Pets are a commitment of both your time and your money. You will owe them at least a little bit of your day for the entirety of their lives. You will also have an upfront investment and a continuing investment the whole time you have your pet. This is true for all pets, including bearded dragons.
A bearded dragon purchased from a pet store or breeder costs between $60 – $100. The cost of the initial setup will range from $200-$400. A yearly vet visit can cost up to $75 and food averages around $35 monthly. The total investment during the first year of ownership will range between $600-$800.
Price of a bearded dragon
The first thing to consider is how much a beardie will cost to acquire. This will depend on a few factors, not the least of which is where you buy your bearded dragon.
Pet Stores
The most common place, although by far not the best place, to get a bearded dragon for a pet is your local pet store. Most big box pet stores will have several beardies to pick from. Privately owned stores are no different.
Depending on the store, these beardies may or may not be well cared for. They may not be bred well either and could be prone to illness or other issues. I’ll spare you my rant if the store in question also sells puppies, but let’s just say you are better off spending your money elsewhere!
Pet stores will typically charge between $25 and $60 for a baby or juvenile bearded dragon. They also oftentimes have older and larger beardies priced around the $100 mark. Some stores will also carry “fancy” beardies for even more. These are bearded dragons with especially bright colors and beautiful markings.
Breeders
A much better place to look is a local breeder. You can locate these on Google, but in my experience, a much better place to ask is your local herp vet.
A herp vet is one that specializes in reptiles. This type of vet will most likely not only know of breeders in your area but will also be able to speak to the quality of care those breeders give their beardies.
Good breeders will have an ongoing relationship with a good vet and will care a lot about the health and well-being of their beardies. They will also raise them properly so they can be easily handled by you and your family.
Your local breeder will typically be 10-20% below your local pet stores in price. We can’t speak for all of them, but this is what is generally found. You will also have a lot more beardies to pick from when going through a breeder.
Reptile shows
If you can’t find a local breeder, look for a reptile show in your area. When I first heard of these, I could hardly believe they were even a thing! But I was pleasantly surprised. There are a good number of reptile shows that happen regularly all across the country.
At these shows, you will find lots of beardies for sale. All ages, types, breeds, and sizes will be available to you. Prices will typically be on par with what a local breeder will charge.
This is also where you will find rare and beautiful breeds of bearded dragons. There will be all kinds of “morphs”. There will be varying sizes. All this and more will add significantly to the price. While you will be able to find very competitively priced “standard” beardies, you will also be exposed to some who may cost as much as $1000 or even more!
A reptile show is a great place to meet and buy your new beardie. Plus, you’ll get to meet people who will be more than happy to help you in the process. Not to mention you’ll get to walk around and see more cool and weird reptiles than you ever even knew existed!
Craig’s List
We don’t really like this idea a lot, but it’s worth a quick mention. Many times beardie owners will want or need to find another home for their animal. Many of these folks will place an ad on Craig’s list.
While it’s admirable that they try to find a home for their pet, it’s the reason why that gives us pause. Many times, an expensive upcoming vet bill, a health problem, or behavioral issues are why people are getting rid of their beardie.
If you go this route, have a vet check the beardie first. Also, handle them to see if they are okay with people. In other words, beardie buyer beware!
As far as cost, Craig’s list will be all over the place. We’ve seen everything from free to over $100. It really just depends on what is posted in your area.
Rescue
Lastly, and our favorite option, is to rescue a bearded dragon. Rescues are typically beardies who have lost their home for any number of reasons.
Sometimes people have to move and can’t keep them. Sometimes an owner simply doesn’t want their dragon anymore. Sometimes they are well cared for, and sometimes they have been neglected and abused.
In all cases, they need a good home. This is how we got our little girl, Bacardi. We love knowing that we have given her a home that makes her happy. We made room for another beardie to be rescued where we got her. And she was free!
This isn’t always the case. Some bearded dragon rescues will charge a small adoption fee. This is totally worth paying as the rescues are typically people who simply love bearded dragons and end up paying everything out of pocket.
We found Bacardi in an environmental biology classroom at a local community college. She lived there with a couple of other beardies and a menagerie of other animals. She had a good home, but it wasn’t ideal for her. We love that she is home with us now!
If you can, we would encourage you to pursue the option of rescuing a bearded dragon. We feel this is the best way and it really helps an animal in need. Start with Google, but check with your local herp vet to see if there is a rescue in your area.
On average
The cost will vary based on where you buy, what breed you buy, and other variables, as noted above. But take all that into consideration, and the average cost of buying a bearded dragon as a pet is between $50 and $100.
This is just the beginning of your initial expense and you should budget between $300 and $700 total to get started as a bearded dragon owner. Let’s take a look at what that initial expense is made up of.
Initial ownership expenses
Initial vet visit
This is one that a lot of people overlook and don’t plan for. It’s recommended that you take your new beardie to a herp vet within 48 hours of bringing them home. That’s right, sometime in the first two days.
I’ll be honest. We didn’t do this with Bacardi, but we should have! Nothing turned out to be wrong with her, but our minds would have been more at ease had we just gotten the initial vet visit taken care of right away.
You can expect to pay anywhere from $75-$150 for this initial visit. For a detailed explanation of what this visit entails, why you should do it, as well as what ongoing veterinary care looks like for a bearded dragon, check out our full article here!
Must haves
While some may argue with a few of our “must” haves and call them “should” haves, we would argue that our job as beardie owners is not to see what’s the least we can get by with.
Our job should be to provide a great home to our new reptilian friend. If that means spending a few extra dollars, then so be it!
Tank and lid
We fully cover what size vivarium you’ll need in a detailed article you can see here. But regardless of the size and type you go with, you absolutely will need an enclosure for your bearded dragon.
You will also need a tight-fitting screen lid. Do not leave the top open, and do not cover it with something other than a screen. A vivarium can quickly become an oven if it doesn’t have proper ventilation, so make sure you have a good screen cover!
These two items will cost, on average, between $75 and $300. The reason for the price range is the various designs and styles that are available. As a general rule, the nicer the enclosure, the higher the price.
You can definitely save some money here by buying used, but make sure to carefully inspect what you are buying. Also, make sure to do an amazing job at disinfecting any pre-owned vivarium you decide to use. Even the smallest bacteria or parasite can spell big problems for your new beardie!
Don’t try to save money by buying small and then sizing up down the road. Buy the right size the first time. Your beardie will thank you, and so will your wallet!
Make sure and check out our recommended setups page here, where we outline our favorite vivariums for different budget levels. After researching a myriad of types of enclosures, we think we’ve found the ideal solutions for you!
To see the enclosure we use for our bearded dragon, check out the listing here on Amazon.
Lighting
Lighting is critical to get right. It’s so critical that we put together a really in-depth guide to proper lighting and heat for your bearded dragon here. As far as what that means to your initial spending, you’ll need several things.
Basking
First, you’ll need a heat source. We see a lot of people recommend a standard incandescent bulb here. This is not a place to try to save money! Spend the extra dollars and get a dedicated basking bulb made for reptile enclosures.
Maintaining proper basking temps is critical to your beardies well being. We cover temperature guidelines here in full, but we don’t recommend you trust such a vital thing to a $2 bulb. A good basking bulb is not that expensive and you can expect to pay $20.
UVB
You’ll also need a UVB bulb. This is another area not to skimp on. Please don’t use a run-of-the-mill household fluorescent bulb. They simply don’t put out enough UVB or UVA light. This light is critical to your beardie’s health. You can expect to spend $15-$25 on a decent UVB bulb.