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Getting Supplies

ArchCarlos

ArchCarlos

New member
Hey everyone, I want to ask you on how you got your supplies (caves, substrate, plants, water dish, etc.) from? Online, local shops, reptile exos. what? Also which is the cheapest/best prices to buy from those three? Please leave a link of websites, stores, or suppliers you recommend as well. Thanks for your comments!
 
For the U.S. I would recommend LLL Reptile, Big Apple Herp, or Reptilesupply.com for cheap supplies online. I would also recommend checking craigslist for secondhand stuff.
 
My snakes viv is a modified 10g from Walmart (13 bucks), I got fake plants from the dollar store and you can also get other good stuff there like water dishes and stuff to make hides out of, and most of my other stuff is just from amazon.com :)
 
Mostly I buy of Amazon, I am a Prime member so everything from them and their affiliates ships free. I buy screen tops, hides, water dishes, UTHs, rheostats and probe thermometers from them.

Sometimes I find a smokin' deal on eBay, especially if they spell the name wrong. Always put in different spellings of names, you might be surprised what you find!

I buy plastic aquarium plants on eBay, they are usually from China and are really cheap. They provide great ground cover, especially for the little guys.

For substrate, I bought the biggest bag of Aspen shavings from the rodent section in Petco. It is the same stuff as "reptile Aspen" but much cheaper. It's all in the packaging!

For UTHs I like ReptiTherm by Zoo Med, but don't stick it directly to the bottom of the tank, lay out a piece of aluminum foil and stick it to that, then fold the sides over. You can tape that to the bottom of the tank, and when you need to remove it it is easy, the glue that is on the pad is really strong and most people can't remove them without damaging the wires or the pad. This way it's mobile.

I think a lot of us use the yellow Zoo Med probe thermometers, they are about $7 on Amazon but I have gotten them for as low as $3 including shipping on eBay.

I like the Exo Terra hides, they aren't very pricy and have several sizes to move up to. Snakes like their backs and sides to be touching something inside a hide, so make sure you provide several hides (minimum 2, one for each the warm and cool side) so they can choose where they want to be.
 
And remember, your hides don't have to be pretty. We started out with just two pretty hides but they ended up being quite a bit too big for Vera's liking, and she now prefers to hide in one of the several cut toilet paper rolls we have stuck in there and covered partially with dollar store vines. You would think the toilet paper rolls would look bad but they really don't especially with the fake leaves over them. You just cut them in half long ways so its just a slightly curved piece of cardboard and stick it in there. They love them because it touches their back and sides and makes them feel very safe. And they cost basically nothing.

If you have any fruit trees accessible to you, you can actually use branches from them to give the snake something to climb on (I have found that manufactured branches from a pet store tend to be pricey). The branches have to be cleaned before use, I scrub mine with hot water and then bake them in the oven on 250 for a couple hours.

There are lots of ways to be thrifty and still have a pretty viv! :)
 
JessKeen said:
And remember, your hides don't have to be pretty. We started out with just two pretty hides but they ended up being quite a bit too big for Vera's liking, and she now prefers to hide in one of the several cut toilet paper rolls we have stuck in there and covered partially with dollar store vines. You would think the toilet paper rolls would look bad but they really don't especially with the fake leaves over them. You just cut them in half long ways so its just a slightly curved piece of cardboard and stick it in there. They love them because it touches their back and sides and makes them feel very safe. And they cost basically nothing.

If you have any fruit trees accessible to you, you can actually use branches from them to give the snake something to climb on (I have found that manufactured branches from a pet store tend to be pricey). The branches have to be cleaned before use, I scrub mine with hot water and then bake them in the oven on 250 for a couple hours.

There are lots of ways to be thrifty and still have a pretty viv! :)
Click to expand...
I like the idea of the branch but I'm worry if it can harm the snake or be allergic to it, have yours had any bad experience with the branches? Also when cleaning the branch, you just use hot water and that's all? Or use bleach for example also with the water, etc and you had the branch the way it is or scrub off the bark with a knife and remove layers?
 
smigon said:
Mostly I buy of Amazon, I am a Prime member so everything from them and their affiliates ships free. I buy screen tops, hides, water dishes, UTHs, rheostats and probe thermometers from them.

Sometimes I find a smokin' deal on eBay, especially if they spell the name wrong. Always put in different spellings of names, you might be surprised what you find!

I buy plastic aquarium plants on eBay, they are usually from China and are really cheap. They provide great ground cover, especially for the little guys.

For substrate, I bought the biggest bag of Aspen shavings from the rodent section in Petco. It is the same stuff as "reptile Aspen" but much cheaper. It's all in the packaging!

For UTHs I like ReptiTherm by Zoo Med, but don't stick it directly to the bottom of the tank, lay out a piece of aluminum foil and stick it to that, then fold the sides over. You can tape that to the bottom of the tank, and when you need to remove it it is easy, the glue that is on the pad is really strong and most people can't remove them without damaging the wires or the pad. This way it's mobile.

I think a lot of us use the yellow Zoo Med probe thermometers, they are about $7 on Amazon but I have gotten them for as low as $3 including shipping on eBay.

I like the Exo Terra hides, they aren't very pricy and have several sizes to move up to. Snakes like their backs and sides to be touching something inside a hide, so make sure you provide several hides (minimum 2, one for each the warm and cool side) so they can choose where they want to be.
Click to expand...

You didn't had any issue with the packaging or when ordering your products?
 
Recyclables.

:) For hides! Plastic, cardboard, etc. As long as they are CLEAN and you switch out ones that can mold (such as cardboard).

Otherwise I go to places like PetSmart or specialty reptile stores and expos. I don't want to pay additional for shipping, and I don't have a large collection of snakes where online shopping might benefit me in this way.

I do like to stock up at expos because you can often get good deals, even with big stores/companies.
 
ArchCarlos said:
I like the idea of the branch but I'm worry if it can harm the snake or be allergic to it, have yours had any bad experience with the branches? Also when cleaning the branch, you just use hot water and that's all? Or use bleach for example also with the water, etc and you had the branch the way it is or scrub off the bark with a knife and remove layers?
Click to expand...

You need to know what kind of tree it is so that you know it's safe, there are a lot of trees that are fine. I just said fruit trees because as far as I know all fruit trees are safe, I use apple because I have them handy in the yard. I just use hot water and scrub the branch with a clean brillo pad (the rough green scrubbies that are flat) to get off any dirt or lose bark. The baking in the oven kills any bacteria or parasites that could be on or in the branch. I have never heard of a snake being allergic to fruit trees, but I am no expert.

With my budgie (common pet store parakeet), I have to be a little more careful because he will actually pull the bark off and inevitably ingest some of it so I boil the branches for 15 minutes before baking them. If you are worried you could this for your snake.
 
NH93 said:
Recyclables.

:) For hides! Plastic, cardboard, etc. As long as they are CLEAN and you switch out ones that can mold (such as cardboard).

Otherwise I go to places like PetSmart or specialty reptile stores and expos. I don't want to pay additional for shipping, and I don't have a large collection of snakes where online shopping might benefit me in this way.

I do like to stock up at expos because you can often get good deals, even with big stores/companies.
Click to expand...

I agree that paying for shipping is a bummer, with some stuff it costs more than the item! I'm a college student so I have free amazon prime, which is free 2-day shipping. If I didn't I imagine I would buy pretty much nothing online. But with amazon, if you buy more than 25 dollars worth of stuff, shipping is generally free.
 
NH93 said:
Recyclables.

:) For hides! Plastic, cardboard, etc. As long as they are CLEAN and you switch out ones that can mold (such as cardboard).

Otherwise I go to places like PetSmart or specialty reptile stores and expos. I don't want to pay additional for shipping, and I don't have a large collection of snakes where online shopping might benefit me in this way.

I do like to stock up at expos because you can often get good deals, even with big stores/companies.
Click to expand...

Thanks about the cardboard facts :).
 
JessKeen said:
You need to know what kind of tree it is so that you know it's safe, there are a lot of trees that are fine. I just said fruit trees because as far as I know all fruit trees are safe, I use apple because I have them handy in the yard. I just use hot water and scrub the branch with a clean brillo pad (the rough green scrubbies that are flat) to get off any dirt or lose bark. The baking in the oven kills any bacteria or parasites that could be on or in the branch. I have never heard of a snake being allergic to fruit trees, but I am no expert.

With my budgie (common pet store parakeet), I have to be a little more careful because he will actually pull the bark off and inevitably ingest some of it so I boil the branches for 15 minutes before baking them. If you are worried you could this for your snake.
Click to expand...

Thank you, I'll go on a branch hunt for my corn.
 
JessKeen said:
I agree that paying for shipping is a bummer, with some stuff it costs more than the item! I'm a college student so I have free amazon prime, which is free 2-day shipping. If I didn't I imagine I would buy pretty much nothing online. But with amazon, if you buy more than 25 dollars worth of stuff, shipping is generally free.
Click to expand...

What if one item is over $25, the shipping is still free?
 
ArchCarlos said:
What if one item is over $25, the shipping is still free?
Click to expand...

Well the item has to be eligible for amazon super saver shipping, but then yes it is. And it can be more than one item that add up to 25 as long as they are all eligible for super saver shipping. The item will say just under the price if it is eligible.
 
I just checked and it looks like the price for super saver shipping was increased to 35 recently. So if the order is over 35 and all items are eligible for super saver shipping, then it's free.
 
ArchCarlos said:
You didn't had any issue with the packaging or when ordering your products?
Click to expand...

I have yet to have a bad purchase with Amazon, and because of my membership if I don't like something it goes back for free. It all arrives within 2 days, and very bubblewrapped and secure.
 
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