So I want to get a baby BD but.....

I added up the food costs and this is what I got- A baby BD can eat up to 50 crickts a day. At the local family pet shop, down the road from me, they sell a dozen for 1$. If I need about 50 cricktes, thats 4$ a day/28$ a week/168$ a month/2016$ a year. That is with out the vegies. I was just wondering if this is really what it is. I really think these guy are intreresting herps to have in a collection, just this will be a con on list (cost of food): Do I Really Want To By A BD?

Anyone who has info feel free to say it:gj:

We find it cheaper to get our crickets from a bait shop.

How does that cost and how many come in a package?

100 comes out to a lil over 2 bucks

You can always get them online and buy in bulk to save money too. If you have the room you just need a keeper/carrier and some cricket gut loading food from a pet store. I see it in the reptile section of my local petsmart. This site sells them, and while the 100 crickets is about the same as what you'd pay getting them by the dozen, the 500 crickets is saving a lot in comparison. There are other sites too. I just googled buying crickets and a lot of results came up. Or if you can find a local bait shop as grits mentioned they'll be cheaper too.

Mabye I could breed my own crickets???? and ya 100crickets sounds real good compaired to me statistics:D

Check out Ghanns Cricket FArm or the like and buy 1000 at a time

There's also roaches, and different types of worms available as food too.

Veggies dont add up to much here. A couple bucks in them can go a long way

[QUOTE=2kdime;1480149]Check out Ghanns Cricket FArm or the like and buy 1000 at a time

There's also roaches, and different types of worms available as food too.

Veggies dont add up to much here. A couple bucks in them can go a long way[/QUOT

What size is good for a baby/juvie?

A dubia roach colony is cheap to maintain and is a great source of feeders for beardies.

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Originally Posted by mainbutter

A dubia roach colony is cheap to maintain and is a great source of feeders for beardies.

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Whats the care for them?

i hvae breed dubia and sold them aswell. very easy to maintain but you will need to feed a baby crickets for a while. I suggest buying them online like previously mentioned on the thread. and breeding crickets is a MESS and the smell horrible just to be realistic, but then i could never breed rats or mice unless i had a huge house with a garage LOL. but ya pet store crix make a killing for the store same with there mice my store is lik 2.50 a mouse. anyways BD's are well worth it but for the first six months u need to stick with worms or crix people will say no worms but its easily done lol. good luck also highly recomend using a MVB bulb.

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Originally Posted by Herp4life11

Mabye I could breed my own crickets???? and ya 100crickets sounds real good compaired to me statistics:D

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When I first looked into getting a beardie I looked into breeding crickets too. I can't find the place now that had it, but I found a few sites selling starter colonies and kits. But crickets are pretty damn smelly. There are plenty of roach starter kits too, but as Lost mentioned it's best to use roaches when your beardie is bigger.

As for feeding size, the rule of thumb is to only give your beardie a food item no larger than the space between his/her eyes or you run the risk of impaction.

Also, just so you have as much info as possible, and I'm definitely not trying to start a debate, but feeding baby/juvie beardies mealworms is an area of debate among beardie keepers. Some say it'll cause impaction because of the high amount chitin in mealworms, some have fed mealworms to babies just fine. Not saying they can't be fed at all, but it's usually recommend to feed them to full grown beardies. But like I said, this is an area of debate.

How much would I spend in a month on just crickets for a baby BD if I bought them off the internet? How much do you guys spend on a baby BD? I have also heard you need to dust the crickets with a calcuim dust? Do you really need to or can you just feed the BD crickets. One more thing...I breed mice, would I be able to feed my baby BD pinkies?

I order 500 a week for $20-. But I have to say...they are expensive. You also have multi vit. and calcium, greens and veggies. Plus you will also have to have a fairly large enclosure once they are an adult. They recommend a 4x2x2 for an adult.

I do commend you for looking into the price of it all prior to getting the animal. Far too many ppl do not take that into consideration. Good on you...:gj:

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Originally Posted by BPelizabeth

I order 500 a week for $20-. But I have to say...they are expensive. You also have multi vit. and calcium, greens and veggies. Plus you will also have to have a fairly large enclosure once they are an adult. They recommend a 4x2x2 for an adult.

I do commend you for looking into the price of it all prior to getting the animal. Far too many ppl do not take that into consideration. Good on you...:gj:

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Oh yes! I have made that mistake before and it did not go to well:( What is a good lizard to have as a pet that wont cost so much when it comes to food items? I want to get into lizards, just dont want something that can burn a hole in my pocket.

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Originally Posted by Herp4life11

Whats the care for them?

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This is the way to go if you decide to get the BD or add even more...I raised crickets for my Chameleon and hated those things...They stunk to high heaven and were messy...

Dubias are very easy to maintain, a great food source for BD's and within time will provide constant food for you BD's and you won't have to buy anymore...I'm just starting my colony right now and will have probably enough to feed my 6 BD's within a couple months. I purchased 750 grams of Dubias for $85.

I have a big tub, egg crates, a food dish w/veggies and high protein dog food and a dish filled with water beads/gel. They are easier to handle, quieter and can't jump, fly or climb smooth plastic walls...

Hopefully, this makes sense because I had a little much of the Baileys too night...LOL

We only feed our BD every other day. Plus, add mealworms in there as a change. We actually started a cricket colony! For about $30 we produce our own crickets!

Ya ik I prob will. I was just going on what there nomal everyday type diet would cost. I might get one but, now I am leaning toward Leopard Gecko's. They look sic, sounds liek a good starter lizard, and dont seem to eat that much.

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Originally Posted by Herp4life11

Oh yes! I have made that mistake before and it did not go to well:( What is a good lizard to have as a pet that wont cost so much when it comes to food items? I want to get into lizards, just dont want something that can burn a hole in my pocket.

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Crested geckos are incredibly cheap (compared to most lizards) to house, care for, and feed. I'm partial to them as they are my main project outside of carpet pythons. They are a super different experience than a bearded dragon, however. You won't get a big scaly lizard that chomps down on insects and can sit in your lap. Instead, you have a cute, soft-skinned, finger-percher that likes to jump and lick its eyes... in short, very cool but very different. It may not be what you're looking for if you first looked at beardies, but I wanted to throw it out there for consideration.

I probably average less than $100 annually in feeding costs for a collection of geckos that generally hovers around 10 animals, give or take a few depending on if I have hatchlings. It gets less expensive per animal the more you have, but they're pretty cheap to feed, as you only need to feed them a commercially available powder you mix with water to feed them a goop that resembles rotting fruit (common food source for them in the wild).

For the price of raising bearded dragons, I would personally opt for a more expensive animal that is cheaper to raise. Leachianus geckos come to mind.

leos eat a lot but are cheaper for sure!! I don't have crested so I cannot comment on them.

I can say that is a great idea if you are into breeding the dubias....I think you can start a colony for about $150 and they are for sure the best thing to feed the BD. I personally just cannot get past the whole..."roaches in my house"...lol:rolleyes:

I can't comment on beardies (I've only had mine for a day so far lol) but leopard geckos, crested geckos and dubia roaches I can.

Out of all my reptiles, the most personable is the bearded dragon, followed by leos, then cresteds then my snakes.

With leos and cresteds, you want to get animals that tolerate handling. I have some of each that just don't enjoy being handled and you can tell it stresses them, so I mostly leave them alone and handle the animals that tolerate it better.

I've been breeding my own dubias for a year. I had crickets for 5 days with my first two leos before I decided NO MORE. The colony is expensive to get going, but in the year I've had them, the startup cost was probably 70 dollars and I've spent about 35 making roach food (which I still have a small trashcan full of). If you are serious about it, they are EASY. They like it hot and relatively humid (70-75% or so). They will die if it goes to low. They like it dark and quiet and can withstand incredible population density, unlike crickets.

If i find i'm feeding to heavily out of my colony I give it a rest for a few weeks and supplement with meal worms or something else for a bit.

Those saying you can't feed roaches to baby dragons... I cant find any reason not to feed them. Baby dubia roaches are small enough for viper geckos to eat. The xtra small babies are less than 1/4th of an inch and pose no choking danger to a dragon of any size.

My 4week old beardie has already taken quite a few dubias over his feedings in the last day. So even an animal started on crickets can switch. they move around so they will trigger a feeding response.

Ya me and my gf are gana get a BD in a few months and prob start breeeding the roaches soon after. thanx everyone who posted:D

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Originally Posted by Herp4life11

Ya me and my gf are gana get a BD in a few months and prob start breeeding the roaches soon after. thanx everyone who posted:D

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I would get your colony first, so it can get settled and start producing. Beardies eat a lot!

yes my baby beardie ate 100 lobster roach nymphs today it was insane. She even did this during a shed. she's nice and relaxed at the moment on her basking rock :P

Dubias are actually one of the best thing to feed beardies as their chitlin (shell) is A LOT less than that of any cricket. Hard to belive but its true. They are actually very good for any reptile that eats buggies....I have heard of ppl feeding their chams those and the chams colors are amazing??? I personally have not tried it. Would like to but again....just a scardey cat. :rolleyes: I may have to have Cinderbird talk me off the edge...lol

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Originally Posted by BPelizabeth

Dubias are actually one of the best thing to feed beardies as their chitlin (shell) is A LOT less than that of any cricket. Hard to belive but its true. They are actually very good for any reptile that eats buggies....I have heard of ppl feeding their chams those and the chams colors are amazing??? I personally have not tried it. Would like to but again....just a scardey cat. :rolleyes: I may have to have Cinderbird talk me off the edge...lol

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Come to me Michelle, I'll sweet talk you over to the dark side... ;)

Hahahaha! The dark side:P

How would I get a colony started(Roaches)? How much does it cost and how time consuming is it?

One thing you have to watch with bait store crickets is the size. If you got a baby BD, then bait store crickets might be way too large(they usually get in large crickets because people want a large cricket for fish bait).

I've heard great things about roachs as feeders. In Florida, I can't get them shipped to me(Boo!) but I've been told by a ton of folks that they have great results in feeding roachs.

lol geez I get like 30, 1-2 pound rabbits for like 150$, shipped. Feeds a large constrictor for a year.