[Crown Prince Of Crime]

Hi everyone,

I am completly new to having reptiles as pets, ive allways liked them and I'm now looking into having Leopard Geckos. Long story short, what is a reasonable price for a tank, UV light (if necesary), food + bowl, vitamins + bowl, bowl for water, a place for them to hide, and of course the Leopard Geckos themselves (I think 3 or 2 would be suitable). Baisicly, what price would I be looking at to get started including the actual Geckos.

Thanks, any replies would be apriciated

 

[sundia]

you can get starter kits that normally include 1 leo for around 90-130 quid

 

[SandiskReptiles]

Hi everyone,

I am completly new to having reptiles as pets, ive allways liked them and I'm now looking into having Leopard Geckos. Long story short, what is a reasonable price for a tank, UV light (if necesary), food + bowl, vitamins + bowl, bowl for water, a place for them to hide, and of course the Leopard Geckos themselves (I think 3 or 2 would be suitable). Baisicly, what price would I be looking at to get started including the actual Geckos.

Thanks, any replies would be apriciated

Sundia said it all.

Leo's don't need a UV light so that takes off a nice amount. Food + Bowls are easy going...you know oasis the drink? buy 2 of them and use the lids as water dish and calcium dish. for mealworms i use a jamjar lid you know the deep ones with a curled in lip? they work might fine.

if your after 2 leopard geckos, your lucking into a 2ft vivarium, or if your looking for 3 a 3-4ft vivarium. PLEASE don't go to a pet store! go to a breeder!

 

[Crown Prince Of Crime]

ok cheers, I called a pet store and they were selling starter kits for £200 and I thought that that was a bit too much, might look into buying it all individually if I cant find a reasonably priced starter kit, would that be best

 

[Zemo]

Depends a lot on what type of viv you get and what local shops prices are, where I live I can buy a 3ft viv for under £40. Hides you can get exo terra ones online which I did, but I ended up liking the hides from local shop, if your gonna have 3 leos in 1 viv then it's advisable the more hides the better they vary in price, you might be able to pick up some stuff 2nd hand on the classifieds. For full setup including substrate etc I would say £200 (3ft viv) by the time you add everything up, then the geckos depends what morph you want. I paid £40 each for 2 hypo Leos. Full setup with trio (2 Female and 1 Male) of Leos would be around £300?

 

[Crown Prince Of Crime]

Thank you SandiskReptiles, do you know of any breeders in the Bristol and Bath area, by the way, why should'nt I go to pet shops??

 

[Zemo]

If you don't mind traveling there's a shop in Taunton selling their vivs off half price at the mo, they don't have any Leos in atm tho.

 

[Crown Prince Of Crime]

ok cheers Zemo, is it completly necessary to have a vivarium because i can get tanks for quite cheap

 

[The Chillinator]

You can also keep Leopard geckos in tubs, whilst not as aesthetically pleasing the geckos are very healthy and many professionally breeders keep their geckos in such enclosures, they produce some gorgeous specimens every year. :drool:

I originally used the tubs from DIY stores such as Homebase however I'm now using RUBs (Really useful boxes). A 33 litre RUB should be suitable for a single adult and you can pick them up for about £10.

 

[Crown Prince Of Crime]

Thanks everyone for your advice, I think im going to buy everything idividuay because that sounds a lot cheaper!

cheers

 

[jools]

ok cheers, I called a pet store and they were selling starter kits for £200 and I thought that that was a bit too much, might look into buying it all individually if I cant find a reasonably priced starter kit, would that be best

Trouble with many starter kits is that they have things you DON'T need and lack things that you DO. Much better to buy everything separately but it can be confusing for your first set-up. Basically you will need: 2 or 3 foot viv - wood is best as it retains heat better and your Leos will feel less "exposed" but glass is ok. Heatmat to cover half of floor. Paper or tiles or slate or playsand to cover floor (substrate) I would not buy calci-sand, this is often included in starter kits but CAN be lethal. Thermostat - these are often lacking in starter kits but are vital. Thermometer (digital is best - dial ones are worse than useless). Water, calcium and food bowls. At least 3 hides - one of which should be able to contain damp moss or paper towel. More hides if you are going to get more than one gecko. Calcium and a vitamin supplement (Nutrobal is good) and livefood. Oh and your gecko(s) of course. And as said best to buy these from a breeder. Hope you enjoy your new pets:2thumb:

 

[Zemo]

Ye, the main thing is when buying the first setup for any type of reptile people see the price of the viv and think that's it with a heat mat. But all the other stuff you NEED comes to a quite high price, usually more than people first think.

For a trio you ideally need:

3ft Vivarium
17 x 11 heat mat
Thermostat
6 x Hides (3 in cold end 3 in warm end)
2 x Moist Hides (which might be 3 if your Male likes sleeping there too - each Female needs one for laying eggs)
Moss to go in the moist hides
Water Bowl
Mealie Dish (something so they can't escape otherwise you'll have beetles in the viv)
Fake plants
Viewing lamp
Calcium bowl with calcium
Nutrobal (nutritional formula)
Livefood
Substrate

I've just added up a rough guide for this stuff listed and it comes to about £250 without leo cost. Plus if your going to have a trio you'll need a incubator and rubs for the hatchlings so that's a even bigger cost.