How much does it cost to own a beardie?

ST, I bought a 36" fixture and it fits perfectly in a diagonal across the tub. Look at your local fish stores for used fixtures, they may have them.

The only decorations I have in my Bearded's tub is a large river rock for his nails, a Texas holey rock(it's long, flat and white) for basking, and sometimes I will put a piece of wood in there, just for change of pace. Gets him climbing around and wears down those nails.

Mealworms and waxworms are useless feeders. If you want the Beardie to actually grow(and not have parasites from filthy crickets) and not have to spend a ton of money each month on crickets, go with a roach colony. They are SO much cleaner, it's ridiculous. They eat everything the Beardie eats, so even if the Beardie won't eat veggies, you can feed them to the roaches, and in turn, your Beardie gets the nutrients from the veggies. I have Orange-Headed roaches, they are awesome. Don't fly or climb and are chubby little guys.

I'll get a picture of the Bearded's tub so you can see where the lights are mounted. The basking bulb is just a regular 70 watt halogen flood you can get at Walmart or a hardware store. Don't spend your money on those stupid reptile bulbs, they just burn out and cost you $10. I paid maybe $5 per flood bulb and they last forever. I use a ceramic 10" shop lamp that I bought at WalMart and it clamps onto the side of the tub easily. Just direct it down to a flat rock for basking, attach a digital thermometer probe, and you're set.

Agreed. Never use the worms for Beardies unless as an occasional treat. Possibly with the exception of Phoenix worms. Roaches have become the 'new craze' in lizard feeding. :)

And unlike snakes, lizards NEED their heat from Above. UTHs are nearly useless with them, so spend the money on a good UVA/UVB bulb and lamp instead. Another good use for basking rocks in the enclosure is to soak up that warmth through the day and release it at night for them...just like in the wild. :D

We recently bought a Bearded Dragon, here is our tank. Keep in mind alot of our set up is done to be "aesthetically" pleasing, a stick you find (and bake) in your back yard would work just as well as the $20 fake one we bought:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...dterrarium.jpg

Here is a rundown on all the prices (minus the stand cause thats not really needed)

Bearded Dragon: $65 (PetPlus)
55 gallon tank: $75 (PetPlus)
Big Stick: $20 (PetSmart)
Little Stick $15 (PetPlus)
Water Bowl: $10 (PetSmart)
48" Hood With UVB/UVA Bulb: $80 (PetSmart)
Thermo/Hygrometers: $20 (WalMart)
Lamp With Ceramic Bulb: $40 (PetSmart)
Hammock And Ladder: $15 (PetSmart)
Fake Grass: $2.50 (Home Depot)
Backdrop: $5

TOTAL: $347.50

As for food plan on $5-$10 per week.

All great info. Thanks!

How much of a hassle is it to buy 1000 crickets and store them for feeding? How bad do they stink and are they really loud?

Well, at lots of pet stores you can't even buy a thousand crickets, so that option is pretty much out. (Or maybe thats just our Petsmart. They're always running out. :rage:) And personally, I wouldn't buy that many anyway. Though I don't own a BD, (I own a CWD who loves his crickets. =3) the crickets smell, are loud, tend to die, just overall are terrible. not to mention I always get a few escape even though I covered the cricket cage in tape. >_> If you plan on buying in bulk, go with about 100. Think about 1000 crickets chirping simaltaniously. :rolleye2::rage::O:taz::weirdface

But anyway, thats just my opinion. Keeping so many crickets (the most I keep at one time is 20-30) seems like hell to me. Maybe if you have them set up in a room no where near where you sleep and you have a good set-up for them it won't be so bad.

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Originally Posted by spaceturtle

All great info. Thanks!

How much of a hassle is it to buy 1000 crickets and store them for feeding? How bad do they stink and are they really loud?

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Not much, just keep ther cage clean. And buy from a site that has high quility feeders so your not getting anything unwanted.

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Originally Posted by gothkenny

Well, at lots of pet stores you can't even buy a thousand crickets, so that option is pretty much out. (Or maybe thats just our Petsmart. They're always running out. :rage:) And personally, I wouldn't buy that many anyway. Though I don't own a BD, (I own a CWD who loves his crickets. =3) the crickets smell, are loud, tend to die, just overall are terrible. not to mention I always get a few escape even though I covered the cricket cage in tape. >_> If you plan on buying in bulk, go with about 100. Think about 1000 crickets chirping simaltaniously. :rolleye2::rage::O:taz::weirdface

But anyway, thats just my opinion. Keeping so many crickets (the most I keep at one time is 20-30) seems like hell to me. Maybe if you have them set up in a room no where near where you sleep and you have a good set-up for them it won't be so bad.

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You buy them online, its about $20 shipped for 1000. If you buy from a petstore to feed a beardie you would find yourself broke very fast. They are horrible quility as well and not gutloaded at all with good food.

Only Male crickets chirp;)

Its all about where and how you house them. Like mice

Save yourself some money and the headache and buy some turkistan roaches and dubia roaches. Turkistan are much smaller and breed fast. Dubia are much larger and breed slow. Once your baby becomes adults, you can sell all the turks and just feed off dubia :D