Soon-to-be Owner with a few questions.

[Rukia1988]

Ha you probablly want another one because they are so tiny and cute =D

Little Zippy is so gosh darn adorable and I love to see her run across the floor.

Circkets can get super expensive buying them from the pet store thats why I switched and they are not terrible to keep alive like Valex said. Mine are just stinky but after a while its not too bad and all I do is feed them that total bites. I never thought about tossing old salad in there. I toss a potato in there for a couple days they eat it until its down to the skin.

My babies don't eat 100+ a day....Is that bad? They eat a good amount of greens and maybe 100 between the two of them a day. Zippy is almost 8 weeks and Pip is 4 months...Sorry I should start a new topic about that....

 

[Xanthur34]

Dang, I had no idea that keeping the darn crickets would be such a chore. I'm sketchy about ordering them though, I don't want to order 1000 and have 500 only living when they arrive.

As for keeping them, though, I could live with buying a tank and buying beardie pellets, or just using apples and potatoes. Where do I get water crystals though? I've never even heard of them before this!

Alright, if I DO order them, where should I get them from? I found Ghann's Crickets here, but are they good? Also, they sell by sizes, so what size should I get?

I hope I can get this all sorted out soon, the beardies at Petco are on sale for only 4 more days.

 

[Valex]

My answers will be in blue. =D

Dang, I had no idea that keeping the darn crickets would be such a chore. I'm sketchy about ordering them though, I don't want to order 1000 and have 500 only living when they arrive. If you order from Ghanns, they thrown in extra just to assure arrival of all you order(they are fantastic, ants once got into my shipment(ants eat crix), and I let ghanns know, and they sent me an entire new shipment free, it wasn't even their fault.

As for keeping them, though, I could live with buying a tank and buying beardie pellets, or just using apples and potatoes. Where do I get water crystals though? I've never even heard of them before this! Well, you can buy them pre-made from flukers, and you just drop in a couple chunks, and thy drink off of it. Or you can buy packs of crystals(they look like that rock candy, just off the stick), and you soak them in water, per the instructions, and store them in a baggy, and feed as needed, I just buy the flukers(plus they're calcium fortified) they come in an identical bottle to the fluker beardie pellets.

Alright, if I DO order them, where should I get them from? I found Ghann's Crickets here, but are they good? Also, they sell by sizes, so what size should I get? Like I said, I LOVE Ghanns. And it all depends on the size of the beardie, the crix have to be smaller than the space between the beardies eyes.. so it is all based on the size of the dragon you purchase. I would say pinheads are too small.. but idk. I would just buy "smalls" for the first week at the pet store, then when the little guy is home, measure between his eyes and go from there.

I hope I can get this all sorted out soon, the beardies at Petco are on sale for only 4 more days. What do you mean by you couldn't find a breeder? One close enough(almost all ship, its very safe) or with dragons you like? I like to order from breeders, just because I like color morphs more than normals, and petstores hardly ever have morphs, let alone nice ones.[/quote]


The End. Im super excited for you!!

 

[Xanthur34]

Thanks for all the input Valex, but I'm afraid that your excitement is dwarfing my own. I've hit on last major snag that may just end my beardie escapade.

Cost

If anybody here could give me a rough estimate of how much money a beardie ownership would be, I'd really appreciate it. I can't believe I spent the better part of 1-2 months researching on how to care for a beardie, and end up forgetting all about how much it would cost to ME to care for them.

If I do continue on and decide that I can still get a beardie, I'll look for a breeder to ship one to me.

And if it looks like I can compensate the crickets, I'll order them from Ghanns.

This isn't looking great for me. If the answer to my cost question isn't great. I'm going to have to drop the entire idea of a beardie

 

[munchkins9802]

What do you already have? Do you have a cage? Cost varies but in the beginning crickets ONLINE are about $30 a week vs almost $100 a week if you get the crickets at the pet store. It does cost a fair amount to get started with a baby but it is well worth it. I now have 2 (in SEPARATE cages of course!) Hermes is 18 1/2 months and Fireball is 6 weeks

Adult beardies cost more to buy to start with but cost less to feed as adults they get more "salad" vs protein--they still need it but have more protein options

 

[Jess]

If cost is an issue for you, I would definatly go with an adult! Personally, I wouldnt reccomend a baby to a beginner to start with, but you seemed so set on it LOL.
I rescued my first beardie, Wink, as a baby. My current beardie, Dudley, I adopted as a 2 year old. This is what you are looking at for costs:

Baby~ Buying my crickets from a pet store and occasional phoenix worms, wax worms, and mini mealworms, I spent about $10-$20/week. Wink had a lot of medical problems, so he didnt even eat as much as a healthy baby. During the first 6 months, I probably spent $300 + on food (Not good, considering Im a jobless 16 year old!). After he was big enough to eat super worms, the cost dropped to about $8/week... I love supers
Total Cost of baby: about $20/week

Adult~ I feed supers, so they eat about 30 of those a week. My boy is a chunk and needs a diet, so he is even less LOL. So in worms, Dudley costs about $2 a week. I buy about $3 of produce that lasts 2 weeks, and he eats maybe about $1-$2 worth of that, probably not even that much... My other pets eat the rest. I also buy some crickets whenever I stop by the pet store for variety.
Total Cost of Adult: about $3/week

Personally, I prefer adults over babies... You can do more with them, and they are alot hardier and cheaper. The only down side is that you dont get to watch them grow up.
If you return your viv and get a 40gal instead, you are all set. There are lots of adult beardies up for adoption on Craigslist and some nice used vivs too, and there are lots of adults and retired breeders for sale / for free on this site too.
I got Dudley from a woman who was pregnant, and had to give up her 4 beardies. He was dropped off at a local reptile shop. I think his adoption fee was around $100 (he was a gift, so not entirely sure), and a typical normal morph adult beardie should be $50-$100. So they really arent that much more than a baby.

 

[Rukia1988]

I bought everything at the beginning that was the expensive part.

Now taking care of them. I spend 17.50 every two weeks for 1000 crickets and thats for two bearded dragons. Cut that in half and thats about 8.75. My greens cost under a dollar for two weeks. Since they are babies they don't eat the greens fast enough for me to get a whole bundle of greens. I always just tear off 4 or 5 leaves of either dandelions, mustard greens, collar greens, and other things. It usually isn't heavy enough and the store just charges me for the most expensive green. But I am a first time bearded dragon owner and I may not be giving them enough greens. I feed them greens twice a day full bowls once in the morning and once again at night. They munch all day and I spray the greens with water to keep them good.

Altogether in a week for one of my babies I spend 5.00. Thats 10.00 a week for both of them. That sounds really cheap....Hope I am doing everything alright...they seems healthy and have no problems just some stinky poo sometimes but I think thats from meal worms....

I only buy meal worms as a treat...and they are 2.49 for 100 and I have had these over a month and they are still alive actually transforming...they were making Pip fat....because she wouldn't eat the crickets and just the meal worms she was being picky now she is back to crix.

Like I said the crickets last a long time for me and don't die....I just throw them in my bin and they survive.

 

[munchkins9802]

please don't feed your babies mealworms they can cause impaction in baby dragons but everything else looks good

 

[Valex]

I mean its really hard to estimate costs unless you know the particular beardie.

My Blaze as a baby could eat me through 200 crix a day if I would let him, wheras Killian would maybe eat 30-50 a day. So I bought shipments of 2000, which lasted me 2-3 weeks, longer if I added some assortment of worms in. 2000 w/ shippng cost me $30.00(+/-)

Now as adults(ish) they both eat some supers(great cost wise, however you cannot feed them until your pooper is at least 16in.)about 10 a week, and about Blaze eats 100-200 crix a week, Killian eats about 20. Now I order 500 crix and it costs me 20.00 with shipping(larger orders are more worth your while) and lasts me almost a month. I also buy 1-2 little can/boxes? of supers a month, together thats about 10.

Now for veggies....

I actually just wait until they show up in my parents refridgerator, and then stow them in my mini fridge in my room. :wink:

JK, I pay $3-4 for a collard, dandilion mix that lasts a month as long as my fridge doens't freeze them. I buy babyfood(when its on sale its $.50 at walmart) and stock up, and feed it everyonce in a while. then with fruits and such I really do just steal them from the main fridge. But when I do buy my own, I snack on them too, and its like $10 for strawberries, a squash, a cantalope, and whatever else is seasonal. And if it stays goood it can last anywhere from 2-4 weeks...

Then there are also vet exams.... not necassary.... but extremely bennificiary, that can run $50-500 for misc. services and medicines... but if you buy from a reputable breeder, and it eats properly, is active, blah blah blah, you can probably forgo this.

So if you can see from my timeline costs.. adults are cheeper in the long run, but nothing beats the bond you can get from raising a baby...

Baby= $50ish a month depending on their appitite
Adult=$20ish a month depending on their appitite..

And then there are replacement bulbs (every 6 months with a reptisun, every 12 for a megaray)

Please don't let this hold you back, just take it day by day. Its not as bad as it sounds... *I hope*

 

[Xanthur34]

Well, I'll just have to wait and see what my mom thinks. She's holding the cards right now. (By the way, it's nice to know that I'm not the youngest person here. I'm going on 18, and was thinking maybe I was taking on too much responsibility here.)

I guess if I have to, I could buy an adult. Sure, I couldn't watch it grow up, but I think it'd be nice to have one that won't need an insane amount of food and is already pretty mellow'd out.

It's those crickets that are worrying me. Here'd be my plan of action: Buy 500 (or 1000 maybe) from Ghann's, keep them in a 5gal cage (was that the right size?) give them potatoes and apples occasionally, and give them water crystals. Oh, and an egg carton to climb on. So, how long would they last me (feeding wise)? Would that cover a week or two? Oh, and it looks like the only possible place I could keep them would be in the basement which is slightly cooler than room temperature, would they survive there? (Also this would be my plan if I got a baby, I could adjust my cricket orders and get some veggies when I need them if I get an adult)

I'll have to wait and see what my mom says. It could still happen, or it might not. I just have to cross my fingers!

 

[Xanthur34]

Oh, I need to double post to say thank you all so much for everything so far! All of your cost input might be the deciding factor for me getting a beardie!

 

[Rukia1988]

Still go for it I was a college student with no job and a bearded dragon and I survived. Now I have a job and am spending so much money on beautiful custom cages and accesories and all that lol I think I am going a little crazy. But like Valex said it really all goes by your bearded dragon. If I were you I'd try the buying from the petstore first just to get an idea of how much your baby is going to eat before you make a commitment to 500+ crickets. I mean they overnight the crickets so you don't have to worry about having them before you get the dragon. Baby's are a lot of work but they are also alot of fun.

If you want one from a breeder look at the ones here in the forsale spot. I found little Zippy in there for around 115 bucks and her clutch mates went on sale a few days ago. The dragon was cheaper than the shipping but she arrived ok and colored up in a week but her personality is really shy to begin with. She is suppose to turn out to be a citrus tiger but I am not sure thats going to happen lol her first shed is showing more pastel colors....meh I'll love her whatever color she turns out

If you want an adult their are also plenty to choose from in the for free section I looked there and there were a lot of great looking dragons for free...

OH and I shouldn't feed my 4 month old meal worms?? She handles them pretty well...But ok I'll stop feeding them to her.

 

[ajkry2]

what a great intro thread!! i'm'a post a few links for a bit more research...

viewtopic.php?f=34&t=114817
http://skylab.org/~chugga/cricket/
http://www.theroachranch.com/care_sheet.html
viewtopic.php?f=30&t=37103&start=0#p279888 <--- to post photos :mrgreen:

enjoy your new pooper!

 

[Valex]

Yeah, Im about to be 17, and I've had to get a job to fund my dragon obcession. I mean maybe for you, it's giving up a new video game once a month, or an ice cream everyday(you get what I mean). I give up getting my acrylic nails put on, and that itself pays for my dragons needs. Its just little things like that. Maybe you take up more chores at home. Prove you'll do them. Go ahead and vacum/mop when she's gone, and she will really appreciate the effort you are putting in, and she will see how far you are willing to go to get one of these.

My mom absolutely HATES reptiles, so when my dad bought my first dragon for me, she was livid, but oh well, then a month or so later, circumstances came up, and Killian had to move in with me at my moms. And now she LOVES the little guys, I still can't get her to pet them, but she loooovvveees to feed them and watch them gobble everything up. At this point now, even when i accidently let crix`loose, she would hate to not have them around. They really are my "scaley puppies"

OH, and about the temps... as long as your basement/gargae wherever stays around 80* it'll be fine. My crix survived for weeks in 70*, so they're a little versatille.

Just see what you can do, if you make weekly runs to waffle house like I do, cut that out, and set that money aside... it's just little things like that.

 

[Jess]

I think I might be the youngest person replying to this thead at least... Hehe
I give up some shopping sprees and stuff like that, but its worth it to keep my babies! Id rather have them than a new shirt or something! Im applying for some jobs so I can spoil them even more LOL.
My mom didnt like Wink at first, because I wasnt supposed to keep him but I did (agreed to rehome him after he was healthier) but now she goes into my room and dresses Dudley up and texts me pictures of him when Im not him LOL. She might not always admit it, but she loves my pets... :lol:

If you get an adult thats at least 16 in long, you dont even have to get crickets. I feed Dudley super worms as a staple, and they are by far my favorite feeder! I keep them in a little Glad container with holes pokes in the lid, a couple inches of bran, a piece of egg carton, and just throw in Dudleys left over salad. Easiest things ever! You just have to keep them fed so they dont canabalize each other, and they pretty much dont die... I usually get 50 at a time, and I never lose any unless I forget to feed them. They are more meaty and cheaper than crickets too!