getting first B.D. how much dose it cost?

[bigbrow4]

I want to get my first B.D. but I dont know if i can aford all of the stuff for one. I looked on lots of sites but didnt get what I needed to know can some body please help.

 

[Catalyst]

Dragons can be pretty expensive, especially for the inital set up. Here's a quick basic break down of what you'll need:

Dragon - of course Its best to go through a good breeder instead of a petstore if possible. You can expect to pay anywhere from $70-$200+ depending on how particular you are about colour, etc.

Enclosure - its best to start off with a full size enclosure instead of starting off with a small one and moving up as the dragon grows because you'll save yourself a lot of money. For a single adult dragon you need something with 6-8 square feet of floor space and at least 18 inches in width - this works out to a 75g glass tank or larger, or you can build a basic 4 ft x 2 ft x 2 ft enclosure using the plans available online, or you can order a custom built reptile enclosure. The cost will depend on which option you go with. For instance, a used 75g tank could be found for under $100 (but then you'll also need to buy a screen lid for it), building your own enclosure would run you $100-$200, and custom built tanks range greatly in price.

Lighting - this is an area that's confusing for many beginners. You need 2 types of light: heat and UVB. For your heat light, you can use a regular light bulb or a halogen flood light. All you really need is something that puts off enough heat to get the temperatures to the right spot and which gives off lots of bright clear (not coloured) light. You'll also need a dome light fixture with a ceramic socket to hold this bulb (runs $10-$20 each). For UVB there are two options:
(1) flourescent tube UVB bulb - these bulbs should be replaced every 6 months, give off UVB only (no heat), and your dragon should be able to get within 6 inches of the bulb at some point in the tank. The best is the Reptisun 10.0 and you can buy it online for $20 (much more expensive in stores). You'll need a flourescent light fixture to hold this bulb, either the type you'd hang over a table in a work shop (available from home improvement stores), or the type you'd use on an aquarium. Prices for these fixtures varies.
(2) mercury vapor bulbs - these put out heat as well as UVB (an all in one type of bulb) and need to be replaced every 6-12 months depending on the bulb. Your dragon should be no closer than 12-18 inches from the bulb since these are much stronger than the tube lights. The good ones are the megarays (see http://www.reptileuv.com) and the t-rex active heat flood bulbs and you can order them online for $40-60 each.

Digital thermometer with probe - a must for accurate tracking of tank temperatures. Can be found for $5-10 online or in stores.

Substrate - if you go with a baby your best bet is to use something solid on the bottom of your tank. Paper towels, nonadhesive shelf liner ($10 a for a roll that should cover the whole tank), reptile carpet, and textured slate or ceramic tiles are all good options. There are a few reletively safe loose substrate options for an adult dragon (children's playsand, some of the coconut fiber beddings), but make sure you do your research before using any loose substrate and NEVER use calcium sand or vitasand as these are dangerous to your dragon.

Food and Supplements - another big expense. The supplements aren't too bad, you'll need a jar of calcium powder (repcal phosphorus free calcium is a great one) and a jar of vitamin powder (repcal herptivite is a great one for that). Then there's the food. A young growing dragon can eat anywhere from 50-100+ bugs a day so you'd be best off to either breed your own bugs or order in bulk online. An adult dragon only gets 30-50 live bugs a week so they're much more affordable that way. Dragons of all ages should have a fresh salad every day. When my girl was a baby, I spent nearly $100 a month to feed her. Now that she's an adult I spend about $10 a month (I breed my own superworms for her, so it's mostly just greens and veggies that I have to buy).

There might be other things that I'm forgetting, but hopefully this is enough to give you a general idea of what you're looking at.

 

[Fogles]

Best thing to do for feeding wise, breed your own crickets.

Just buy 1000 bulk off the internet for around 17-20$, setup a cricket box, and make a heating box for them, kinda like a dog house..and throw a small cheap heat lamp in there. feed em and breed em. It's much cheaper that way. You're gonna wanna do this outside since crickets have a bad smell. I'm setting mine up in my garage when my beardie gets older.

 

[ghr15]

If you live near Toronto I know of a good bearded dragon breeder.

 

[h0ndap0w3r]

40$ for 40 gal breeder tank Used (smallest for adult dragon)
40$ for MVB (UVB/heat)
megaray or t-rex active heat
20$ for deep dome fixture
30$ timers and power strip
30$ cage decorations (substrate, food bowls, tank pictures(thing that goes on the back))
you don't need to buy a "reptile" bowls the terracotta plant saucers from home depot that cost about a buck i found work best.

Feeders:
5$ for small rubber maid container
20$ for 1000 crickets (order at least 2 sizes smaller then what you need) they grow fast when kept even remotely warm.

realistically your looking to spend 185+ on just the setup, not including the cost of your dragon.

i would also get a roach colony going since your going to have a few months of downtime, you could start with 125mixed dubia, and they'll be ready by the time your dragon hits about 6 months.

buy your feeders online and order in bulk, it will save you in the long run you could also look into breeding your own bugs, supers, roaches, etc. When they hit the age where there going through 100 or so crickets a day, it can get pretty ridiculous.

if you do it right, it shouldn't be to expensive, however if you listen to the petstore and don't research things before hand, you could end up spending an extra 50 bucks or so on random BS that you don't need or is unnecessary. *sigh this is what i did* however, most if not all of the stuff i have found uses for.

 

[beardie parents]

40$ for 40 gal breeder tank Used (smallest for adult dragon) Where can you find a 40 breeder for that price? There are no used in my area and the new ones cost at least $100/
40$ for MVB (UVB/heat)
megaray or t-rex active heat T-rex on sale at petmountain.com for $43. between now and Jan 5th if you put Holiday in the discount box, you get 10% off all you purchase
20$ for deep dome fixture
30$ timers and power strip
30$ cage decorations (substrate, food bowls, tank pictures(thing that goes on the back))
you don't need to buy a "reptile" bowls the terracotta plant saucers from home depot that cost about a buck i found work best.

Feeders:
5$ for small rubber maid container
20$ for 1000 crickets (order at least 2 sizes smaller then what you need) they grow fast when kept even remotely warm.

realistically your looking to spend 185+ on just the setup, not including the cost of your dragon.

i would also get a roach colony going since your going to have a few months of downtime, you could start with 125mixed dubia, and they'll be ready by the time your dragon hits about 6 months.

buy your feeders online and order in bulk, it will save you in the long run you could also look into breeding your own bugs, supers, roaches, etc. When they hit the age where there going through 100 or so crickets a day, it can get pretty ridiculous.

if you do it right, it shouldn't be to expensive, however if you listen to the petstore and don't research things before hand, you could end up spending an extra 50 bucks or so on random BS that you don't need or is unnecessary. *sigh this is what i did* however, most if not all of the stuff i have found uses for.

 

[bigbrow4]

thanks this really helps.

 

[h0ndap0w3r]

The 40gal breeder tanks pop up on craigslist.com every so often, ive picked up one for 55 and another for 70 with a buncha stupid stuff i didnt need. the very next day, i want to say at least 4 posted up 40gal breeder tanks for 40 bucks. I was just impatient and didnt want to wait, therefore i had to pay. recycler.com also has some on sale ever so often.

 

[ghr15]

Oh yeah by the way if you are breeding bugs don't gut load all of them. Just take the ones you want to gut load into a contained and do it to feed them the next day. I found the supplements would kill many of the crickets off I ended up wasting allot and the smell every day from all the dead ones was horrible.

 

[beardie parents]

The 40gal breeder tanks pop up on craigslist.com every so often, ive picked up one for 55 and another for 70 with a buncha stupid stuff i didnt need. the very next day, i want to say at least 4 posted up 40gal breeder tanks for 40 bucks. I was just impatient and didnt want to wait, therefore i had to pay. recycler.com also has some on sale ever so often.

I keep checking craigslist in my town and in Tucson, AZ and never see a 40 breeder for sale, or even one a little larger than that. I saw a 55 (too narrow) for sale once. A male beardie was listed (adult) from a town about one and one-half or more hours drive to the south east of us, in a tank the same size I have on Zoom Zoom.

 

[h0ndap0w3r]

maybe thats why, im in so cal