Nope I don't think anyone could think of a reason not to get a Bearded Dragon - they are great! Can't stress what wonderful pets they make

Rich - you would understand the sarcasm, you're the most sarcastic American I've ever met! (Smile!)

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"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004

I caught the sarcasm at first, then he went over the top in the post, which left me a bit confused. I have a rather British sense of humour, therefore sarcasm and irony are funny, but if it is reinforced, considering the medium, there may be confusion...

If you buy a baby Bearded Dragon, keep in mind that a small enclosure will be better than an adult size one. That could mean extra costs if you don't have already an old aquarium/terrarium you can use.
Most baby and juvenile Bearded Dragons are very active and like a lot to climb. Seems that preference wears off as they grow older and adults prefer longer enclosures to high ones. This seems to be true for most Bearded Dragons but there are exceptions.
I had a lot of plans for my Bearded Dragon's adult enclosure but right now I'm leaving all my options open to see if there is any particular taste as s/he gets older. If s/he prefer to climb, then I'll build a taller enclosure, if not, a shorter one.

For now, I'm still reading a lot a seeing other people's enclosure photos. A simpler enclosure with the necessary hides, a clear space to run a bit and a place to climb seem to be more than enough.
Don't think what looks best in your living room of something like that, but what would be best for your Bearded Dragon. A lot of rocks, logs, etc look swell but your Bearded Dragon would have a hard time chasing its food around.

A 40 breeder is fine for a baby up to an adult. Let me stress one thing. Do not feed your Bearded Dragon in its enclosure. Crickets can hide in furniture, then come out at night an nibble on your Bearded Dragon. The best thing to do is get a rubbermaid container an feed in there.

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MARSHA

:D I'm smiling because I have no idea whats going on!

Or, as I do, get you a long pair of forceps and hand feed the crickets to the Bearded Dragon.
Its a good way to bond with them as well!

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Oh yeah, Marsha and Merlin are right. I should have been a bit more clear in what I said.
I do feed my Bearded Dragon in the enclosure. I like to see him/her hunt and I also believe it's important for him/her development. Everyday I see improvements in the movements, tactics, etc. But I do also prepare and count the crickets first, drop 1 or 2 at a time and count them as they are eaten. At any time I know how many crickets have been eaten, are loose in the enclosure and still remain in my hand. But I do have time for this and enjoy it as well. If you don't have time, follow Marsha's advice but don't forget to count the crickets you put in and keep a record of how many are eaten.

I saw a baby bearded dragon today! It took all my will power not to buy it on the spot and the fact that the lady working next door rushed in and asked for help right as I was breaking down. The lady works in the liquor store and had a problem customer so the pet store owner's husband and I went to help. We live in a small town where everyone helps each other. Back to the important part... It was so cute! They wanted me to hold it but I knew better. I'm going to have everything ready before I get one and I still need to do a lot more research.

Correct me if I'm wrong but they had him/she/it on calcium sand and I thought baby Bearded Dragons shouldn't be on sand of any kind. If someone would be so kind as to let me know then I could tell them in the morning. They are very nice but really don't know much about lizards aside from what the distributer tells them.

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0.1.0 Bearded Dragon (Dundee)
1.0.0 Chow/mix Dog (Simba)
1.0.0 Russian Hamster (Bear)
1.1.0 Parakeets (Little Tweet and Feathers)
0.1.0 Long hair gray calico cat (Opal)
0.0.3 Red-eared slider turtles (Mommy, Daddy, Robbie)
0.0.16 Fishy Friends - misc. tropical fish

You'll find a lot of info here and every other major forums about sand based substrates.
But they won't probably change it. Imagine you walk in the store and the reptiles are on newspaper or kitchen paper. Imagine you can see the poops and the little yellow stains on the paper. Wouldn't that affect your decision as a potential customer? Sand is easier to clean, looks a lot nicer and 20% of the Bearded Dragon charm, is seeing it in his "natural" environment. Besides, impaction is most of the times an "accumulative" problem. It takes a lot of doses to be noticed and shops usually keep the animals for a short period only.

A good fight will be convincing them to feed the Bearded Dragons in a clean container. Most stores throw whatever they feed them to the sand and leave it there. Convince them to feed the animals in clean tupperwares or something similar and the biggest problem will be over.

We will soon see! I printed off the care sheet. Besides it was purple sand! How natural looking is that? But the little dragon certainly stood out! Night all! Must sleep and stop researching B. Dragons... Must sleep!

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0.1.0 Bearded Dragon (Dundee)
1.0.0 Chow/mix Dog (Simba)
1.0.0 Russian Hamster (Bear)
1.1.0 Parakeets (Little Tweet and Feathers)
0.1.0 Long hair gray calico cat (Opal)
0.0.3 Red-eared slider turtles (Mommy, Daddy, Robbie)
0.0.16 Fishy Friends - misc. tropical fish

It is an individual choice whether or not to use sand, but I wouldn't use it for small babies. We do use it for our adults and have never had a problem, but some people are strongly opposed to it. Any particle substrate has the risk of causing impaction, it's up to you what you decide to keep your dragons on.

As for feeding in the viv - we feed our dragons in the viv and again have not had any problems. We have two little girls who have problems with their backs/tails so I tend to drop a couple of crickets in at a time and never leave any in over night, as they chew their tails and the dragons can't feel it. However, with our other dragons we have never experienced any problems like that, and besides we leave veg in the enclosures all the time, and the crix tend to eat that instead of bothering the lizards, which also helps to gut-load them further too

Good luck with your dragon, I bet you go back to the shop and get that one!!

If you need any help you know where to come, and if you also want any advice on how to sex the dragon when you get it just ask

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"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004