The REAL Cost Of Beardies!!!!

[JessPets]

i don't agree with the high cost stated here. vet visits can add significant cost but that's not something you can really quantify as you don't know what issues you may run into. food for a beardie is very cheap, in my experience its under 15.00 a month. i would recommend anyone with a beardie to have a roach colony that is large enough to be self sustaining, this is a higher up front cost but will last you years and the cost difference of getting 1,000 roaches for 100 bucks vs buying roaches for 3.50 each at a pet store is obvious.

Good for you!

But, anyone who DOESN'T have a roach colony (or can't) and takes proper care of their beardies, and owns one that is less than a year IS looking at $30-50 per month for food - even when buying in bulk.

 

[VenusAndSaturn]

ncc74656 wrote:
i don't agree with the high cost stated here. vet visits can add significant cost but that's not something you can really quantify as you don't know what issues you may run into. food for a beardie is very cheap, in my experience its under 15.00 a month. i would recommend anyone with a beardie to have a roach colony that is large enough to be self sustaining, this is a higher up front cost but will last you years and the cost difference of getting 1,000 roaches for 100 bucks vs buying roaches for 3.50 each at a pet store is obvious.

Yeah I'm sure it would be a lot cheaper to afford my beardies if I had a larger roach colony but roaches are slow growers and when you have 3 hungry beardies (plus 3 other omnivore/insectivore reptiles, and about 27 hatchlings on their way) it's just not possible unless you can buy hundreds of roaches to add to your colony so you have enough to feed off of and thats pretty costly.

The main three costly things with beardies is food, lighting and then vet bills.
Lighting can easily cost 100+ the first time you buy and then about 40-50 dollars every 6-12 months.
Heat lamps can get a bit expensive too if you buy reptile branded ones, they also dont last long.

Food can be anywhere from 10 dollars a month to 115+ dollars a month, depending on age, if you buy it, where you buy it, if you breed it, how many beardies/reptiles you have, ect.
However most people can't really breed it and then have enough to feed off, you'd have to start a few years before hand to really get a stable colony. And most people probably wouldn't wait for that or can't wait for it as parents may not want a bunch of roaches being bred when you may not even want a beardie afterwards.

 

[lizardmom25]

i don't agree with the high cost stated here. vet visits can add significant cost but that's not something you can really quantify as you don't know what issues you may run into. food for a beardie is very cheap, in my experience its under 15.00 a month. i would recommend anyone with a beardie to have a roach colony that is large enough to be self sustaining, this is a higher up front cost but will last you years and the cost difference of getting 1,000 roaches for 100 bucks vs buying roaches for 3.50 each at a pet store is obvious.

I don't think there is any way to feed a young beardie for $15 a month is you DON'T have a roach colony. Not everyone can sustain one. I tried, but just couldn't get it to work. I had 2 heat pads and ceramic heater on it, and still couldn't get them hot enough to breed.

 

[ncc74656]

i keep the roach box on top of the tank, it sits around the 80f range but i have them breeding as cold as 60f, they just breed slower at the colder temps. at times i will put a ceramic heater over the top of the bin but that's really only in the sprint/fall when its hard to keep stable temps in the house due to the drastic tempature changes outside. i had to restart the colony a couple times as my beardie had a bindge period where she was eating 5+ large roaches every meal and some times twice daily... totally wiped me out