Why are reptile supplies so much more than aquarium supplies?
Its ridiculous! mercury vapor bulbs cost $80! I could buy an entire aquarium kit with that money! I love reptiles but I cant afford to keep them much longer. I am sure I am not the only one that has said that. Why does the price keep going up? It probably only costs them $5 to make a mercury vapor bulb! I am outraged
They charge more because they can get away with it… Same with wedding related items. Tack the name on it and they triple the price… There are ways around it however…
You can buy special "reptile" coconut bedding, or you can find coconut coir from garden stores for a third the price.
You never know what you will find at home improvement stores… I use PVC pipe and terra cotta flower pots for reptile hides, and you can get heat lamps much cheaper there too.
For specialty reptile supplies, getting them from a place like LLLReptile.com or other online stores is much cheaper than pet stores. Mercury vapor bulbs are about 40 bucks on that site. Still "expensive," but pretty much the cheapest you can get them. When you consider the cost of a fluorescent UV bulb, and a separate heat light, it’s not much more expensive than that… Plus the quality and quantity of UVB is much better in MVB’s
What is the best site to buy saltwater fish/corals/inverts/supplies online?
So why not buy a regular uvb light and a heat lamp?? You can buy a repti-glo uvb light that cost 15$ and for heating you can use a regular 100 watt light bulb.
References :
Have been keeping reptiles for 2 years.
They charge more because they can get away with it… Same with wedding related items. Tack the name on it and they triple the price… There are ways around it however…
You can buy special "reptile" coconut bedding, or you can find coconut coir from garden stores for a third the price.
You never know what you will find at home improvement stores… I use PVC pipe and terra cotta flower pots for reptile hides, and you can get heat lamps much cheaper there too.
For specialty reptile supplies, getting them from a place like LLLReptile.com or other online stores is much cheaper than pet stores. Mercury vapor bulbs are about 40 bucks on that site. Still "expensive," but pretty much the cheapest you can get them. When you consider the cost of a fluorescent UV bulb, and a separate heat light, it’s not much more expensive than that… Plus the quality and quantity of UVB is much better in MVB’s
References :
i love these statements tooooo !!!!!!!!!!!!!
so we have a herp reptile rescue and say the same things. However your herp has to have them to be cared for properly.however if you have your herp outdoors even for an hour a day it will not need a uvb bulb as it will absorb allit needs. ideally your rep will be outdoors as much as possible but in some weather conditions that isnt possible meaing youd have to have the light. BUT they charge because they know they can. i have several herps in on rescue and rehab and surrender 20 sulcatas, 6 redfoot, several others 30 aquatic rescues snakes and others. i use the bulbs at the cost of about 200 a month every 3 months. to replace them. i spaced out my replacement times through the year and always have one on hold in case one quits.
why do they charge so much? because people buy them. try writing to the company sometimes they will send one at no charge.,
they charge so much because they are necessary.
References :
19 years reptile rescue and rehab
Like Freshprince said, if you buy an UV light 80$, you’re paying too much. The new compact ones with built-in transformer can screw in a regularlight-bulbb fixture and cost no more than 25$ depending on where you get them.
The cage is fairly expensive because it needs to be bigger than an aquarium, relatively to the size of the animals. Reptiles will suffer more from cramped conditions than fish would.
The rest of the set up isn’t more expensive than you want it to be, plain wood shelves and cloth is as good as fancy natural looking items from pet shops, the reptiles will enjoy either as much, better looking things are for your eyes mostly, animals don’t have the same aesthetics.
Besides, aquariums would get more expensive in the long run, since the water needs to be filtered, oxygenated, kept free of alguae, chemically balanced, etc. it’s more complicated than the maintenance of a reptile cage if you want fish any more demanding than goldfish.
References :