Pet stores or Breeders?

Which is the smarter option?

For this blog, I am going to discuss the best places to buy bearded dragons. The main two I will be focusing on will be big pet store chains or local pet stores, and buying from breeders or at a reptile convention.

Reptile Conventions

Conventions and reptile expos such as Repticon are usually a great place to buy reptiles such as bearded dragons. They have a large selection of reptiles, amphibians, and other pets and animals either for show or for sale. In these conventions, reptile food such as insects and mice, reptiles and enclosures, and other merchandise is sold across a wide variety of reptile-based sales tables. All reptile conventions I have attended charge you for a ticket the day of the convention at the door for around $10 depending on where you go. You then go into the convention to look around, view products, and spend a pile of money if you love reptiles like I do.

This is my oldest bearded dragon Mango.

Mango is my one year old boy who was purchased from a man who had a whole clutch of the same types of babies. Half of the clutch were leatherbacks like Mango, and the other half of the clutch were regular. The regular dragons were very similar to the leatherbacks but they have a more scaley pattern so they werent as expensive. The regulars were $35 and I paid $45 for Mango. It is a price I was very happy with later on, considering how healthy and beautiful he has grown to be. The man had a simple setup at his table. Mango and the other babies were in a small glass tank with a single heat lamp and sand for bedding. He was also selling insects and terrarium decorations. 

Mango is an example of the type of dragon you can find at repticon and other reptile expos. Purchasing your dragon from a breeder at one of these reptile conventions is generally going to be a good idea considering what the breeders at these conventions have learned and know.

At times though, there are people at sales tables who will be selling bearded dragons that are not always in the best condition. I have witnessed a few juveniles, babies, and even adults that do not look as healthy as they should. That doesn't mean however that they are not in good condition. I have also witnessed dragons that look healthy and active but they are not in the best looking displays. It depends on your opinion of the salesperson trying to sell you on their reptile. Just remember to select your dragon based of the physical health of it and any other reptiles at the sales table you are buying from. 

Pet stores

Many big pet store chains like Petco and Petsmart are a controversial place to buy bearded dragons in my opinion. 

This is my older of my 2 females, Copper.

This is Copper Adrenaline. Copper is my oldest of my two juvenile females. I purchased her from a local pet store near me and she is not the only dragon I have bought from a local pet store. She is in perfect health and has been since I bought her. I bought her from Petco and I was not iffy on the purchase when I made it. She was $30 but all the dragons were half off so originally, she would have been over $60. I have bought three other bearded dragons and adopted two from pet stores such as Petsmart and Petco. All of them passed away but not all because of health issues. Some were because I jumped into adopting or buying them when I didnt have the tools to raise them to be healthy.

Like I said, some dragons you buy could be healthy or they might not. You just have to interact with it a bit before you buy one and make it sure it looks healthy. Bright open eyes, a want to be active, and a big appetite are all good traits you should look for when purchasing a bearded dragon. 

I have reasons for why I would say yes and no to buying a dragon from these stores. My dragon Copper is almost 5 months old and she eats good and is very healthy. I adopted two babies from these stores that had ligaments that had been bit off. I bought one and it ended up not eating but still showing signs of being healthy before it died. The two I adopted had been bit by other dragons in the tank, probably because the store employees didnt feed them properly and the dragons got aggressive. One was a female that had part of her tail missing and another was a boy that had all of the toes on his back leg missing except one. At times stores like this cant control it but the dragons get aggressive. The big breeders that breed the dragons for petco and petsmart often times ship the lizards in bad condition or in an unhealthy  state because they simply just dont care. I wont diss these pet stores much because depending on the store location, a lot of these stores are in good condition and the animals are taken care of well. Copper was in great condition when I bought her.

Most of the time when I go to these local pet stores, the tanks are full of regular looking dragons like Copper. Heres a picture of Copper and a few pictures of dragons in these local petco and petsmart stores to compare.

I will say that at times, you will find an eye catching dragon or a dragon that looks different from others. These are some examples from local pet stores near me in my home state of South Carolina.

Everyone has an opinion of these stores. Maybe you live near a family owned store. Maybe you shop at these stores for your reptiles because the ones near you take care of their animals well. I see a lot of people "rescuing" from these stores all the time though. I shop for dragons at Petco and Petsmart becuase I have shopped here for cheap but well bred dragons many times before. A lot of times I find healthy dragons and a lot of times I find sick ones. Its always a person's own opinion on if they buy a dragon from somewhere however.