Reptile products

[nolagurl]

It seems like you slap the word "Reptile" on a box and companies can charge 2x more than a product should cost.

Example: Bedding!


Are there any products that y'all use that aren't necessarily marketed for herpers that are cheaper?

I found 200W infrared bulbs at the harware store. There the heating bulbs that some people put in their bathrooms. They are much cheaper than the ones sold by Reptile *brands.*:w

[Neo]

i bought some shelf liner or kitchen counter liner for a "substrate" cost me 4$ for a whole long long roll of it that will probably last me forever, used a christmas decoration plant as a "reptile vine", boston market lids for dishes, wal mart 'party lights' for heat, true value reading lamp (looks just like heat lamp) for 4$ i dont think i have nething from the pet store except enclosures and feed.

[Youkai]

Bed a Beast, eco earth, etc etc.

You can find the same product at greenhouses and nurseries for often 1/3 the price.

[skinheaddave]

Definitely! If I had to pay pet store prices for things I wouldn't have even close to the zoo I have now!

First of all, I generally build my enclosures myself. Aquariums are gotten from garage sales, but lids I make myself. Most of the snakes are either in tupperware (for the young'uns) or in custom built enclosures. A lot of my wood was gotten through dumpster diving or through connections (I demolished our overflow bar last summer and was allowed to keep anything I wanted).

Light bulbs etc. can, as you said, be gotten from a harware store. Fixtures can be bought at hardware stores or, even better, be recovered from garage sales, dumpsters etc. and put to use. The same goes for plumbing, tubing etc. I make my filters myself, too, as all I really use are wet/dry trickle filters.

I got my hemostats off ebay and a lot of the other tools come from the dollar store. Actualy, while I'm on the subject, my local dollar store sells plastic plants as well which is neat for cage decoration. Other cage decorations are taken from the great outdoors and sanitized through baking or bleaching. My snake hooks are golf clubs cut down to size with steel bars bent to shape and expoxied in.

I buy my crickets from the pet store as well as vitamine supplements. I've gotten a few of my animals through the pet stores as well. Other than that, though, I go in mostly to speak to the employees, most of whom I know.

Cheers,
Dave

[nolagurl]

I've gotten plastic vines from craft stores and I have flower pots for hide boxes. I wish I could make my own cages! I do have a friend in Indiana that's an art/furniture major so he's going to build me a cage.

[Wuntu Menny]

You guys are all on the same page as me. I've been finding ways to chip away at pet store prices for years. I must be the worst construction site dumpster diver around. I think its about time we compile it all a publish something on the subject.

The only trouble is who's going to sell it, the pet stores?

WM

[Dani33]

Yup, I've gotten some stuff from garage sales. I recently went to the local hydroponics store for compressed coconut fibre - way cheaper. For my wedding, my mom bought lots of fake vines and such. I have tonnes and good quality ones too. Grape vine and stuff. I have also purchased other substrates from gardening centers. My dad and I always collect cool rocks, branches and drift wood. Which I disinfect with either bleach or the oven. You just have to be creative!

[CDN-Cresties]

Iagree, I buy many things from walmart for my cresties

-Steve-

[Darren179]

I made a big thick caving system with mini tunnels and everything with basicly rounded aluminum covered in clay molded into shape and panted a sand colour. So now I have a big tunnel system for my geckos and they just love it. Cost about 20 dollar to make and a few friends of mine offered me about 50 for it. but its very big I will try to post pics.

[chamitch]

the only problem is somtimes u dotn knwo what u are getting when u buy bark nuggets from teh store. somtimes they put pine in with teh cypress.

[nolagurl]

Originally posted by Darren179
I made a big thick caving system with mini tunnels and everything with basicly rounded aluminum covered in clay molded into shape and panted a sand colour. So now I have a big tunnel system for my geckos and they just love it. Cost about 20 dollar to make and a few friends of mine offered me about 50 for it. but its very big I will try to post pics.

i'd love to see pictures of that! you've inspired me to try to make a new hidebox for my boa.

[Darren179]

hah thanks ill try to get my hands on a digi cam. the great thing about it though is pipe and putty has so many possibilities I made a river system that goes all throughout my crestie tank and my bearded dragons have some great climbing mountins and the good thing about the putty/clay stuff is its non toxic (forget exact brand name) but it also give great leverage for beardies and leos I know alot of times they slip and slide on the commercial items.

[chas*e]

Sure it is like HarleyD products...same 50cent bolt but put HD on it and it is $5....you should go to lighting supply stores or even Homedepot and most stuff is way cheaper...for bedding go to farm product stores...for substrate get meat paper from a butcher shop...for plastic plants go to a dollar store

[drewlowe]

I buy bed a beast (or similar products) at a feed store for a fraction of the cost. I also pick up my meal worms substrate from a feed store (better prices than walmart). Some cages have rubbermaid bowls for water and food (that cuts cost quite a bit). Light bulbs i get at hardware stores along with floresent fixtures. Instead of buying gallon jugs of spring water i buy reverse osmosis water for the same price at a speciallty fish store. For fresh veggies i go to a specaillty market They are so much cheaper there. I buy insects of the net instead of from the pet shop i get more for my money that way. Right now i can't think of anything else. Oh wait for my last sustrate for my leos (which i just redid thier cage) I bought all the rocks at a masonry (there is a specialty herp store that sells rocks for an outragous price).

[Lisa]

I think people think by saying it's for reptiles it implies safety. like hot rocks :)