Knowing the price of a bearded dragon is very important for those who want to be bearded dragon owners. The pets may not be that expensive, but you want to know what’s coming for you financially.
The average price of a bearded dragon should cost you $40-$800, depending on several factors like age, color, and type. Buying a bearded dragon comes with other costs like buying equipment to build their home, and buying food can cost you $30-$200.
You can purchase bearded dragons on sale at reptile expos, pet stores, or private breeders. This blog post will look at how much a bearded dragon costs.
Factors That Affect the Prices of Bearded Dragons
Age
When it comes to the age of bearded dragons, the younger ones are cheaper than the older bearded ones. A baby bearded dragon costs around $20-$70, while the older ones can go up to $100 or even more.
Breed of Your Bearded Dragon
When we talk about the breed, we know it comes with different colors, patterns, types, and sizes. The bearded dragon morphs are more expensive because of their bright color.
Where You Buy Your Bearded Dragon
The amount you’ll pay for your pet may depend on where you have bought your bearded dragon. You can purchase your pet from a breeder, pet store, rehoming centers, or online sellers.
Before purchasing a dragon, ensure you ask the seller if it has health issues so you don’t incur more costs on treating it.
Costs of Some Types of Bearded Dragons
A Common Bearded Dragon
A typical bearded dragon is tan and brown. You can mostly find them in pet stores or reptile rescue organizations, and they cost $40-$75, depending on their ages.
They have the following features;
- White belly
- Spikes along their torsos
- Arrow-shaped heads
Orange Morph Bearded Dragon
They are bred by mating yellow and red morphs. They cost around $100-$250.
They are expensive due to their color and brightness, depending on their environment and mood.
- When they have relaxed, their color changes to mellow yellow-orange
- When they are cold or even stressed, they change color to dark grayish-brown
- When it’s hot, and they are excited, they are red with some orange on their head, legs, and spine
You can find this type at “fancy dragon” stores or purchase them from private breeders.
A Red Bearded Dragon
A red-bearded dragon ranges from pink to maroon. The deeper the red, the more expensive, that’s why their prices range from $50-$300.
The red color is natural as it occurs as small spots along the brown body of your bearded dragon. It takes time for selective breeding to get a bright red color.
You can purchase them in pet stores or buy from a private breeder specializing in red-bearded dragons.
Yellow Bearded Dragon
They are the most popular because of their golden skin. Yellow bearded dragons can cost you $100-$300 if you purchase from a private breeder. Their yellow shade can range from light tan to light orange, and it’s worth your money since they can retain their color for life.
Zero Morphs
This type of bearded dragon is close to albino dragons, and they are silver-white and without any form of pattern.
Since they are the closest to people with albinism, they are the most expensive bearded dragons costing $300-$900.
Willits is like zero morphine, but their tan is white; they cost $300- $800.Westeros is a hybrid between zero and Willits, and they cost $300- $700.
Translucent Bearded Dragons
They are bearded dragons that have translucent scales. The scales give their body a bluish color that you can see on their bellies.
The blue hue is only seen on juvenile dragons and disappears as adults.
You can purchase them for $ 100-$450.
Scalation Morphs
Scalation dragons have more minor scales, and they lose their spikes. The fewer scales a dragon has, the more vibrant their pigmentation. There are three types of scalation morphs.
- Leather Back
They have small scales on their tails and back and short spikes.
They cost $100-$500.
- Microscale
Microscales have no spikes, and they have smaller scales on their backs. They cost $100-$500.
- Silk backs
Silk backs have no spikes or scales. By lacking scales, their metabolism isn’t natural. They need lots of dietary supplements and environmental adaptations to survive. They cost $100-$200.
German Giant Bearded Dragons
They are giant bearded dragons you can purchase, and they cost $300-$500. German giant morphs are bred by breeding enormous natural bearded dragons.
Dunners Morphs
They are difficult to rear and breed, and they are highly specialized. Dunner’s Morphs scales turn outwards instead of aligning on top of each other, thus making them face down, and they end up being disorganized. Their stripes are diagonal.
They cost $300-$500.
Bearded dragons Set Up Costs
Buying a bearded dragon is only one part of your costs; the other is setting up its enclosure is where you are likely to ensure more price.
Enclosure
The enclosure is the most important thing you will need for your dragon and also is the most expensive single purchase. Your bearded dragon needs a large compartment that is comfortable and has ample space. How much you spend on your enclosure depends on how large you want it to be and where you purchased it from.
For a simple reptile tank, you can buy it at $75-$150. For a high-quality vivarium enclosure, it can cost you $300, and you will need to buy a tight-fitted screen lid that will cost you an extra $30. You can also purchase a used aquarium at a yard sale for $10 that may fulfill your dragon’s needs.
As long as your enclosure is of the right size, there is no right or wrong enclosure. You should pick a habitat that fits your needs and budget. You can even save your money by buying a secondhand to ensure that you sanitize it before placing your dragon inside.
Lights and Heat Lamps
You’ll need to buy some lights and heat lamps to create a comfortable environment for your dragon. These lights are like the sun, providing your dragon with nutrients while regulating its body temperatures.
You will need heat lamps and UV lamps. Heating lamps provide your bearded dragon with the right heat, while the UV lamps are for proper calcium synthesis and make your bearded dragon healthy.
It would be best if you heated half for your bearded dragon enclosure, and the other should be cooler to regulate the temperature your dragon needs. The bulbs should cost you $15-$30; the heat lamp is the most expensive and should cost you $40-$60. If you have a large tank, the bulbs can cost you $50.
You can sometimes get the lights and heat lamps at a lesser price at hardware stores.
Furniture
You need to add a few things to your dragon’s cage to ensure it’s comfortable. The following are the items that you need to add to your bearded dragon’s cage;
- Rocks
- Some plants
- A place for your dragon to bask
- A water dish
- Food bowl
- Some toys to relax
It would be best if you sterilized your furniture to avoid any parasites. Your dragon will enjoy their cage and go wild as they can cost you $30-$100.
Your total setting up cost should be approximately $50-$500.
Caring for Your Bearded Dragon
Your expenses are mostly covered once your dragon is equipped with an enclosure set up of your liking. You need to budget for things that will require you to purchase regularly. They include:
- Substrates
- Visitations to the vets for any emergency care
- Food
- Thermometer and hydrometer
Substrates
A substrate is a material used to cover the floor or the base of your enclosure. It would be best if you had some time to select the suitable substrate because it’s what your dragon will come into contact with. You can use a very cheap newspaper, and it would cost you $1 to purchase a newspaper.
You can purchase a reptile carpet that can cost you around $10. For your bearded dragon’s bark, it can cost you $20 to cover it, and you can replace sand most of the time with $5 per bag.
Visitations to the Vets
When it comes to annual visitations to a herpetology vet or an exotic animal vet isn’t the most challenging expense you can predict. When you bring your bearded dragon home after a purchase, you should take it to a vet and get it tested to ensure that it’s healthy and doesn’t have any dangerous parasites.
A visit to the vet can cost you $75-$160. If your bearded dragon doesn’t have any health issues, then the annual costs for healthcare are usually $70-$100. However, unexpected illness could raise your yearly expenses.
It depends what your dragon has been affected by, and the tests run on them can cost you some hundred dollars.
Food
Bearded dragons can eat a lot of insects, vegetables, and fruits. The younger bearded dragons eat more insects to plants while the adults eat more plants to insects. Plants tend to be cheaper as compared to insects which are very expensive.
Crickets cost $20-$500, while Dubia roaches are the most expensive and their prices vary depending on where you have purchased them. Regardless of the insects you choose, they will cost you between $30 and $80 per month.
You are likely to part with $40 per month for the vegetables and fruits. There are ways you can acquire cheaper and affordable vegetables if you want to cut your costs. You will also need to purchase some supplements.
The total cost of food per month you can spend is $40-$120. That is expensive, so you need to work with your budget.
Thermometer and Hygrometer
It would be best to have a thermometer to check your dragon’s temperature; second-guessing the temperatures are not a good idea. You should get two thermometers, one for the cool side of the enclosure and the other for the basking area. A thermometer should cost you $5 to $20, depending on its features and model.
A hygrometer is something else you can’t forget to have. It measures the humidity levels of your enclosure. You can buy one at $5-$20. You can get a model with both the thermometer and hygrometer, and it’s cheaper and more convenient to buy.
FAQ’s about Bearded Dragons
Conclusion
When buying bearded dragons, ensure you avoid unethical morphs, wild-caught species, and undomesticated dragons. Even though there are other places, you can buy a bearded dragon, like a pet store or from a private breeder, the best place you can buy one is at a reptile expo.
Ensure you know what you’re getting into before purchasing a bearded dragon. Take your time, have fun and ensure you get all you need.
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