That sucks. I'm in Canada so I'd pretty much just be allowed to keep garter snakes.

 

[Taterbug]

You really need state wildlife to licence keepers/breeders of native and non-indigenous reptiles and make necessary for anyone who wants one as a pet to buy a licence to keep one , this will result in a lot of impulse buyers disappearing , they wont be able to simply walk into a pet shop or reptile show , pay the shop or breeder cash and walk away with a reptile they know absolutely nothing about caring for on a whim.

Here in Australia
>>> no one can hold reptiles as a pets unless they have the wildlife permit / licence and you must exchange details with the seller , breeder when you buy your pet.
>>> you have keep a record (is online now)
>>> non-indigenous reptiles are strictly illegal to bring into the country or hold in a collection
>>> it's illegal to take reptiles from the wild or even interfere with them unless it's a rescue situation or you have a special permit (very hard to get).

This is what you need over there.

Australia has some impressive and admirable biosecurity laws for sure. How are other animals than reptiles handled there? Here there isn’t much difference really for any pet, expect that dogs, cats and horses probaly get a bit more sympathy from the folks who enforce laws.

From what I know of Australia you guys have a very different approach to both biosecurity/protection and what onry Americans would consider “rights.” What legislation we have varies a lot by state, enforcement or scope. It’s pretty far out of my reach to do anything about legislation, but I do hope to make good information available and easy to digest for new keepers.

 

[Taterbug]

EVERYTHING! Incorrect lights, incorrect heat, incorrect food! Not enough info on how much a growing baby eats or how often. The only thing they got right was that the tiny thing in my hands would grow. But if it wasn’t for this site and the people on it willing to share their knowledge my little boy would be dead by now. Would be nice to know ahead of time how much time and care would be required. I’m sure lots of people go home thinking it’s a throw a few crickets in once in a while, take them out when you feel like it, and forget about it kind of pet ( sorry only a rock deserves to be treated like that) and end up with sick or dead Beardies.

How much time do you regularly spend caring for your dragon? Carewise and also interaction wise. I think this is a pretty good point and one that is easy to fall off the radar when something is new... neglect tends to set in much more firmly when something becomes boring or tedious.

 

[Taterbug]

Just like puppies - they are so cute when babies, but they get bigger, and things change. They will be forever adorable but you need to prepare for diet changes, adolescent hormonal grumpiness, needing more food and pooping bigger stinkier poops. Prepare to need a larger enclosure, different accessories, better temperature sensors, new lights (all the time) including backups for when one blows and the store is closed. Prepare for calcium and vitamin supplements. Prepare for regular fecal testing (annually or even every 6 months) and the possible medicine that goes with a positive result. If you are not prepared for all of this, don't get a beardie.

Would you have started out differently, knowing what you know now? Especially with equipment? It is often too late once people pick up a kit and dragon and then find out they need a whole new set of equipment to do things right...

 

[lizardmom25]

I would like to see better advice about lighting, feeders, and temperature control. The care sheet I got with my dragon was very much inadequate, and going by their recommendations would have led to a very sick dragon.
1. I wish they would recommend something other than crickets as a feeder, and give better instructions on how often and how much to feed. I specifically asked, and was told my dragon was eating 5-10 crickets a day. I realize crickets are all most pet stores carry, but I am no longer feeding them to any of my reptiles. They are doing so much better on Dubia and BSFL.
2. Lighting. They HAVE to stop pushing those coil UVB lights. Again, the problem is that is what they stock and want to sell. I find very few stores stock tube lights in our area, and none stock t5, only t8.Also, stop recommending "night" bulbs. Let people know about safe distances from the bulbs for adequate UVB.
3. Enclosure size. Some do well with this, but others recommend enclosures that are way too small.
4. Temperature control and monitoring. A stick on thermometer is just not adequate, contrary to what you are told when they are included with a kit. Also, temperature advice seems to be all over the place, not just for beardies, but all reptiles. Give realistic temperature advice, even when you don't carry the equipment needed to do it right. When we first started keeping reptiles, I had a pet store employee tell me that I didn't need a UTH for my leopard gecko because it would burn him. she never recommended a thermostat, I suspect because they didn't sell them. She tried to tell me that baking him with a CHE was the way to go.
5. Substarte. Stop keeping baby reptiles on loose substrate and stop recommending it!

 

[Taterbug]

I would like to see better advice about lighting, feeders, and temperature control. The care sheet I got with my dragon was very much inadequate, and going by their recommendations would have led to a very sick dragon.
1. I wish they would recommend something other than crickets as a feeder, and give better instructions on how often and how much to feed. I specifically asked, and was told my dragon was eating 5-10 crickets a day. I realize crickets are all most pet stores carry, but I am no longer feeding them to any of my reptiles. They are doing so much better on Dubia and BSFL.
2. Lighting. They HAVE to stop pushing those coil UVB lights. Again, the problem is that is what they stock and want to sell. I find very few stores stock tube lights in our area, and none stock t5, only t8.Also, stop recommending "night" bulbs. Let people know about safe distances from the bulbs for adequate UVB.
3. Enclosure size. Some do well with this, but others recommend enclosures that are way too small.
4. Temperature control and monitoring. A stick on thermometer is just not adequate, contrary to what you are told when they are included with a kit. Also, temperature advice seems to be all over the place, not just for beardies, but all reptiles. Give realistic temperature advice, even when you don't carry the equipment needed to do it right. When we first started keeping reptiles, I had a pet store employee tell me that I didn't need a UTH for my leopard gecko because it would burn him. she never recommended a thermostat, I suspect because they didn't sell them. She tried to tell me that baking him with a CHE was the way to go.
5. Substarte. Stop keeping baby reptiles on loose substrate and stop recommending it!

This is excellent and hits quite a few things I hope to (eventually anyway) cover. Did you do reasearch ahead of time? It sounds like you learned a bit about the deceptions with your leo. I ask out of curiosity as to where people get their initial information. I don’t have much hope at the moment of getting my material on petstore shelves, but hopefully can get it closer to the start for new keepers

 

[lizardmom25]

I would like to see better advice about lighting, feeders, and temperature control. The care sheet I got with my dragon was very much inadequate, and going by their recommendations would have led to a very sick dragon.
1. I wish they would recommend something other than crickets as a feeder, and give better instructions on how often and how much to feed. I specifically asked, and was told my dragon was eating 5-10 crickets a day. I realize crickets are all most pet stores carry, but I am no longer feeding them to any of my reptiles. They are doing so much better on Dubia and BSFL.
2. Lighting. They HAVE to stop pushing those coil UVB lights. Again, the problem is that is what they stock and want to sell. I find very few stores stock tube lights in our area, and none stock t5, only t8.Also, stop recommending "night" bulbs. Let people know about safe distances from the bulbs for adequate UVB.
3. Enclosure size. Some do well with this, but others recommend enclosures that are way too small.
4. Temperature control and monitoring. A stick on thermometer is just not adequate, contrary to what you are told when they are included with a kit. Also, temperature advice seems to be all over the place, not just for beardies, but all reptiles. Give realistic temperature advice, even when you don't carry the equipment needed to do it right. When we first started keeping reptiles, I had a pet store employee tell me that I didn't need a UTH for my leopard gecko because it would burn him. she never recommended a thermostat, I suspect because they didn't sell them. She tried to tell me that baking him with a CHE was the way to go.
5. Substarte. Stop keeping baby reptiles on loose substrate and stop recommending it!

This is excellent and hits quite a few things I hope to (eventually anyway) cover. Did you do reasearch ahead of time? It sounds like you learned a bit about the deceptions with your leo. I ask out of curiosity as to where people get their initial information. I don’t have much hope at the moment of getting my material on petstore shelves, but hopefully can get it closer to the start for new keepers

With my leos I did some online research, looking at various care sheets and care articles, so I knew something coming in. I talked to several people at pet stores over several visits befoe purchasing. Fortunately there is a girl at the local petstore who keeps leopard geckos and is very helpful. She stopped me from buying the kit or taking the incorrect advice I had previously gotten from someone less knowledgeable. Geckosunlimited is a forum similar to this and where I got most of my really good info for things that came up. When I got my crested gecko I was much better versed in what to do, thanks to that forum and was able to get a nice bioactive setup going without much trouble.

For my beardie (yes I know reptiles are addictive) I spent a lot of time here, and looking at various care articles so I knew something about what I needed to be doing. I do feel that their care is a lot more complex than the geckos and id o wish that i had been better prepared for things like lighting distances, differences in bulb strength, ect that I didn't even know to ask about until I started really digging into the content here. That kind of info needs to be much more readily accessible. I knew I needed a tube bulb not coil, but I initially bought a T8 light and ended up switching to T5. I didn't know that screens can block a significant amount of light. I did my research and still got some things wrong. I think if pet stores did more to make sure people have the right info, and recommended taking a setup home and getting it going BEFORE getting the reptile there were be a lot fewer people here with sick beardies due to incorrect setups.

 

[Taterbug]

Lighting is actually my current focus. I agree it’s both the most misadventures at stores and the most challenging to learn the art of. Thanks for the detailed response

Out of curiosity do you use UV for your gecks?