Some Pet Stores!

Moose_18 · 03-01-04, 07:35 PM

I go to a certain unmentionable pet store where i get all my pinkies cages etc. The price for a small lamp was about 12 bucks

. I then got a tip from a friend who said he saw the same size lamp at Lowes /w a clamp on the end for only 5 bucks!

I figured this out only after i bought over 250$ in reptiles and equiptment. I just want to know if you guys have experienced the same frustration and if u haven't i want to warn you.

foman · 03-01-04, 07:45 PM

No, but I have seen alot of people get suckered into to pay petshop prices. Most equipment in a petstore can be purchased somewhere else at half the price.
Man they must make a ton of loot off that stuff.

scalawag · 03-01-04, 07:46 PM

I try to get all my hardware, supplies, decorations at hardware stores, wal mart, etc.

C.m.pyrrhus · 03-01-04, 07:50 PM

Pet Stores have a lot of overhead to deal with also. Most of their income come from purchases of the smaller items like this, not the animals, so that is the reason for the higher prices. To sell a lamp for $12 increases the income ever so slightly over the $5....helps pay for the shop more over time. Same reason for all them silly gadgets folks think they need, like the lizard hamocks, shed sprays and Iguana Pellets. None of it is needed, but folks buy it up becuase they think they must need that crap. You can easily buy anything cheaper at another store....

Siretsap · 03-01-04, 07:52 PM

We also buy most of our equipment from hardware stores or wal-marts or even dollar stores.

But just make sure your lamp you buy at the hardware store can support a good amount of heat if you are going to use heat lamps in it... Usually the ones in petstores are made of ceramic while the local hardware ones aren't since they are used for lighting and not heating.

As for the rest, well if you like the look of your rocky water bowl, then buy it at the pet store, I buy mine at a dollar store and come in many sizes...

Pontus · 03-01-04, 08:04 PM

i buy all from hardware stores
onlything i buy from a pet store is the animal and usualy not even then

Invictus · 03-01-04, 08:21 PM

You think the price on clamp lamps is heinous, just look at what they charge for flourescent canopies... like $120 and up!! I can wire up a flourescent fixture and build a canopy for no more than $30. So yeah, you could say I always look at the hardware store first.

As a sidenote, also look at heat bulbs... $28 for 100W at the pet store... $5 at the 'Depot.

mykee · 03-01-04, 09:43 PM

It's too bad only a select few know about the hardware store vs. pet store prices. Who should be made aware are the poor parents who bend and buy their kid the gecko/corn/beardie/hamster/kingsnake they've always wanted and end up shelling out $400 when the trip is through.

sapphire_moon · 03-01-04, 11:36 PM

Yup, think about it though, do you really think mechanics and such go buy their clamp lights at pet stores? lol, I doubt it! The ONLY thing (reptile related) I buy from pet store is aspen. I bought hides for the corn snake at a pet shop, but that was like 4 months ago, and just about as long for the aspen (yes it lasts that long!)

Bighead · 03-02-04, 12:03 AM

I work at a pet store and I find myself refering people to walmart or home depot all the time (as long as the boss isn't listening). Some of my favorites are the $10 spray bottles and $3 cardboard tubes for hamsters (toilet paper rolls). How about all the crap you can shell out on your crickets? It's amazing what people will pay for useless stuff.

mykee · 03-02-04, 01:37 AM

However, ignorance is bliss.

jay76 · 03-02-04, 10:38 AM

Don't forget that name factors into price. That 24.99 Exoterra lamp may only cost 9.99 at Walmart, but it won't say Exoterra. Not that that makes it right.

rwg · 03-02-04, 12:24 PM

People who dont know better might think that the pet store stuff is different somehow. They'll pay more just to be safe. They might be justified in doing so. For example, most of the lamps I've seen at Canadian Tire are plastic and aluminum. If you have a basking bulb in it you'll probably want a ceramic fixture. I'm not saying you cant get it cheaper elsewhere, but you have to know a bit more about what you want. The guy buying a leo for his kid's first reptile might be better off paying a bit more and getting the right stuff when it comes to heating/lighting and enclosures. Hides and dishes are another matter.

rg

sapphire_moon · 03-02-04, 02:01 PM

true, but the clamp light I bought at wal-mart has a warning on it that says not to put anything over 150 watts in it. I think that would do for alot of herps. I've had 100 watt bulbs in it, and the bulbs put off alot of heat. When I had my digi thermometer under the light, and only the light it read like 98 degrees F.

Edit:
it was like 3-3.5 ft away from the probe, on a wooden desk. So it's not something like glass that just warmed up.

rwg · 03-02-04, 02:10 PM

I agree. I have a 60 watt incandescent in my pet store grade ceramic fixture for my bull snake and it's plenty warm. Just saying people dont know, and when they dont know they buy from the pet store to be safe.