cost of keeping a beardie?

[wulfie]

Hey guys, I just noticed a few posts in the 'for sale' section of the forum where people are selling their beardie cause they didn't realize the cost of keeping one. My question is, what IS the average cost of keeping a beardie? I don't have one, so that's why I ask. Any and all info is greatly appreciated

 

[Gymgirlx]

Good question. Babies are VERY expensive. I have 2 now and I'm guessing they each would cost close to $100 a month, but luckily I have my own dubia colony. Babies will eat through a persons' wallet. Adults are not that expensive to keep, but are a daily commitment. Adults generally eat 80% veggies. I spend $8 or so a week on good salad stuff, not too bad and I generally eat some of it too.

 

[wulfie]

and of course the initial investment for a tank, lighting, heating, etc I noticed at Markheim's, a local petstore here that they have several juvi's, I'm guessing they could eat you out of house and home as well?

 

[Zeusmybeardie]

Idk if u want it to be cheap build your own viv your own tank decorations get some rocks from outside put them in the oven to sterilize them or just buy some bricks theirs so many ways u can make it cheap and your better off breeding u wish I could but dubias are a good thing to breed easy no noise don't stink crickets are also but lots of noise and stink and then veggies are like 5$ a week I don't know how gymgirl spends a hundred a month if she breeds her own but the starts the most expensive but if u want cheap go with an adult

 

[Gymgirlx]

Idk if u want it to be cheap build your own viv your own tank decorations get some rocks from outside put them in the oven to sterilize them or just buy some bricks theirs so many ways u can make it cheap and your better off breeding u wish I could but dubias are a good thing to breed easy no noise don't stink crickets are also but lots of noise and stink and then veggies are like 5$ a week I don't know how gymgirl spends a hundred a month if she breeds her own but the starts the most expensive but if u want cheap go with an adult

no, no. If I was NOT breeding dubias, I would spend nearly $100 a month on crickets. Here crickets are $.10 each. My colony is doing fairly well and I have spennt around $75 for the colony, but it's lasted months. You can save a ton by having your own colony of dubias.

 

[Zeusmybeardie]

Ok sorry yeah here Winnipeg reptiles has them for 6 cents a criket every else is redicolus I can't have dubias and I want to breed crickets but it would have to be kept outside

 

[bunnyrut]

initial set up cost well over $200 (i think) for all the supplies. plus the bulb replacement. and then the electricity costs

running to the petstore weekly to buy crickets is costly. it would be cheaper to buy in bulk. a lot of online retailers sell 1,000 crickets for around $20.

hit up reptile expos to see different types of food, and ask them how difficult it is to raise colonies for those sources.

i am currently setting up a superworm colony, they are pretty easy to start and maintain. i would go with the dubai roaches, but i cringe when i see them.

silkworms are difficult to get going because of how delicate they are. they die off easily if you do it wrong >.<

crickets are i think medium difficulty, it just has a lot of negatives. noise, small, inevitable escapes.

reptiworms/phoenix worms are kind of costly to get started because of the set up, but once you get them going it's fairly easy to maintain and beneficial to your garden if you have one.

 

[Jessica90]

i spent about 110 on my beardie 400 on her set up 25 on a dubia colony another 65 to add to the starter colony i bought and 11 dollars for 25 horn worms and 8 dollars for 100 crixs and then all the cute stuff like 15 for a fleece beardie hammock lol and 15 for a harness and so on LOL

 

[nordica]

I think I personally average about $300 per initial set-up for a beardie, and that's from scratch (keep in mind that that's for EVERYTHING, including snuggly toys and blankies). I keep my own dubia colony, but make online purchases for Supers, Butters, and Hornworms every other month, which will run me on average $75 (including shipping). Every week I buy fresh veggies at the grocery store, which only runs me between $10 and $15 each time. Supplements such as calcium powder and multivitamins don't have to be bought very often at all, perhaps once a year, as they last a while. No less than twice a year, new UVB bulbs are purchased, which cost me a little less than $100 each time (I have two beardies).

However, I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the cost of Vet bills. It's recommended to take your beardie into the Vet every six months, for a standard check-up. Generally speaking, they'll give him a one-over and run a fecal exam, which seems to run between $50 and $60. However, if you need to get blood work or X-Rays done... you're obviously looking at much more. To give you an idea of just how much more, I totaled up just how much I spend on my little Leo, trying to save him... and it came to over $2300.00. I don't mention that to frighten you or put you off of the idea of getting a beardie, I just want everyone to be fully aware of POSSIBLE costs that could arise.

In my personal experience, it's much cheaper to get a cat. :lol:

 

[sweetiepie9]

I have 4 adult males, I didn't spend alot on tanks, as got them on special at the pet shop or for free on Craigslist & none of my dragons were bought, they were rescued or adopted. The biggest cost is the lighting. I use power suns, they're mercury vapour bulbs, luckily get a 30% discount as need to replace 5 every year (I recently bought a solar UVB metre to help with finding out if a light is low on UVB & needs to be replaced). I get the 30% discount because they're $100 in the pet shop as opposed to $65 online. I live in Canada where shipping from the USA can be very expensive. I also have a ramp in my living room with a power sun at the top (can you tell I live alone?) so each one can have some outside of their tank time to run around. They eat supers mainly as bugs, they're 8 cents each. I don't buy alot because they don't eat alot, especially at this time of year. The veggies I buy might cost $5-8 per week. I bought a dubia colony for $40 & it's going fine, hasn't cost me more than oranges ever since. You also have to have $ set aside for a vet, I take each of mine to the vet yearly for fecal & checkups, usually once they're awake after brumation, just to make sure they stay healthy. My oldest just turned 9 years old, so I have to have $ put aside, just in case he needs an extra trip to the vet.

So $200 to begin with, not including cost of your dragon, would cover it, if you were to buy everything at a pet shop.

 

[Chirple]

My bearded dragon is 6-7 months old and eats lots of dubia, but not much for greens. A big $1.60 thing of collard greens + the same cost in mustard greens / etc will last him over a week - and I'm always cleaning leftovers out every day.

He goes through $50 a month in dubia. O___O I am starting a colony because he's such a pig, but it's going to take a while to get established and lucky me, he'll probably have slowed down by then. Yes, they eat way more than most pet stores will tell you. He's at 20-25 dubia a day, I think - and I've heard of them eating much more !

I give him superworms, too, since he's gotten big enough. I'm out right now, but I only give him ~5 a day, so a big order lasts a long time. I've tried other worms with him, but he doesn't really like them (even before he got to try supers). I tried crickets, but he turned his nose up at them completely - just let them run all over the tank so that I had to pick them all out one at a time. -____-

He's been about $70 in vet bills so far (checkup, poop test, and meds for coccidia and pinworms). I think the initial setup was $150 - but I haven't made any fake rocks or anything yet and it's really sad and bare because I didn't want to fix it up while he's on medication and needs daily cleanings.

 

[catherine86]

Yeah, vet bills are a big one. You might want to consider getting a pet insurance plan for your beardie, such as VIP or Trupanion (though I found that the premiums can be a bit high), or a discount program for the vet, like Pet Assure or United Pet Care.

 

[Zeusmybeardie]

Is their pet insurance and how much a month

 

[catherine86]

Is their pet insurance and how much a month

Personally I use Pet Assure, their website is (appropriately entitled) http://www.petassure.com. They actually have a dedicated lizard page I found http://www.petassure.com/lizard-insurance.html.

 

[Zeusmybeardie]

I can't use it I'm in Canada I will have to do some research