Bearded Dragon-baby-prolapse

Question
Hi Diane, I hope you can offer your opinion on this. My local family owned pet store, which has very clean herps, has a young BD (3-4") with a prolapse, they are going to try and place it back in at the advice of a vet. My question is, I offered to adopt/buy at a reduced price because the owner was going to kill it (freeze it) if it can't be fixed/sold (I get my info from one of the employees who knows me from all the crickets I buy!!) but I don't have alot of experience w/ this problem in a baby herp, is this something that will be a life long problem, or can this animal grow up OK if this instance of prolapse is fixed? They were told to gently push it back in with a vaseline-d Q-tip and then tape the vent for 24 hrs. I had to give them good micropore tape as they didn't have anything decent.
I just want to know that if I take this little guy, am I likely getting into a bad situation down the road?
To let you know, I have had many herps incl. gr iguanas, tortoises, Jackson's chams, monitors, snakes, and bred the tortoises and J cham successfully. I currently only have a leo gecko and a 15" BD, but like to rescue when I can. Thanks for any direction you can give me!
Also if anyone else can add an opinion, please do.


Answer
Hi Trisha.
Thank you for wanting to help this little dragon.
First, if that dragon is for sale, that is bad news to start with.  Beardies should not be sold until they are at least 6 inches in length.
With it being so young, its really hard to tell if it will be a life long problem.  Keeping it well hydrated, and giving it a good diet with lots of greens, etc will help greatly with its chance of it not happening again.  They do need to remove any loose substrate they have in there and keep the baby on paper towels, or even better, slate tiles.  I do know that in many cases, applying a gauze soaked in a very heavy sugar/water solution will help shrink the prolapse and allow it to go back in place  more easily.  If the baby is being fed incorrect sized insects that can be a part of the cause...it can also be a birth defect.  
They really should be willing to just give you the beardie.  Actually, they are in the wrong for not having it seen by a vet as that even pet stores must give proper veterinary care when needed. Offer to take it if you want to "tackle" the problem...but they really should not charge anything for it.
Try to talk them in to letting you try to save it, if you want to try that is...do be aware that there really is no way to know if it will be a life long problem, and I'm not sure even a vet would be able to tell you that for sure.
You may want to also direct the same question to one of the other EXPERTS, in particular...PAM..she has has beardies for several years and has dealt with various health problems with them, including surgery on a hatchling!! Please do let me know how you make out with getting the baby. Oh..and one other thing, freezing a reptile is a very slow, extremely painful way to euthanize a reptile...