what supplies do i need to take care of a bearded dragon and what will it cost me?

Question

I am doing a merit badge for boy scouts on reptiles and one of the things i need to do is take care of a reptile. I have been doing research on reptiles and the easiest and the most fun thing to take care of is a bearded dragon. I am on a budget so what do i need to have a healthy and happy lizard

Answer 1

ok...first of all...the other two replies you have gotten so far are..well..wrong. i have years of experience with retiles and beardies. a good set up for them will be around 400-500 bucks. (by the way, lepard geckos DO need uv lighting)

-a good size terrarium. a 40 gal. breeder will do just fine.
-play sand (available at lowes or home depot for about 6 bucks for a 50 lb. bag.)
-uv B lighting. (this can be accomplished by either a florescent light or by a mercury vapor light. id go with murcury vapor, it provides more uv, it provides heat, and it doesnt lose it UV output over time like florescents do. and it should last you for about 2 years.)
-a basking light (basking lights supply uv A as well as heat. if you are using a 100 watt murcury vapor bulb then you should only need about a 75 watt basking light)
-you will need a hide cave
-an undertank heating pad
-water dish
-things for the beardie to climb on
-a screen lid
-2 thermometers (one on each end of the tank)


youll want one end of the tank to have the heat pad and lights on it, while the other end should remain cold. this way the beardie can thermoregulate. they will eat cricekts and roughly 15-20 should be offered per day. along with a combination of greens (mustard, collard, romane lettuce, red lettuce, kale) and other veggies (parsnips, okra, carrots, squash, dry (ground up) lima beans) it will also need on occasion (once or twice a week) some superworms, or phonix worms. you will also need to "dust" your crickets twice a week with a calcium and vitamin D3 supplement. make sure the supplement contains beta carotene NOT vitamin A, as vitamin A is not quickly processed by beardies and can lead to problems.

and the last thing....BUY A BOOK ON THEM! they can be purchased at any petsmart, petland, etc. etc.

good luck! they make great pets!

Answer 2

Incredible that people with loads of years experience still want to pu them on loose substrate like plays and!!! This is a definite no-no

Answer 3

Forget the bearded dragon. The cost for a dragon and the set up is a few hundred dollars. Many reptiles need special light requirements. I dont think a gecko needs any though but I am not sure.

I forgot to mention that UV lights have be replaced at least once a year. You also need to buy something for him to climb on.

Answer 4

If you don't have much money do not get a beardy all the supplies they need to get started is expensive, once you have everything it is cheap to keep one.
You need a 20 gal tank
4 bags of reptile sand
a special light for reptiles
a screen for the top of the tank
A place for them to perch
Food
special cleaning formula
When we got ours we spent $500 easy

Answer 5

HOUSING:

Baby/Juvenile (0-12 months)
A Minimum of a 20 gallon long (30 1/4 x 12 1/2 x 12 3/4) tank is needed is achieve a reasonable gradient of temperatures. Aggressive tendencies, injuries and other complications such as the loss of limbs and tails and even death have been noted when attempting to house more than one dragon together.

Adult (12 months +)
A minimum size of 36"x 18", with 48"x 24" or larger being preferable, and a height between 18"and 24" is required to house one adult.
Bearded dragons are not social creatures by nature and only gather together for mating purposes. Aggressive tendencies, injuries and other complications have been noted when attempting to house more than one dragon together.


SUBSTRATES:

Substrates are a highly debated topic among experienced owners, keepers and breeders. Opinions vary with experience and skill.
With that said......babies are safely raised on a non particle substrate material such as reptile carpet, shelf liner, butcher paper, paper towels, or ceramic tiles. Non particle substrates hold no chance of contributing to impaction.

Adults may use any of the above mentioned substrates and can also safely live on sifted washed playsand purchased from your local retail store or hardware store. Avoid all pet store substrates.

When fed on particle substrates, the new owner should understand that the consumption of substrate material is possible and all live prey should be fed in a separate container.

FEEDING:

Baby/Juvenile
They should be fed a ratio of 80% protein and 20% greens. This breaks down to feeding a baby 2-3x a day as many crix as they can eat in 10 minutes. The crix should be no bigger than the space between a beardie's eyes. If feeding in the same tank as the beardie is living in, all uneaten crix should be removed. Make sure that one feeding a day (6 days) is dusted with a calcium dust. This dust should have d3 and should be phosphorus free. On the 7th day make sure you dust one feeding of crix with a multi-vitamin. Offer a fresh variety of greens daily. Examples of greens...dandelions, chikory, bok choy, swiss chard, escarole, there are many more. NO lettuce of any kind should be fed. Fruits can be given as a treat once a week. NO citric. It usually take a while for babies to adjust to greens, keep trying as they will eventually eat them.

Adult
Their ratio should be 80% greens 20% protein. This breaks down to about 15-25 crix a week. You can feed them all in one day or broken up between a couple, whichever is better for the owner and dragon. Dust with calcium one week then dust with a multivitamin the next. Offer a fresh variety of greens. The same as above, but they should be eating much more. Make sure that there is enough greens for an adult beardie.

LIGHTING/HEAT/TEMPERATURES:

Baby/Juvenile
UVA lighting provides heat in the form of indoor flood lights, reptile bulbs or typical household bulbs. The wattage of the bulb required to reach proper basking temperatures of 105-110F (measured with a digital thermometer) for a baby depends on the size of the tank, the ambient temperature inside your house, cage decor and it's proximity to the basking site. Heat bulbs and UVB bulbs should be set up by a timer available at your local hardware store. They should be set for a basic 14/10 day. There should be a good gradient temp between the basking site and the cool end. The ambient temperature for the cool side should be 70-85* with the temp closer to 85* for a baby.

UVB lighting provides rays essential for good physical and mental health. UVB fixtures should be no less than 18 inches long and should be placed directly on top of the screen top so that the dragon can get within 6-8 inches of the light. Longer fixtures reaching the length of the tank will help ensure good exposure. Some fixtures come with a plastic lens over the bulb that should be removed before using.

Adult
UVA lighting provides heat in the form of indoor flood lights, reptile bulbs or typical household bulbs. The wattage of the bulb required to reach proper basking temperatures of 100-105F (measured with a digital thermometer) for a dragon depends on the size of the tank, the ambient temperature inside your house, cage decor and it's proximity to the basking site. Heat bulbs and UVB bulbs should be set up by a timer available at your local hardware store. They should be set for a basic 14/10 day. There should be a good gradient temp between the basking site and the cool end. The ambient temperature of the cool side should be 70-85* with the temp being closer to 80* for an adult.

UVB lighting provides rays essential for good physical and mental health. UVB fixtures should be no less than 18 inches long and should be placed directly on top of the screen top so that the dragon can get within 6-8 inches of the light. Longer fixtures reaching the length of the tank will help ensure good exposure. Some fixtures come with a plastic lens over the bulb that should be removed before using.

All temperatures should be accurately measured with a digital thermometer or temp gun. All other forms of measurement may be as much as 20 degrees off.

UVB LIGHTING SUGGESTIONS:

Repti Sun 10.0
Repti Glo 8.0
Mercury Vapor Bulbs


SUPPLEMENT SUGGESTIONS:

Calcium
Rep-cal Phosphate free w/d3
Absolute Calcium
Minerall
Calypso

Multivitamin
Herptivite
Reptivite

Parasite control
Parazap

Answer 6

depending on the size you need for the cage: 40-60 dollars
substrate-5 dollars
water dish and bowl/5 dolalrs each
uvb/uva bulb-27.00
basking bulb-7.00
hood for the lights-30.00
cirkcets= 10cents a piece times 15 a day
dark leady greens= 3.00 a week

their pretty expensive at the initial cost. but after that youre paying for food.