Skink and beardie??!

So I am trying to get this guy to give me his skink and bearded dragon who are both ADULTS and both living in a 20 gallon cage TOGETHER with NO UVB and NO HEAT LAMP. I assume the substrate is sand or something, I have no idea what or if they eat.

Anyway, he wats $150 for just them!! What?! I will have to spend so much money on new set ups, lights, thermometers, vet visits, etc. and he's trying to make money on the poor things! Any suggestions on how to turn him into a non-jerk?

And check this out: http://seattle.craigslist.org/skc/pet/663172418.html

People are infuriating.

Originally Posted by dragongirl6

So I am trying to get this guy to give me his skink and bearded dragon who are both ADULTS and both living in a 20 gallon cage TOGETHER with NO UVB and NO HEAT LAMP. I assume the substrate is sand or something, I have no idea what or if they eat.

Anyway, he wats $150 for just them!! What?! I will have to spend so much money on new set ups, lights, thermometers, vet visits, etc. and he's trying to make money on the poor things! Any suggestions on how to turn him into a non-jerk?

He sounds like he is misinformed about care. It may be better for everyone for you to volunteer to tell him what his critters need.
Maybe he tagged them high because he doesn't really want to sell them. Or perhaps he bought them at inflated pet shop prices. Actually, for an adult skink and an adult dragon, $150 sounds like market price or below.

So far, that doesn't qualify him as being a jerk. Try helping him out rather than putting him down and demanding that he sell his pets at a price convenient to you.

It would be awesome if you could help him turn into an informed keeper. Why not invite him here?

I actually wrote him a very nice email last night with care sheets of both animals. Being "misinformed" about an animal is not an excuse to take bad care of it, in my opinion. Had he done a lick of research, he would have seen on ANY care sheet that a bearded dragon needs at least a 40 gallon tank and that it is questionable to house beardeds together, let alone crossing species. He also would have found that skinks need a substrate to burrow in and beardies do not. Skinks eat a diet consisting entirely of live food while an adult beardie needs 80% vegetation. You should never get a pet before doing research.

An adult normal morph bearded dragon is worth $30, actually. Especially if it has never had a vet visit and I will probably need to spend hundreds on vet care, lights, calc powder, etc. I could not find anything on the price of an "African Plated Skink", which is not even it's correct name. It's called an "African Plated Lizard". So, if anyone has experience with this type of skink, I'd love to know! Maybe there's a skink forum? I found different types of skinks ranging in average price from $8-$150 from online breeders, depending on the species, so I really doubt these animals are worth $150 together.

Besides, I am not interested in paying market prices for animals that are very likely sick, are older than any animal being sold from a breeder, and will need entirely new set ups and a lot more care. I would not be able to do rescue if I bought every animal at market price, put hundreds of dollars into them, and then adopted them out at market price (I do not believe in adopting out a rescue animal for more money than one would cost from a breeder).

People who get animals and mess up should not be selling for the price they bought for. They should find someone who will spend that money on their care instead of paying them for their mistake. I told them he could probably get about $50 for the set up from someone else, and I offered him $50 for the animals.

I don't think that's very unreasonable?

I currently have this rescue who was being sold for $150. She had a mild case of MBD, had never had UVB or stool sample tests, and hadn't had crickets in six months (she is ten months old, smaller than an average juvenile). I talked to the woman and she pulled her off craigslist immediately because she didn't want to "sell" a sick beardie. I paid $30 for her, which is about what she would cost from a breeder as a normal morph. Her previous owner emails me every day about her and I send her lots of pictures so she knows her girl is well cared for. She said that she "wouldn't want anyone but me to have her". So no, I don't think you need to pay market prices to rescue animals. I've been doing this for almost seven years, now.

She was completely blue from being kept on blue sand and has had an extremely hard time shedding. Under some of her blue skin are these horrid sores from her body trying to grow through the skin that had basically glued itself to her body with the nasty sand. I have to bathe her twice a day and pull her skin off. Do you think she was worth $150? No. And her owner was extremely nice and realized how much money I would be putting into her. Instead, she sold the large cage and supplies for $100, with the request that she wash it out well.

They always have more issues than you expect, and I want to make sure I have the money to deal with them. Remember, I'm sixteen, not exactly employed, and my parents aren't exactly rich.

It is great to help out a reptile or any animal that is being mis treated, But you come off very judgmental, I have a 16 year old and she is the same way, Not everyone is intentionally not taking care of their animals, alot of it comes from the places they buy from, if a pet store tells someone that a skink and a bearded dragon can live together then someone will do it. Not all people take the time to read up on the actual care they need. Just because you do take the time and know what to do does not make you a better person, then them. At least the person is trying to be somewhat responsible and not letting the male and female breed.

Calm down and take a breath Anna, you can't save everything. If the guy doesn't want to come down in price then screw him, not literally although that might bring the price down lol j/k.... You do good but you still need to learn when it's best just to walk away.

I agree with Melinda. Many times, and it has happened to me in the past, pet store staff gives out misinformation and people go by that. Do not get on people for lack of proper care unless you know more; they may have in fact asked about care at a pet shop and gotten bad info.

Is market for an adult beardie really $30? I've looked at classifieds for years and never seen them advertised for that as adults.

Its very hard not to get angry towards people who do not care for their pets . And you are so very passionate about it that I think its very noble that you do care so much. But I was one of those people in the past. My 1st 2 beardies were my son's. He lost interest. I took over feeding them & cleaning up after them. But they never got a bath, they were housed together, etc. Then I learned but what we did was what the petstore told us and the Bearded Dragon Manual, LOL. Anyway I found a forum and learned much from people taking the time to teach me. Be a animal lover, a sweet 16 daughter, learn all you can, and teach those who are lacking on their knowledge. Its good that you Emailed him with caresheets, etc.
Take care Beth

That got more dramatic than I expected.

I never said he was a bad person or meant to act like I thought anything like that. I am very aware that there is a lot of bad info out there, but it is my opinion that people should read up on a pet before getting one and not get all their information from one source. The thing is, ANY care sheet would have said that beardies and skinks have totally different environments and that species should not be crossed.

Beth, everyone starts out with some husbandry issues (myself included, of course, who kept my first babies on sand for about a week before freaking out and putting paper towels in), but I bet you read a few care sheets before getting the animals, whether or not they had great information on them.

By the way, after my nice email he totally agreed and I will be picking them up for $50 this weekend. Then I'll be spending about $300 for the vet and their set ups.

I am more aware than anyone in the world that I can't save them all. The most common reason for the failure of a rescue is that the person in charge isn't able to say no. I just figured I'd offer, and he readily accepted.

I have a lot of extra room right now since some of my fosters have been adopted, moved back to the store, or, sadly, passed away. I figured I would look around to see what I could do.

Sorry for the drama, it's not because "I'm sixteen", it's because I'm not perfect, just like anyone else.

I think I'll be gone from fauna for a while, after being kicked of RZ and such.

Thanks everyone! You have helped me so much for the last few years (Sean and Beth especially), and I am very grateful. I will post some pictures of these guys on reptilegeeks if you want to see them.

Anna

BTW, yes, the average price for a normal adult beardie is $30. The classifieds are not the best representations, look at reputable breeders online. Their morphs can go up to 3 or 4 hundred, but normals are about $30-$40, for a HEALTHY adult, not one with no UVB, heat, and the possibility of MBD/impaction.