Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi Guys,

I've done some research and am thinking of adding a bearded dragon to my collection of reps.

The shop where I buy my reptiles and stuff has some red-phase baby dragons coming in tomorrow.

The only thing which worries me is they are only around five days old. Is this too young to buy one ie, are they pretty fragile at this young age or are they pretty robust?

Just after your thoughts please

That's way too young and too fragile to buy one. I would wait until they are at least 6 inches AND 6 weeks old. Whichever comes second is preferable. Sure, I have bought smaller and younger, and i'm sure many other people have and nothign bad has come of it. I did before I knew better. It turned out fine, but for many people it doesn't. At 5 days old it may have just started eating a day or two ago. The first one I had wasn't even used to crickets actually. I would continue but I must go to class.

OK Cheers for that.

Will bear that in mind.

5 days old is much too young and fragile. They probably came from what is akin to a puppy mill. Most private breeders will wait until the babies are 6 weeks old to ensure they are stable, eating well and thriving.
Babies that small have specific needs, unless the pet shop is aware, they will lose them too.
I've seen pet stores set out a plate of whole/mixed frozen veggies, with green beans almost as large as the babies and expect them to eat it. Even worse, adult sized crickets or mealworms and no basking area.
I wouldn't buy a beardie from a pet store unless I knew that the owner's care of his animals was exceptional, and that owner would not have 5 day old beardies in the first place.
Another common problem is that enclosures are not properly disinfected from species to species. The previous animal in that enclosure may have had parasites or some other disease that is passed along to the new hatchlings.
You also will be paying top dollar, paying the breeder and the stores mark-up. Plus, anyone can call the beardies red in a pet store, telling you they will develop color later and they may never...
Buy online from a reputable breeder, ask for specific pics, ask to see pics of the parents. Save yourelf some heartache.
TheClassyLizard

Sorry, I had to get off to homeroom earlier. Anyway, the beardie I got from the petstore never did learn to take live food. Luckily I was able to get him to eat freeze dried crickets. It could have turned out much worse though. The guy in the store where I bought him tells me about how horribly he rips people off (he knows I come in for emergency supplies only, and won't buy anything alive there.) If one petstore is willing to tell me about how they rip people off, then why wouldn't others do the same thing. I would recommend you check out some of the breeders on here. See if there is a herp show near you, or maybe one of the breeders lives within driving distance of you and will let you come to their house to get a beardie. I'm lucky to have this situation where there is a show and a good breeder(Dachiu) within driving distance. When I got more beardies I went to their house. If you don't have this, then find some beardies you like and ask questions about the breeders.

Yeah good idea.

Only problem is they dont have many/any reptile shows in the UK because of the Animal Rights issues.

This store owner is pretty good normally to be fair to him but as he said he knows he can sell them all within a week so its easy money

Oh, I didn't know that. That does present a problem I suppose. Maybe you'll luck out and find someone who breeds them and will hold one for you until it is that size, or perhaps if you put a payment in on one, your petstore could hold it.