Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi guys. Ok, here is what I want to do. I always wanted a bearded dragon. But I have really bad luck when it comes to baby reptiles. Keeping that in mind, I don't want to spend 50 bucks on a four inch thing that will wind up dead the next day. The other alternative is to buy a fully grown one, but they are WAY to expensive for a 15 year old kid who gets $25 a month allowance So, this is kind of bending the system, but I wanted to purchase a baby, and let an actual experienced person take care of it. Of course I would give that kind person money for food, lighting, vitamins, equipment, etc, and I would reinberse the person who would be kind enough to do this for me. And if they had a lot of others, they could just put it in with their other beardies. In either case, can anyone tell me how long it would take a baby to about 9inches? That is the size i can safely handle one. I mean, the babies are really cute, but I just keep having this dreadful thought about me handling it and then dropping it, or accidentally smashing it's little head or something! I have lots of other reptiles, but all of them except one I have bought as adults or subadults (the ball pyhon I'm trying my hand at is a juvie) Anyway,if you could help me out with this I would be SOOOOOO greatful! thanks!

P.s-If anyone knows where to get adult beardies for cheaper than $100 i would like to know. Male or Female, regular or gold or sandfire, I don't care, I just want an adult or sub-adult, please let me know!

wow, if you're not responsible enough to look after a baby reptile, maybe you should wait a while.

Also, instead of paying someone else to care for one, why not just save your money and get an adult. It's money spent either way. Plus if someone else is looking after it, they will not accept responsibility if something does happen to it in their care so you would be out your money anyway.

I would just wait/save up for a bigger one.

Good luck
Joel

Yeah Weevax, he has a point. Your Idea was good in theory, but if you sent it to a breeder or something, unless you got them to sign an agreement paper, they could just drop a book on your beardie and you could do nothing about it. It was a nice idea, though...

The reason why is because once i had a baby savanah monitor. I bought a book, followed everything it said, followed everything the pet guy said, and got real attached to it. It died in 2 days, for like no reason, and I guess I got traumatized. Besides the whole herp selling/bearded dragon system is a little weird. If the babies are so easy to raise and maintain, then why are there like 10,000 of them in the pet store, and why do people sell adults for so much more? would like to know

adults out there in need of homes that are affordable =)http://market.kingsnake.com/detail.php?cat=51&de=98220

Cool, thanks for the tip. I will look into the url thingy, lol

I suggest that you hold off on getting a bearded Dragon until you can afford the set up and the animal. All too often people purchase animals without really knowing what they need to survive and thrive.

A baby dragon may only cost $50-$100 but think about what else you will need.

An enclosure that will be big enough in a year $100-$500
Heat lamp with bulb $20-$50
Fixture for fluorescent light $20-$100
Bulb for UVA/UVB light $40-$80 (every 6 months)
Insects & Greens for food $15-$50 (every month)
Substrate and furniture for enclosure $10-$100
Possible Vet visit $50-$100
etc.

Bearded Dragons may be one of the best lizard pets but they do require an expensive set up. I'm not trying to tell you never to get one...I'm just trying to give you an idea of what it takes to keep one. It's also important to have all this stuff before you even bring home a new beardie.

You are on the right track by asking questions before you buy anything. Do some research and maybe you can find a pet that would better suit your budget. One good example would be a corn snake.

Good luck.
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Oilfan94 - Big Mike

An enclosure that will be big enough in a year $100-$500
Heat lamp with bulb $20-$50
Fixture for fluorescent light $20-$100
Bulb for UVA/UVB light $40-$80 (every 6 months)
Insects & Greens for food $15-$50 (every month)
Substrate and furniture for enclosure $10-$100
Possible Vet visit $50-$100
etc.
Wow, where are you shopping? An enclosure big enough in one year can be made for less then $50. I made a two cage shelf type thing for about $80. Heat lamp with bulb, $5 for the fixture, and if you do it right, bulbs are $2.50 each.
Bulb for Uv, around $20, fixture $10.
Substrate for a baby, $2 a month. Furniture you can get for free if you want to do it that way.

wow, did you make the cage from scratch, or did you get the schematics elsewhere? I'm currently constructing a cage/enclosure for a tegu, but it doesn't sound as cool as the one you built. I'd love to see some pics of that.

I was shopping in Canadian funds(opps) and I was shooting a little high. Not everyone has the tools or know-how to build a suitable enclosure so I didn't include that option. I don't think it would be a good idea to give someone with a fixed budget and very limited experience a low-ball estimate.

Turn out they have more funding and experience than the first post let on...

Thanks though

>>An enclosure that will be big enough in a year $100-$500
>>Heat lamp with bulb $20-$50
>>Fixture for fluorescent light $20-$100
>>Bulb for UVA/UVB light $40-$80 (every 6 months)
>>Insects & Greens for food $15-$50 (every month)
>>Substrate and furniture for enclosure $10-$100
>>Possible Vet visit $50-$100
>>etc.
>>Wow, where are you shopping? An enclosure big enough in one year can be made for less then $50. I made a two cage shelf type thing for about $80. Heat lamp with bulb, $5 for the fixture, and if you do it right, bulbs are $2.50 each.
>>Bulb for Uv, around $20, fixture $10.
>>Substrate for a baby, $2 a month. Furniture you can get for free if you want to do it that way.
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Oilfan94 - Big Mike

Oh im not concerned about any of the equipment, i already have that covered. I mean, I have:

a green iguana
2 tokay geckos
2 leopard geckos
an armadillo lizard
a ball python
a hissing roach colony
a russian tortoise
A rose hair tarantula

and finally, a desert hairy scorp, all with proper lights, food, heaters, etc. My parents will get me the equipment I need (my mom anyway), But for some reason, I have to earn enough cash for the actual animal, which is the difficult part. thanks though

The cost of an adult dragon various depending on what colour morph you are looking for. A normal morph adult may not run much more than $200 though I cant' recall seeing an adult for sale for a normal phase. You could look into getting a juvenile as they are more robust and not likely to die over night. However buying from any petstore who don't always care for their reptiles very well there is always a chance of it dying on you due to problems occuring before you even buy it.

Check with local breeders and see what they have available some may have normal phase for $100 for a juvenile or less. I paid $65 for a three month old normal phase dragon who was about 8 inches long and it was really easy to take care of. He is now nearly 15" long and only about 6 months old.

but searing this post made me almost sick!
i have 3 pet chameleons .. and they are not easy to care for like a beardie is
they require MUCH more work, and time devotion
do research on them, and if you REALLY cant raise them yourself, dont get one@!
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Jason, Ichiro, Mika & Toki
1.0 veiled chameleon
0.2 dwarf panther chameleons
jsinger_jimt@hotmail.com

RE: "i dont ecen own a beardie"
or
RE: I don't even own a beardie

If you don't have one, or don't intend on getting one, then you should stick to the chameleon forum, man. I admit it was a lousy idea, with lots of flaws, but you can't compare beardies to chameleons, except for the fact that they are lizards. Chameleons are a pretty poor choice for a pet, people just get them because they look cool, but the die WAY more in captivity than dragons. I mean, if you take care of yours, cool and lucky you because most people don't, but I'm just saying that you can't compare the 2