Cutting Costs in Setup

[ObiThaGod]

I'm not sure if this has been done, I've done a brief search that didn't turn up much, and I didn't see anything in the stickies so I decided to go forth with my idea for this thread; but as we all know the initial set up and even things we have to change as our beardie grow tend to get pricey and quickly.

For example: the day u decide you're gonna purchase a beardie you walk into petsmart or Petco to buy your supplies like most people would do. You've done your research and have composed your shopping list and set out on your mission, you walk into the store and start filling your cart with items:

Viv - chances are you're drawn to the starter kits in an effort to save money....u settle on the one that is $200 but it comes with sand and you aren't comfortable putting your beardie in sand so you'll purchase something else and toss the sand, right?
Substrate- u find your preferred substrate which is probably repticarpet for $9.99
Décor - you grab a reptihammock 9.99 and a cool looking rock for him to climb on -$12.99
Feeding/watering dishes - you got lucky and find a 2pk for $10.99
Climbs/hides - one of each about $12.99
Lighting
•domes
• t5/t8 fixtures - include bulb and fixture for $34.99
• bulbs basking bulb
Feeders
Crickets are $.15/each and u buy 100 (if they even have that many alive [emoji19]) = $15
Or 50 superworms for $5.99

Ooooh wait I need a temperature gun and a timer as well right, let me run back

You grab the temp gun for $19.99 and the 3 outlet power strip timer for $29.99 and head to check out. Your total is $389.90 plus tax [emoji37]

Then you get home get set up and decide u want more ambient light and you go buy another $20 and a $7 bulb which puts your grand total at $416.90 before taxes.


Me being the bargain shopper I am I'm always looking for deals, I started thinking....temp guns, outlet timers, light bulbs I didn't buy these things from the pet store before and of course they're marked up here so I will look for those elsewhere

Now for your viv.....don't buy they kit....it ends up costing u more money....wait for Petco to do their $1/gallon tank sale

40 gallon viv - 40 bucks

Then I ran over to Lowes, you could check home depot or any local hardware stores and got my temp gun on sale $9.99 reg price $19.99(even at reg price its a better deal/product than the nat geo temp gun the pet store sells) even has a laser pointer so I know what surface I'm reading

Then I found a 6 outlet DIGITAL timed power strip for $9.99 (compared to petsmarts version which only has 3 outlets and the timer is a manual dial with push tabs to set the on off time)

Says its for outdoor use so the switches and outlets are covered and waterproof but ehh it gets the job done for what I need it for

For ambient light...buy a small dome -$10 and head to your local dollar tree or family dollar and buy an indoor flood lamp for a whopping $1

Feeders

Lots of folks here buy in bulk online (not sure personally but hopefully others will chime in on sites with great selections and prices)

Others here breed their own feeders....I never was big on bugs and I especially won't willingly bring roaches into my home lol so I have no experience here either.....(I personally purchase as I need them from the pet store)

Hides and climbs
Walk out to your local creek or park, find a sturdy branch that has broken from a tree then gather a few decent sized rocks...take them home wash them bleach warm water and then bake them 400° for abt 2 hours, let the cool then arrange them in your viv

Some stuff your gonna have to break and buy from a pet store but lots of stuff you can get elsewhere for much cheaper and often better quality with that said lets revise the list

Viv 40
Substrate 9.99
Décor 9.99
Fixtures/domes 34.99 +19.99 (must buy some for basking light)
Feeding dishes 10.99
Climbs/hides FREE.99
Feeders 15
Timer for lights 9.99
Temp gun 9.99
Ambient lighting 10+1
totalling 171.93 before taxes. Saving u $244.97

And if you look into the feed options that $15 decreases or goes away if you decide to breed feeders

Maybe this can get a sticky to help out some newbies and others can add to it when they find deals or bargains as well!!

 

[PatsyB]

This actually made me giggle a little because I pictured myself walking through the pet store picking this stuff up LOL! I bought a lot of my stuff off of Amazon in the beginning. I have Amazon Prime so there is no delivery fee. Lately I've discovered other stores such as Dr. Foster and Smith and Pet Mountain (which sells on Amazon) they tend to have really great sales on stuff you need.

It's good to buy feeders in bulk because they should be gut loaded before you feed them to your dragon so they should have some food source such as the greens you would feed your beardie, for at least 24 hours before they get eaten. I've found that Josh's Frogs has really good prices on their house brand crickets. CNS Feeders has good deals on hornworms and silk worms and other bugs. I've heard good things about him, I've ordered from him recently but still waiting for my order, it's been really cold where I am. As far as feeding dishes go, you can get them at the dollar store too. I use small glass bowls they are 4 for $1 and I use plastic dog and cat bowls.

As far as the basking bulb goes, you actually want to get a halogen flood light. They have a better spectrum of light. But still you can get those for under $10. Dome fixtures can be purchased at Home Depot as well as the temp gun, light timer, dimmer, and if you use a T8 size UVB bulb you can buy a fluorescent fixture there too.

As far as tanks go....Petsmart has sales every so often on the exo-tera's and Petco does $1 a gallon sale on basic breeder tanks.

 

[ObiThaGod]

This actually made me giggle a little because I pictured myself walking through the pet store picking this stuff up LOL! I bought a lot of my stuff off of Amazon in the beginning. I have Amazon Prime so there is no delivery fee. Lately I've discovered other stores such as Dr. Foster and Smith and Pet Mountain (which sells on Amazon) they tend to have really great sales on stuff you need.

It's good to buy feeders in bulk because they should be gut loaded before you feed them to your dragon so they should have some food source such as the greens you would feed your beardie, for at least 24 hours before they get eaten. I've found that Josh's Frogs has really good prices on their house brand crickets. CNS Feeders has good deals on hornworms and silk worms and other bugs. I've heard good things about him, I've ordered from him recently but still waiting for my order, it's been really cold where I am. As far as feeding dishes go, you can get them at the dollar store too. I use small glass bowls they are 4 for $1 and I use plastic dog and cat bowls.

As far as the basking bulb goes, you actually want to get a halogen flood light. They have a better spectrum of light. But still you can get those for under $10. Dome fixtures can be purchased at Home Depot as well as the temp gun, light timer, dimmer, and if you use a T8 size UVB bulb you can buy a fluorescent fixture there too.

As far as tanks go....Petsmart has sales every so often on the exo-tera's and Petco does $1 a gallon sale on basic breeder tanks.

Lol yea I wrote it like based upon my shopping experience

 

[Willtheeman]

I think I spent about the same with my beardie..maybe $50 more since I bought a tank for his first couple months while I organized my room better... I also bought a lot of stuff from amazon since I got prime..I found the zilla timer strip for $15 as a lighting deal I think it was 50% off...sold out in minutes lol and recently I got on the Petco $1 gallon sell to upgrade his tank...the fixtures I had them given to me from a a relative but I bought the heat emitter, uvb, and t8 from amazon as well at about 40%off also...it took me about 2-3 months to have everything ready to bring Rex home because like you, I'm a bargain shopper...and an addict lol feeders I get them online and right now I have some dubias breeding but they seem not be into each other since I only saw a very few nymphs last time I cleaned it lol you could definitely have a whole set up for cheap if you do the research and got the time

 

[Hdrydr31]

feeders I get them online and right now I have some dubias breeding but they seem not be into each other since I only saw a very few nymphs last time I cleaned it lol you could definitely have a whole set up for cheap if you do the research and got the time

Dubia's need high temps to breed, so maybe your temps need to be bumped up. I have a colony that has been breeding like crazy but then we had a cold snap and my temps dropped where they are and I haven't seen any new nymphs so I had to do some adjusting as I have mostly pregnant females ready to burst