Hello! I saw this beardie in a pet store a day ago, her tail looks like it’s drying off. Can’t stop thinking about her and will probably buy her just to save that baby (Hate pet stores and how they treat animals, my initial plan was to get a beardie from a good breeder). Question is - can her tail (part of it) still be saved, how could I help her? Obviously will immediately seek a vet.
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Images make it hard to tell for sure, it could be some stuck shed that’d remedy with a few soaks or the end of her tail could be dead and need an amputation.
I don’t say this light heartedly, but as tempting as it may be to buy this animal in order to “save” it, that just encourages the pet shop to replace her with more beardies to potentially neglect as they’ll see the sale as a demand for this animal. You save one, but many more as a result will take its place. You’ll have to ask yourself if you feel okay perpetuating that cycle, or if you’ll instead put your money to a breeder who ensures their dragons are healthy head to tail tip. On the bright side, aside from the tail the dragon really does look okay, but without seeing the full setup it’s hard to tell if the tail issue is a result of the shop’s care or if the dragon potentially just came like that from a negligent supplier.
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Thank you for your answer! Talked to the pet keeper in the shop, she seemed to genuinely care for all the animals there and told me that she indeed came in with a tail like that. She had tried to contact people about it, but nobody really cared about one animal in that big of a business.
About actually buying it - I always said the same, got every single one of my pets (fish, snakes, dogs) from responsible breeders due to that exact mindset. One thing led to another and the baby dragon girl is at my home now:,)
I inspected her tail closer and it will 100% need to be amputated at least a bit, there’s some “healing” scabs from a wound, my guess is because she was shipped and probably lived with other dragons before reaching the shop. There’s some stuck shed too, the tip looks dead. Gave her tail a betadine mixture dip and will bring her to a vet as soon as possible
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Congrats on your new baby, and good on you for digging a little deeper into her circumstances. Hopefully her vet visit and recovery go well! You’ll have to give us an update. 
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Hello again, I got an update for you! Took the baby to the vet yesterday, she amputated the tip of her tail. Some of the damaged area was still alive, so I’m treating it at home.
We got some pain meds, she seems REALLY stressed out (won’t eat at all) during all of this, but I think it’s a normal reaction due to what’s happening to her the past few days. She’s only a few months old, I put one cricket into her mouth while giving her meds and she ate it, that’s the only food she took:(
Apart from that, she’s doing great and even some of her colors appeared. We’ll remove the stitches a few weeks later and hopefully the tail will heal nicely:)
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Hi Greta! I know you have gotten a bit of constructive criticism about buying a “less than healthy” animal from a local pet store. I totally agree with the reasoning for that feedback. It is truly a vicious cycle, even with mom and pop pet shops, to see unhealthy animals offered up for sale, eventually purchased, only to be replaced by another unhealthy animal. Unfortunately, animals are often considered a commodity, not a living creature that feels pain and suffering.
Imho I think it is this particular shop owner’s responsibility to make sure all the animals on the sales floor be in tip top shape, or housed properly off the sales floor and waiting to be seen by a vet. In a perfect world.
If I were you, I would present a copy of the vet bill to the shop owner, even if you possibly received a discount on the cost of the animal (?). Just for kicks and grins. If that shop owner is worth her salt, she should at least offer to pay for part of that vet bill.
I suggest that not because I think you will get reimbursed any money, but least this shop owner will have to deal with a bit of your feedback and be made to answer yes or no. I realize there was no communication about this before you took possession of the animal but at least you will be a “thorn” in her side for a minute.
I will get off the soapbox now and prepare for some “constructive” criticism on this, my post.
Kudos to you Greta for taking on this sweet little beardie girl. If you didn’t buy her someone would have. If the shop owner sent the animal back to the breeder, it would probably been euthanized/culled, etc.
She is certainly a pretty little lucky girl, one in thousands waiting for help to come, that got a chance at a good life. 
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