Had a pet wild caught eastern bearded dragon as a pet as teenager, was a great pet and was super friendly and uber tame (this was way back in the 1960s-70s).
Already had eastern bluetongue skinks and an eastern water dragon.
Wanted a couple of eastern water dragons , but at the time no local breeders had any hatchlings , but there were central bearded dragon and dwarf bearded dragon hatchlings available. Nearest breeder ( 30min drive ) had centrals , so that's what I bought.
I've always been interested in lizards since I saw Anoles running around in Florida when I was a kid. I used to go to pet stores to look at the reptiles and amphibians in the tanks. I had pet newts when I was growing up. One day I was at Petco and a baby dragon was standing up against the glass and would follow me back and forth along the enclosure. He became my first dragon, Cooper. I've been hooked ever since. He was a great little buddy.
I had always wanted a beardie, but like with any animal I get, I wanted to do in depth research on proper care. Then my neighbor showed up with a "do you want a dragon" cause she bought her mom one for Christmas "to keep her company" and it was causing her panic attacks. I took one look at that little guy and knew it was going to be dead within days if it had even that long. My response.... "GIVE ME THAT BABY!" Henry was taken in and knighted Sir Henry of Scales, and we never looked back.