If you start with a baby the cost is fairly minimal if you grow your own roaches and shop for lean meat on sale. Once it is larger however, it is a whole other thing.
Captain Jack, who is about 14 months old now will eat 6 oz of chicken chunks, a table spoon or so of liver, a couple of chicken gizzards and an third of a chicken wing for calcium or ground egg shells. About once or twice a week he gets scrambled eggs and a couple of frozen mice. Like Sam said bulk is the key especially when buying frozen mice. They are a fraction of what pet stores sell them for. I look for boneless chicken on sale for less than $2.00 per pound and cut it into chunks. I also have ground it in a food processor myself when Jack was younger. I wasn't a big fan of ground turkey that you can buy in the meat department as more often than not, it is a 85/15 blend, (lean meat/fat) and the fat is usually added beef fat which helps turkey burgers hold together better. Lean hamburger is the same lean/fat ratio. I also feed whole shrimp when I can get them cheap and whole fish.
I also give my guys treats like leftover roast, steak, chicken and fish.
T. merianea, Gordo
T. rufescens, Eva
V. Ionedes, Nyuse Kinabo, (Swahili - Black Gift from God)
Standard Poodles - Millee & Sonny Boy
A bunch of colubrids and tarantulas
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