Have you ever wondering how much does a camel cost? What is the cost of maintenance for a camel?
These are the usual questions that are blowing in the mind of a person who has made a trip in some deserts and has tried the experience of being in a camel.
The Camel is a historic animal that is present from a long time ago in our life. Thanks to its distinctive humps on its back, it is considered the most knowable animal on the planet.
There are different types of camel present nowadays, and these are:
- Dromedary
- Bactrian Camel
- Wild Bactrian camel
The dimension of the Camel, in general, can reach up to 2m in height and between 250cm in length, while the weight of a male camel is around 500kg.
After giving you a general overview of the Camel, now is time to look at the cost related to owning and purchasing a camel.
Table of Contents
How much does a camel cost?
The purchasing price for a camel ranges from $5000 to up to $20000, depending on the breeding, however in general, most of the camels are sold between a price of $10,000 to $15,000, this is the average price in the USA, while in other countries like Australia the cost for a camel is ranging between AUD 3000, due to the major presence of it.
| Higher cost | $20,000 |
| Average cost | $8,000 |
| Lower cost | $5,000 |
Can I buy a camel?
Yes, anybody with experience and enough space can buy a camel, the are many types of Camel, and many of them are adapted to be domestic.
Owning a camel is not an easy task for a new farmer, especially for people who don’t have any experience with these types of animals.
The Camel has a good memory, and if you train it with a reward, they can give you a lot of satisfaction.
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Cost of Camel by species
There are many species of camel present in nature; each one of them has its advantage, and for some, peoples may look better than others.
As you can imagine, the cost of Camel is also influenced by the species of Camel that you would like to purchase.
For that reason, in this part of the article, before going in-depth analyzing the cost of maintenance for a camel, we will look at the expense of Camel by species.
Species of Camel and their cost
There are three types of Camel, and these are:
- Bactrian Camel
- Dromedary
- Wild Bactrian camel
1-Bactrian camel cost
The Bactrian Camel may be considered the main camel present nowadays; it is well recognizable thanks to its double humps on its back that contrast with the single-humped dromedary camel.
In the wild, they usually live in Asia’s rocky deserts. As for the other types of Camel, they have good conservation of fluids, as they can resists for a long period without water.
The cost for purchasing a Bactrian camel is around $10,000 on average.
2-Dromedary camel cost
The dromedary camel has the distinction to own only one hump. It is also known as Arabian Camel, they rarely sweat, and they can maintain fluids inside their body for a prolonged period.
This legendary animal has served and helped millions of peoples during the years. If you were wondering about owning a camel as a pet, the dromedary might be the best choice for you.
This because they have been domesticated for over 3,500 years, helping carry packs for long distances.
The average cost for buying a dromedary ranging from $5,000 to $15,000
Cost of Maintenance for a camel
As for other types of pets, if you have enough space and a great passion for owning a camel, the next thing that you should do is to take a look at the cost of maintenance for a camel.
And this is what we are going to do in the next part of the article, so let’s go.
How much does it cost to feed a camel?
As for any type of animal, the first worry that you should have is about feeding the animal with the right food.
If you think about the dimension that a camel can reach, you could believe that the food cost will take a good amount of your money, but for having a better idea about it, let analyzing more deeply the food cost for a camel.
The Camel are types of animal that can be adequate at more harsh climatic conditions, which make it a not huge demand for food.
As for the cattle primarily eat grass and hay, which are not expensive items to buy, because the hay is available in huge quantity in nature, while for the hay, the cost is around $121 a ton for grass hay and $165 for alfalfa.
One of the most important things that a farmer must consider when purchasing a camel is to ensure a great number of water supplements.
In the case of a huge farm, as it will be used for other animals will not influence the cost largely.
Cost for housing a Camel
In the case that you have enough space on your farm, you can quietly exit that part. Anyway, some important considerations must be taken for any owner of a camel pet, and it is related to housing.
Due to its height and dimension, the Camel needs space to live comfortably; the protection must ensure that the Camel is not directly hitter by the sun during the day, or by the rain during the winter season.
Other important things that must be included inside the housing of a camel is the hay on the floor, to guarantee a comfortable place to rest during the night.
If you don’t have the space necessary for your Camel, you need to invest some money to build it.
This investment can be considered essential for the safety and protection of your Camel because the last thing you want is sure that some predator will attach your Camel during the night.
Depending on the space you have available on your farm, the cost for building housing for your Camel can range between $2,000 to $10,000, but if you are a bricklayer or have some friend, you can surely decrease this amount money.
Veterinary cost for Camel
As for other types of pets, the Camel needs care to grow healthy and without any problem. For that reason, if your first worries were about giving the right amount of food, drink, and a good house, your next step should be to find a good veterinary that will be able to care in the best way possible your camel pet.
The veterinary cost for the Camel in the majority of the case is equal to the cost that you pay for cattle and horses.
As they require regular vaccination, you should be ready to keep monitoring the progress of vaccination and don’t miss anyone, avoiding any possible future problem for your Camel.
Training cost for Camel
As for a horse, the Camel needs training to be used in the best way possible and respond to the human’s command. To achieve that goal, there a series of techniques must be adopted.
For particular animals like the Camel, it is usually preferable to get trained Camel by a professional trainer. The cost of paying a trainer is unknown in the USA due to the minority of people owning a camel as a pet.
While in Australia, due to the majority of Camel, more and more people adopt a camel as a pet. In the last period, there are many possibilities to choose among different agencies that offer courses on how to train a camel.
In Australia, the average cost for 14 days of training is around $1000 AUD
3 Things To Know Before Buying A Camel
Depending on why you want to buy a camel, you should be ready to know a lot of things before purchasing a camel. Usually, the main reason someone wants to buy a camel is that they want to use it to travel or as livestock.
1-Consider the lifespan
One of the first things that must be aware of, if you are thinking of buying a pet, is its lifespan. In the case of the Camel, you can expect a lifespan of 40 to 50 years. During this years, you should consider the cost of the maintenance for the Camel already listed before.
2-Purpose of buying a camel
It is good practice when we speak about big animals as pets to consider the purpose of why we want to purchase it. If you are part of people who want to purchase a camel to have a pet, be ready to invest a lot of money on housing it property or building it from scratch.
3-Cost of transportation for the Camel
Depending on where you live, the cost of transportation can be variable; if we consider the type of animal, you can expect a high cost of transport, due mainly to the attention that must be reserved for your Camel.
Where can I buy a camel?
Nowadays, thanks to the evolution of the internet we can contact an agency and ask about the availability of camels, anyway the central market place where Camel are sold are:
- Ethiopia
- India
- Australia
If you are a traveler or are traveling to the listed places specifically to buy your Camel, you should take care of the selling price that people propose.
Sellers may recognize that you are not originating from that place and can easily increment the Camels’ price.
The best solution to makeover this issue is to bring with you a local person, paying it not so much money, can help you give an honest price.
What are the factors that influence the cost of a camel?
One of the first factors that may vary the cost of a camel is the availability of the place where you will buy it.
If you are in the season where the market offers a lot of Camel, you can expect to pay the Camel at less price. In contrast, opposite discussion if you purchase the Camel in the season where there aren’t many available in the market in the last case you will pay a little bit more than expected.
Other factors that may vary the cost of Camel are age, sex, and its use if it is already trained.
Conclusion
As you might notice during the article, there is a lot of consideration and cost that you should consider before purchasing a camel as a pet.
I hope that thanks to this article you can make your evaluation of camel cost with more details, and evaluating if buying a camel will be the right choice for you.
