The cost of owning a Beardie?

[RedDragon25]

I was just curious to see whats the total cost of owning a beardie when it comes to supplies, feeding, and heating. I

1.How much does it cost monthly to heat a beardie?

2.How much do you spend monthly on food? (vegetables, feeder insects, etc)

 

[1537PaperStreet]

Buying the supplies could run into some money. My estimate would be between 100 and 150 for the supplies. Look around for a tank. Used ones can be found on Craigslist and at independent pet stores pretty often.

As far as the cost once you have one, it's relatively inexpensive. I buy my crix for $25 per 1000 at a local fish and reptile store. They also sell phoenix worms for 8.99 per 100. I try to mix it up. I would say I get crix once every two weeks. As for greens, I go to the grocery store and get a few leaves each of some combination of collard, turnip, dandelion, or mustard greens. I also get about 10 green beans and two or three stems of cilantro. From the salad bar, I get one strip of green or orange bell pepper and a tablespoon of shredded carrots. I food process all of them. This usually costs 1.00 every week or so as I put them all in one bag and go to self checkout and ring them as whatever is cheapest in produce.

Again, te bullk of the money will be in startup. We all recommend a 40 long tank of 55 gallon breeder. Currently, I have mine in a 20 long and he's about six months old. It was very cheap at the time and I figured it would work until I found something bigger, which is gonna be soon.

Good luck. Keep us updated and post pics when you decide to get one.

 

[1537PaperStreet]

Sorry for the typos in the previous post. The wireless keyboard is acting up.

 

[jessilynn]

It really depends on the quality of what you're getting. I have $500 set aside for when I get my beardie (and all the supplies), and I know that will be plenty.

As for food, buying a breding dubia colony will cost about $50, and you will never have to buy live food again.

 

[ziggy23]

1. I did not notice a notable change in my electric bill. If there is an increase, it's probably only a few bucks.

2. I breed my own feeders, so just a few bucks a week for salad stuff. When I did buy crickets about $100 bucks maybe a little more a month for 3 hatchling/juvie dragons if I shopped online. One of those dragons ate an usually large amount of food. if you buy feeders from pet stores you can expect to pay as much as 10 times more for feeders.

uv bulbs need to be replaced every 6 months. reptisuns cost like $25. My GE (i think) halogens have been running for nearly a year. Those only cost me maybe $8 a piece. So that's a yearly cost of like $60ish a year in bulbs per dragon.

other things not mentioned.
I spend like $60 on vet check ups. That's a flat rate not dependent upon how many animals they're looking at. Follow ups if needed are included in that price. I am lucky enough to have a vet that does not charge more for exotics, but that is not the case for everywhere. Fecals are $20 per sample. Meds for parasites/worms are just a few bucks. I accidentally split one once and they refilled it for free.

Vitamins and calcium supplements will last you forever. they have an shelf life of about 2 years, and you probably won't use it up before then unless you have a lot of mouths to feed.

You're going to spend the most money just getting started, but it's not that bad. It works out about the same as one of the less expensive pedigree dogs. The enclosure and the animal if you go through a breeder is what will cost you the most. There are ways to find a cheaper enclosure if you look around.

 

[RedDragon25]

Thank you so much you guys! I'm really relieved to know heating won't cost much. As for feeding insects, my beardie is mainly going to eat phoenix worms. My mom would go nuts if I brought 1000+ crickets in the house.

Here's my BD shopping list. If I missed anything, please let me know.

40 Gallon Critter Cage (My room isn't really large enough for a 55 gallon. I think we'll be moving soon so in our new house, I'll be able to get a larger tank)
Reptisun 5.0 UVB Tubes
100 watt Ceramic Heat Emitter or Basking Bulb with fixture
Food - (Mustard Greens, Collard Greens, Phoenix Worms, etc)
Terrarium Background
Food Dish and Water Dish
Basking Platform
Accurite Digital Thermometer
Rep Cal Calcium with D3 and Herptivite
Reptile Carpet
Driftwood
Fake Plant
Reptile Hammock
Juvenile Bearded Dragon

About how much will all of this cost? I'm currently saving up all my money to get everything on my own. I have $40 at the moment, which is a pretty good start.

 

[1537PaperStreet]

10.0 on the uvb. herptivite multivitamin. Get the supplies and a digital probe thermometer and get the temps and humidity correct first. I learned the hard way

 

[ziggy23]

Thank you so much you guys! I'm really relieved to know heating won't cost much. As for feeding insects, my beardie is mainly going to eat phoenix worms. My mom would go nuts if I brought 1000+ crickets in the house.

Here's my BD shopping list. If I missed anything, please let me know.

Exo Terra 36 x 18 x 18 Terrarium (My room isn't really large enough for a 55 gallon. I think we'll be moving soon so in our new house, I'll be able to get a larger tank) not sure of price of that, my tank is a used oceanic tank someone just wanted to get rid of. that's a decent size though. Another alternative for a inexpensive tank, is petco often has $1 a gallon sales, also keep an eye out for used sales. people will sell used fish tanks at significantly cheaper than buying new. unused tanks take up a lot of space and people won't them gone fast. sometimes people will just give them away.
Reptisun 5.0 UVB Tubes reptisun 10.0 is better. that's about $25 from petmountain.com. the tube fixture will cost you $10-20 at walmart or hardware store. no need to buy a "reptile" fixture
100 watt Ceramic Heat Emitter or Basking Bulb with fixture no need to buy a "reptile" basking bulb. get something from any place that sells bulbs. it can be the same incandescent ones you have in your lamp, or a halogen. price depends upon wattage. a halogen might knock ya back $6-9 bucks and last a while. Fixtures will be $10-$20 depending on what wattage you get. get one with a ceramic top, they handle the heat better. CHE, I don't use. They are generally only used at night if your house is cold or to supplement temps during the day.
Food - (Mustard Greens, Collard Greens, Phoenix Worms, etc) the greens $1-2 a bundle. I don't buy worms
Terrarium Background don't use. if you want to save money this is something you can skip out on. if your dragon is stressed by their reflection you can just use paper.
Food Dish and Water Dish couple bucks. water dish probably wont' be used. you can just as easily use a saucer for salads.
Basking Platform depends you can easily make your own out of bricks and wood.
Accurite Digital Thermometer $12
Rep Cal Calcium with D3 and Herptivite been a while since I bought them, maybe $10-20, they last forever
Reptile Carpet depends on size. you can save money upfront by using newspaper or paper towels. if you go for the carpet, i would recommend a spare, so the dragon isn't slipping and sliding while you wash it
Driftwood not bought any in a long time sorry. you can use stuff you gathered yourself, you have to clean it and bake it for a while to make sure you get all the nastys and critters out, if that is possible for you
Fake Plant I don't use fake plants, so no clue. this is something you can skip on or save for later to lower upfront costs
Reptile Hammock I've seen them for about $10. I've actually been debating on making my own using old baby blankets and hooks
Juvenile Bearded Dragon $40-60 from a pet store. $100-200+ depends on morph and breeder. sometimes breeders will sale ones with nips for really cheap. it might be very tempting to get one from a pet store because of the significantly lower price, but you run a very good chance of paying the difference in vet bills later. Most pet store set-ups are a breeding ground for bacteria, parasites and worms. many feed them next to nothing, and combined with multiple dragons in one too small tank, fighting and nips are probably inevitable. A good breeder keeps their animals 6+ weeks and feeds them well. They are started on greens at an early age and they've had vet checks and fecals to ensure health. many will continue to help even after you buy the dragon if you have any questions or concerns. Good ones care about their animals and it shows.

About how much will all of this cost? I'm currently saving up all my money to get everything on my own. I have $40 at the moment, which is a pretty good start.

hope that helps.

 

[ziggy23]

Forgot something: Timers! You can get them for as cheap as $10, and they make life tons easier. Life happens, you can't always be home at the same time every day. With a timer, just plug in your lights, set the on/off times and you'll never have to worry about it again.

Dimmers are also an inexpensive product handy for tweaking temps. many people have the problem of one bulb too cool, then next too hot, with a dimmer you can turn your bulbs down.

Both of these items can be found at any place that sells hardware.

 

[RedDragon25]

Awesome! Thanks for your help Ziggy! I have just one more small question though.

Our house can get pretty cold in the fall, winter, and sometimes early spring. Our house usually goes as low as 60 degrees but I think my room is about 4 - 7 degrees warmer since my windows are shaded and they're new and not large like the windows in the front room of the house.

Will one heat bulb provide enough heat to heat both the warm side and the cool side of the tank or will I need a second heat bulb? That's the only thing that has me confused.

Also, I was going to set my bearded dragon's tank up on my dresser in my room. The dresser is about 2 1/2 feet away from my window. The sun does not shine through any of the windows in my room. Will it still be ok to house my bearded dragon on my dresser as long as the shade is pulled down?

Thanks again

 

[ziggy23]

You might require a second bulb for the cool end, and a CHE for night time then.

You might be fine with the tank close to the window. Mine are right in front of a window with dark curtains. That window only gets maybe 2 hours or so of sun a day early in the morning, and i don't have problems. Just keep an eye on it and when and with the season changes.

 

[RedDragon25]

Thank you so much for all your help. I really appreciate it . I'm going to keep doing my research until I know I'm ready to own a beardie. This will be my first reptile in a couple of years and I'm very excited . I estimated the cost of all the supplies and at the max, I'll be paying $300 for everything which isn't bad at all. My boyfriend is giving me $300 out of his income tax next month so that will cover everything I'm going to need.

Thanks for your help everyone!, especially you Ziggy .