Rescuing Bearded Dragons: Why it Shouldn’t be Done
There you are walking through a pet store and come across a tank with a bearded dragon or bearded dragons in it.
You notice the horrible conditions and feel bad for the dragon(s). This makes you do the most logical thing you can think of. You decide to buy and rescue the bearded dragon(s) from the horrible pet store.
I have heard many stories like this and I’ve even seen the sick bearded dragons in the local mom and pop pet store for myself. Don’t get me wrong, I have felt the same pull on my heart strings to purchase and proceed to “rescue” the bearded dragon.
Common sense should tell you that you’re flirting with disaster if you do this.
This doesn’t only affect bearded dragons, but every reptile that is sold as pets. These stories are repeated with ball pythons, monitors, geckos, iguanas among others. It is an industry wide problem.
The Shady Side of the Reptile Trade
If you are fairly new to reptiles, you may not know that the reptile trade is somewhat less than perfect. Alright, there are aspects of the trade that are downright atrocious. As much as someone would like to shelter themselves, you can’t deny it. If you are involved in this hobby, these things are our problem.
The good thing about bearded dragons is they aren’t imported. All the bearded dragons that are on the market are captive bred. Australia has very strict wildlife export policy. These things can’t be said for other reptiles that are imported and sold for pennies on the dollar. These animals are wild caught or farmed, full of parasites, mites and for the most part won’t make it in captivity. There is a little more stability with bearded dragons, but it’s not perfect.
What’s this got to do with anything? There are people who actually use the tactic of a pity purchase such as rescuing a bearded dragon or other reptiles from pet stores. There are those that hope you will want to “rescue” the animal, and they will be all to willing to take your money.
I never really new this, but reading some FAQs at online forum I was soon shocked by this. Here is a quote by an expert.
“ This “pity purchase” is a bankable tactic! It is common knowledge in the retail industry that you can use this type of animal and cage setup to encourage these “rescue” sales! THIS IS NOT AN ACCIDENT!!
You see, THAT’S THE BAIT!!
If these stores can sell you the scrawny ball python, that is good for them. Their next step is to buy another scrawny ball python to take its place! It is “sure to sell”, right?!?
Each time that you make a purchase, you put money in that stores pocket, and you help to cover the bottom line, encouraging that store to keep with the same type of business.
Now, if, magically, every customer refused to patronize such a store (and that is not a bad idea) they would go out of business, and they wouldn’t be buying, caging, and selling, any more sick animals. If that store goes under, then money has just been yanked out of the bottom dollar animal market, and that IS A GOOD THING! As long as folks can make a living selling bad animals, they will do it.
As long as you are a big enough sucker to fall for their okey doke, they will continue this sad and horrible chain of supply and demand. Every dollar that they can get from you, whether it be for reptiles, crickets, hide spots, or caging, that all goes in the cash drawer, and allows that store to run another day. Your cricket money gets pooled to buy more half dead animals. If a store won’t correct their animal problem, you should absolutely REFUSE to spend another dime with them! Hold your ground, have a principal, and stand on it!
In Closing
Why am I even bringing any of this up? I think this is very important information for every bearded dragon and reptile owner or perspective owner to know. Spreading the information helps us not fall for these tricks and also stops us for supporting these offending establishments.
If you are looking for a new bearded dragon, I highly recommend going through a reputable breeder or reptile store. These are the best places to find healthy bearded dragons. The other places are ifffy at best.
If you know someone that may benefit from this information, please pass it on. It will help our hobby become more reputable and put the people, who do things like this, out of business.