A question for people who have full-grown adults

[Brieana]

Hello, I'm finally ready to prepare myself for getting my first beardie. I've wanted one for years, but I've been unemployed and I had to force myself to wait until after I got a job. Which I have now, woo hoo!
It's been hard, especially lately when there are 5 adults on Craigslist needing a new home, but I want to buy everything up front. So far I only have a used 40GB.
So my first question, I looked at 55 gallons at petco the other day, but they seem really narrow. Should I stick with my 40 that has a lid or buy a 55 while they're on sale? I know that some adults are way too big for a 40 and I intend to buy an adult for my first dragon.
But my real question is how much do you think you spend per month on food for your beardie? I want to get a rough idea. I have considered the idea of starting a colony of dubias, but I'm not sure I'm ready for that just yet. What I want to know is how much you think you spend on greens and ordering roaches and worms online. Just a ballpark estimate. Thanks!

 

[Mistical]

I do not have an answer for you, but, I am also interested in knowing the monthly cost. I recently acquired a 5 year old beardie. I have to go shopping for him on Friday, so I will get a small idea of what he will cost to start off with!

 

[XtinaBeardieMom]

I would highly recommend starting that dubia colony, as that's where most of your feeding cost will come from. If you don't have a colony, dubias usually run about $0.12 each (medium size) and I'd say the average adult dragon would eat about 30-50 live feeders per week, based on my own adult dragon & listening to others. So that's about $20 per month, give or take a little. As far as greens/veggies go, they're pretty cheap so I would say about $10 per month for that stuff. The 40gal breeder should be fine as long as you don't get a dragon over 20" long from tip of snout to tip of tail. Upgrading to a 55gal would be kind of useless, since it really doesn't provide more floor space. Square footage is honestly a better measurement to look at when it comes to dragon tanks. You can upgrade to a 4ft tank later if you ever come across a good deal.

If you're concerned about cost in general, the real issue you need to worry about is vet bills. Your dragon will need to see a qualified herp vet twice per year & get fecal tests run at least as often. Office visits for exotics can run $50+ and a fecal is usually about $30... so that's a minimum of $160 per year in vet costs, and that's if there's never anything wrong with your dragon. It's highly unlikely that you'll never have to treat your dragon for anything, and whatever you do need to treat for will greatly add to the cost. X-rays & blood work alone can run $100-$150 each! Anyway, it's great that you're trying to figure all this out upfront & be prepared before you dive in. I really wish I would've known that I would be hemorrhaging money before I got my dragons lol! Good luck with your possible future dragon(s)!!

P.S. UV lighting needs to be changed out every 6 months & will run you $50-$100 yearly :wink:

 

[Erikusan]

I would recommend going for the 40-gallon "breeder" tanks over the 55-gallon "tall" tanks. I got a 55-gallon on Craigslist a few weeks back and only after making the deal did I realize how narrow it was. Beardies need floor space rather than climbing height, so the major factor should be length and width first. Ideally, if you could find a 55-gallon wide tank or something similar (or even larger?) that would be great...

Personally, once Baz outgrows his 40-gallon breeder I'm planning to just build him a crossfire viv.

 

[tgolden]

I buy feeders instead of raising them and I spend between $30 and 50 monthly for insects and insects food, greens. The price of greens go up in the winter.

 

[sweetiepie9]

i have 5 male adults & a gecko. The cost of supers is about $30/m, then the veggies/fruit about 10/15. Vet costs & lighting are the biggest costs. I have a 9 yr old & a new 2 yr old rescue, who's been fighting parasites, so I've had to go to the vet more often. I'm lucky, a vet visit for 2 dragons can be about $120 + meds, if needed. Fecals are $20. Alot of people do their own fecals, but I feel better having them done at the vet. I've had the same vet for 6 years & she's very good with dragons. I've been lucky so far, they're all very healthy & my newest, Gabriel, is doing well, too.

You have to also take into consideration costs of calcium & vit/min, both about $12/container, but they will last a good while. Even adults need calcium 3x per week & vit/min once per week. Usually on a feeding, keeps them in good health.

I have 4 40 gallon breeders & 1 75 gallon tank for my biggest beardie, who's over 22" long & 786g. The rest are regular sized, 17"-20" and averaging 430g to 530g, so they're ok in their tanks. I use Power Suns on lampstands & don't use tops on the tanks, their furniture is low & as Rubio, my largest, just walked out of a 40 gallon, that's when I got the 75. It has alot of space & is wider than a 55gallon, so if you ever want to upgrade go for the 75 gallon instead.

Hope that helps, I also have a dubia colony, but only 1 dragon eats them, the others all eat superworms.
Deb

 

[Brieana]

Thank you all so much for the input! I have been doing my research so I have a fair idea of what I'm in for, cost-wise. I just wanted to get a few different examples of what to expect as far as regular expenses. Now that I'm working again, my boyfriend and I are going to work out a budget and split bills and whatnot so I just wanted a rough idea. Even if I order a starter dubia colony tomorrow, I'll still have to feed other stuff in the meantime, so I suppose it's important to know this all anyway.
It has been so hard to keep myself from jumping right in, but I have an aquatic turtle and I know how expensive it was to get her into a proper setup, WITH all the DIY stuff we did! I'm trying to take a step back and be more cautious this time around. But being responsible is so hard.

 

[tgolden]

Its good your thinking bout what your getting into before, so many folks don't.

 

[AHBD]

Lots of good advice so far. I wanted to chime in that you can get all your " cage furniture" from outside. Find some nice sized rocks, and a short, sturdy log type branch and clean them well in a vinegar / water solution, rinse, then bake in the oven at 225 for about 40 minutes to kill any pests. Just washing the rocks will be enough, but the wood should be put in the oven. Lighting is expensive, but if you can get the dragon outside for an hour or two every day [ never in a glass tank or anything that heats up excessively] then you can just use a heat bulb [ a regular household bulb will do !] instead of a " reptile baking bulb " A dragon that gets natural sunlight doesn't need a UVB all year round until your seasons change ,[ depending where you live ] so for instance, you can save on the UVB bulb by only using it during the time of year that the dragon doesn't get regular sun exposure. The food is not that much for larger dragons, and greens that can be found in some yards [ if there are no neighbors spraying pesticides] include dandelion, green leaf clover [ it's actually " white " clover...be sure to know what type it is] and mulberrry leaves if you have a tree. You want to be certain of what you pick, though, but I use all 3 from my own yard for a variety as well as store bought greens like turnip, mustard and collard. If you have a garden, or a friend with a garden, you can reap some goodies from it. About the vet....when you get the beardie, he may go through a period of relocation stress. This is normal, and you don't want to take him right to the vet, instead, give him a chance to settle in and develop an eating pattern and generally get used to his new home. I hope you enjoy your new addition to the family !

 

[Brieana]

AHBD, thanks for the info! I had no idea clover was good for them! My garden area is FULL of it! I'm not much of a gardener but we have a few things growing in the back corner of the yard, so the lawn over there is herbicide-free and crawling with clover. I could buy some assorted leafy greens and they'd have the rest of the summer to grow.

 

[AHBD]

You're welcome ! I should mention that the kind of clover I use is " white clover " , it's a very low - growing plant with white to pink small flowers [ which myt beardies don't care for ] You can Google it to be sure what type, because there are at least one type that can be toxic....it's a taller variety. I also use the flower of the dandelions when they are in bloom.

 

[sweetiepie9]

And for a complete list of foods good & bad for beardies check out www.beautifuldragons.com under Nutrition. It also has a list of flowers, leaves & stems that are not toxic for them. For instance I bought a flat of impatients, haven't planted them yet & my beardie Rubio has snacked on two of the plants so far :shock: (ate the whole thing, too!) Luckily these plants are fine for them to eat, flowers, stems & leaves. The list is huge & very thorough, I've been using it for 6 years & my beardies are plump & healthy. And let us know when you finally get your first baby!
Deb