How much does it cost to own a beardie?

[spaceturtle]

I'm thinking of getting a beardie. How much should I expect to pay for a normal beardie and all the enclosure stuff I'll need. And then how much on a monthly basis for feeding and misc care?

[flinters]

Well, beardies are amazing pets! But all of the equipment can cost quite a bit. For a normal beardie expect to pay anywhere between $20-$100. Then for supplies I paid about $230 ($100 cage included). That's about all you will pay initially, but for food they eat a lot. 1000 crickets will last me about 2 weeks, my boy is a PIG! Others are different, but expect to pay ~$15-$30 a month on crickets and and his greens. You could do what I do and breed your feeders, saves you TONS! So, overall, it will cost about $150-$400 depending on what you already have at the beginning, and about $15-$30 every month after that. But definitely worth it!

[Beardedragon]

Here is what i would do for a baby.

You need a large cage( 50 gallon)
UVB or a MVB
Heat lamp
fixtures
beardie
basking rock or what ever
and for substrate use tile or paper towels
calcium
vits
feeders

Id say you will be spending no less than $250 to start out, and then another $40 a month on crickets until they are adults, but then you need a bigger cage, replace things that are too small for him, and replace lights and uvb accordingly. They are great pets but boy are they not cheap!

I think im forgeting something?

[SatanicIntention]

I bought a 110qt tub, am using paper towels for substrate(or newspaper), a 36" flourescent fixture was $20 used, and the ReptiSun 10.0 is $30. Repcal is around $7 but you can get calcium tablets from the pharmacy for around $6 for 70 of them, just crush them up and they work fine(no D3 though), Herptivite is around $12 or so now. Digital thermometers are $6 and spot bulbs from WalMart are very inexpensive, usually under $5. I use a halogen flood bulb, 70 watt I think, and it creates a nice basking area. Tried a different bulb(GE true color or something) and he just hid. Switched it back and he's happy and basking like he should.

Veggies are inexpensive, and can be bought in the frozen form. I just bought 2 bell peppers, one yellow and one orange, and already had a green one from making fajitas, so I cut them all up in strips, frozen it all and now have enough for my Beardie's salad for a good 2-3 months. Collard greens, romaine and whatever else you think he may like in his salad, is all relatively cheap.

Roach colonies are a bit expensive on start up but once they start producing, you won't run out of feeders. They eat what the Beardie eats(veggies, fruits, need high heat and humidity, need protein in the form of chick feed). Roaches don't smell at all, they have a much higher meat to shell ratio than nasty crickets, live for a much longer period(some to 5 years), and they don't carry parasites. Crickets can carry coccidia and pinworms which can transfer over to your Beardie. Plus they STINK and die for no reason.

Mine gets salad 5-6 times a week, soaked 3-4 times a week in the bathtub for 30-45 minutes, and gets roaches 3-4 times a week. He was hatched in January of this year and is already about 14-16" long. Chunky butt Everytime he gets roaches, I dust them in a mixture of 3 parts calcium, 1 part Herptivite. Works great and he's thriving.

I don't think I spent more than $60-$75 on getting him set up since I already had most of the supplies. The tub was also $12 compared to a $100 40 gallon breeder tank. It's just as clear as a tank and MUCH easier to maintain.

[spaceturtle]

Great info, much appreciated.

Question: How tall is that tub?

[SatanicIntention]

It's about 30 x 16 x 16, maybe a bit bigger. He's quite comfy in it and has plenty of room. I don't use a lid with it and he is unable to get out.

[spaceturtle]

Sounds much more affordable with a route like that. My only concern now is how to mount the lights.

[Argentra]

Mounting lights is simple. Either hang them from a hook in the ceiling with rope or chain, put up a single wall shelf above the tub/tank and clamp the lights there (or suspend with cord in the case of a florescent), or make a simple light stand with a good wide base and PVC pipe.

When I had my beardie, the most expensive things were the food supply (vary it, not just icky crickets), and the Mercury Vapor UVB bulb even though I got it at a great price online. Beardies are awesome lizards, but they're mega pigs when it comes to amount of food they take.

[PsYcHo_99]

i bought my beardies for 60 bucks each.. then i got them a 40 gallon breeder for 100.. lights and uvb and UTH for 100.. trees and climbing material i used from my previous tanks and i pay about 60 bucks a month worth of crickets.. and wax worms and mealworms cost about 20 bucks a month..

[Beardedragon]

i bought my beardies for 60 bucks each.. then i got them a 40 gallon breeder for 100.. lights and uvb and UTH for 100.. trees and climbing material i used from my previous tanks and i pay about 60 bucks a month worth of crickets.. and wax worms and mealworms cost about 20 bucks a month..

Alright... Do you house two beardies in the same tank? If you do you need to seperate them ASAP! Many many problems can happen if they are together. What kind of uvb did you buy? Beardies do not need a uth, and Im guessing its not on a thermostat anyways? Waxworms can be too addicting and mealworms can cause impaction. Beardies are not climbers and are rather clumsy( from personal experiance) and do not need climbing materials unless it is there to help them reach they uvb and heat.
Please look at some caresheets, they will really help and will tell you why and what all you are doing wrong.