Eyes, posture and alertness first
Start by standing back and watching before you ask anyone to open the enclosure. A healthy bearded dragon holds its head and chest up on straight front legs, tracks movement with bright, fully open eyes, and reacts when a hand passes over the glass. Babies should look curious and a little skittish rather than limp. A dragon lying flattened with eyes closed in the middle of the shop's day, one that barely responds to gentle stimulation, or one gaping with its mouth hanging open away from the basking spot is showing you a problem, whatever the explanation offered. Dominance stress matters too: in a crowded shop tank, the dragon hiding flattened in the corner while cage-mates sit on top of it is being suppressed, and its dullness may say more about housing than health, another reason to prefer the alert animal.
Skin, vent and tail: the close look
Ask to hold the dragon or at least see it up close. Skin should be evenly colored for its morph, with shed coming away in loose flakes; grey, tight retained shed wrapped around toes or the tail tip, blackened patches, or crusty spots around the mouth are reasons to pass. Turn your attention to the vent, which should be clean and dry, since staining or swelling there suggests digestive trouble or parasites. The base of the tail, where a dragon stores fat, should feel full and rounded; visible hip bones and a thin, triangular tail base mark an underfed animal. Run a finger gently along the jaw, which should feel firm and symmetrical, because a soft, rubbery jaw hints at the bone problems that poor lighting and diet cause in this species.
Movement and appetite tell the truth
Put the dragon down on a flat surface if the shop allows it, and watch it walk: limbs should move evenly without dragging, trembling, or splayed toes, and a healthy juvenile will usually scamper. Appetite is the other great witness. Ask exactly what the dragon has been eating, insects, greens, or reluctantly nothing, and ask when it last fed. A good shop will offer to feed it in front of you. A dragon that lunges at an insect or picks at greens in a busy shop has demonstrated digestion, hunting coordination, and confidence in one act. Refusal of a single meal proves little, but a dragon described as a fussy eater for weeks is a project, not a purchase, for a beginner.
Judge the shop's setup as well as the dragon
The enclosure behind the glass is evidence about every animal in it. Look for a genuinely hot basking spot, a proper UV tube rather than a tired coil bulb of unknown age, clean water, and babies housed in small groups at most rather than piled in by the dozen. Shops that keep dragons on loose sand with no visible thermometer, or that cannot tell you the basking temperature, are telling you how their stock has been raised. A healthy-looking dragon from a sloppy setup still deserves a vet check soon after purchase, and quarantine from any reptiles already at home. After the drive home and a settling-in period, KinsLe's Pet Services Directory can point you to an experienced reptile vet in your area for that first examination and fecal check.