Where can I get a bearded dragon from? I am skeptical about going to a pet store again. Our beardie passed on yesterday. I think it's because we were told that mealworms were ok to give as a treat. So we fed him crickets and every few days mealworms. Even if we go by the recommendations that I've researched lately I am still not crazy about going to a pet store.
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Where to get a new beardie
- Thread starter Marie
- Start date
- Messages
- 609
- Location
- Florida
Check Repticon to see if they have a show that comes near you. They normaly have more than a couple of breeders there and that way you can see the beardies in person and sometimes they have the parents there too. Plus you are able to talk to the breeders personaly and get a better understanding of their ways. Also you get more information about the beardie you want like how old and what kind of colors that they are.
The other way that I can think of is a breeder online. There are breeders on these forums that you can talk to plus you can ask others about their experience with them.
I hope this helps and good luck
The other way that I can think of is a breeder online. There are breeders on these forums that you can talk to plus you can ask others about their experience with them.
I hope this helps and good luck
- Messages
- 1,538
- Location
- Philadelphia, Pa
Feel free to check out my website. www.tnddragons.com
I checked out your website. It sounds like you have great pets and a great hobby. I like the one that's named Georgia the Hutt (big Star Wars fan here). I am pleased to say that as of today we have a new friend. He/she is a baby about 6-8 weeks old. My son wants to name it Gunnar again but I'm trying to convince him otherwise. Lol I have researched a lot and talked to several people and am more educated than I was weeks ago.
- Messages
- 12
I know you've already picked a new little one but hopefully this might be helpful in the future? 
Mealworms (most worms, really) are higher in fat than crickets and also have thicker exoskeletons that make them harder to digest, which is why they shouldn't be the basis of your beardie's protein diet, but I doubt that feeding your dragon mealworms sometimes (unless they were too big for the dragon to handle and caused gut impaction) would have been the cause of death. I don't know what kind of lights, substrate, size terrarium, etc. you're using or what vegetables and vitamin supplements you feed them either so I don't really have an idea why your dragon died :-/
That said, I would agree that pet stores are not the best place to buy a baby dragon since they are usually quite over priced there. Also the employees usually don't know more than the very very basics about reptile care and aren't your best bet for good advice on BD care.
Reptile shows with breeders are great for knowledge and a selection of healthy, pretty beardies. But you're also more likely to find more expensive color morphs and you might not want to spend hundreds of dollars on one of your first dragons. You might also have good luck looking around your area for smaller, specialty pet stores or pet stores that aren't owned by big corporate chains. I got my current beardie at a small pet store that only sold reptiles and fish, so their animals were better cared for and the staff was more knowledgeable. Most of them owned reptiles so they could say from experience what products they preferred (and other useful tips) instead of just repeating the few vague facts about reptile care that they can remember. So...specialty pet stores and breeder shows! Hope that's helpful and your new baby is happy and healthy!
Mealworms (most worms, really) are higher in fat than crickets and also have thicker exoskeletons that make them harder to digest, which is why they shouldn't be the basis of your beardie's protein diet, but I doubt that feeding your dragon mealworms sometimes (unless they were too big for the dragon to handle and caused gut impaction) would have been the cause of death. I don't know what kind of lights, substrate, size terrarium, etc. you're using or what vegetables and vitamin supplements you feed them either so I don't really have an idea why your dragon died :-/
That said, I would agree that pet stores are not the best place to buy a baby dragon since they are usually quite over priced there. Also the employees usually don't know more than the very very basics about reptile care and aren't your best bet for good advice on BD care.
Reptile shows with breeders are great for knowledge and a selection of healthy, pretty beardies. But you're also more likely to find more expensive color morphs and you might not want to spend hundreds of dollars on one of your first dragons. You might also have good luck looking around your area for smaller, specialty pet stores or pet stores that aren't owned by big corporate chains. I got my current beardie at a small pet store that only sold reptiles and fish, so their animals were better cared for and the staff was more knowledgeable. Most of them owned reptiles so they could say from experience what products they preferred (and other useful tips) instead of just repeating the few vague facts about reptile care that they can remember. So...specialty pet stores and breeder shows! Hope that's helpful and your new baby is happy and healthy!
Thanks so much for your reply. The mealworms we were feeding him were small. As for the smaller pet shops I checked them out. They were even less knowledgable and didn't seem very clean. I've done a lot of research on the net and looked for consistency between sites. As for our last one that passed, he wouldn't eat veggies. So far on day two with our new one, he has not eaten the veggies we gave him this morning but ate the crickets. Our tank and lighting is what it's supposed to be according to the recommendations I have seen from this site and others. So far so good except the veggies not being eaten. He's still getting used to his new home
