# reptile pet insurance



## tommyjacobs (Nov 26, 2008)

hi i see a lot on here about people who cant pay vet bills should not own the animal which i agree with but to make it easier is there anyone with pet insurance on there reps i no there not a dog or cat but a lot of them can live longer and cost more anyone no of any good firms that sell insurance for reps and what sort of prices?


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## tommyjacobs (Nov 26, 2008)

anyone?


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## GothGirl (Apr 9, 2008)

Reptile insurance is pointless, unless you have an animal thats worth a lot of money.

The cheapest I could find to insure my leopards geckos was £85 a year per leoaprd gecko.

Not really worth it to say that most reptiles if treated well don't have that many problems.

Better just to keep an emergency vet fund in my oppinion, and keep adding to it when you have a bit spare.


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## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

dont insure if u have for than 9..
i have nearly 100


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## zemanski (Jun 15, 2008)

wish I'd insured Trevor when I first got him but he was too young. It's cost me nearly £200 in vet fees and he's only 6 months old

but then he has mbd which they wouldn't cover for anyway - it's a pre-existing condition

so it probably would have cost nearly as much with the insurance as without it


funny though, the insurer I contacted keeps ringing to see if I'm going to buy - must be desperate


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## chondro13 (Aug 18, 2008)

Exotic Direct - Insurance for Birds, Mammals and Reptiles

only worthwhile if you have animals of value 100 - 2200 pounds but well worth it in my opinion. will be insuring 5 of my pets once i get my next GTP. hope that helps!


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## zemanski (Jun 15, 2008)

that's the company

the vet recommended them so I think if you are going to insure they are probably a good company to go for


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## funky1 (Jun 18, 2008)

It`s only worth getting insurance if you have a large stock and are insuring them as a unit, or you have a particular rep that is worth a hell of a lot of money. I`ve been quoted ridiculous amounts, and at the end of the day I prob only have to go to the vets 2/3 times a year (at the most), which works out about £100 - £150 quid - the quotes I`ve got have been double that!!!
Also the insurance doesn`t cover any pre-existing or preventable conditions - worst of all it doesn`t cover any problems caused by breeding or egg laying (which basically nullifies your insurance for about 8 months of the year, as this is when most problems arise!!!!!!)


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## mahender (Apr 28, 2008)

is it not better to have thn not???

i am going to exotics for my ig just in case.

minimmal things i will pay for but its the big treatments he may incur that i am worried about.


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## chondro13 (Aug 18, 2008)

funky1 said:


> It`s only worth getting insurance if you have a large stock and are insuring them as a unit, or you have a particular rep that is worth a hell of a lot of money. I`ve been quoted ridiculous amounts, and at the end of the day I prob only have to go to the vets 2/3 times a year (at the most), which works out about £100 - £150 quid - the quotes I`ve got have been double that!!!
> Also the insurance doesn`t cover any pre-existing or preventable conditions - worst of all it doesn`t cover any problems caused by breeding or egg laying (which basically nullifies your insurance for about 8 months of the year, as this is when most problems arise!!!!!!)



you are correct. in my flat we have over 20 animals, only 4 will be insured. 

these will be a crestie who was bought for £100, a mack snow enigma who was bought for £300, a mack snow albino £120 and a green tree python £400. for all them covering mortality came to £76 a year (does NOT include vets bills coz as you say your unlikely to spend as much as the insurance is worth for the year in vets bills.) but if any one of them died (horrible thought though it is) the insurance covers their value. i hate putting a value on pets as their lives are worth more than money anyday to me, but especially something like the GTP and when my flatmate gets his Fiji iguana its certainly worth it just incase of mortality!! : victory:


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## Dextersdad (Mar 28, 2008)

GothGirl said:


> Reptile insurance is pointless, unless you have an animal thats worth a lot of money.


It's not pointles so please don't put people off by saying such things.

Even a very inexpensive pet can cost a lot to treat and so for a lot of people reptile insurance can save them a lot of money and heatache.

We've chosen now NOT to insure ALL of our reps but some of them instead as the premiums were about 700GBP per year. Not having insurance for some of our reps is ok for us as we'll never be in the situation where we can't afford to treat our reps.

The ones that are covered are done so with Exotic Direct - Insurance for Birds, Mammals and Reptiles

The insurance covers against death, theft, treatment etc but NOT against complications during breeding.


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## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

Dextersdad said:


> Even a very inexpensive pet can cost a lot to treat and so for a lot of people reptile insurance can save them a lot of money and heatache.
> 
> .


for example just mites cost me just over £250 for one snake!! ahh!! got an infection and sooo on...


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## Dextersdad (Mar 28, 2008)

freekygeeky said:


> for example just mites cost me just over £250 for one snake!! ahh!! got an infection and sooo on...


A very good example.

I'd ate to see more people being put off of reptile insurance. Too many people ask for help and when the vets is advised we often hear that it's not afordable this month or the like.

I know of someone with barely a penny to spare and she has rep insurance that cost very little but ended up saving her hundreds of pounds when her lizard fell ill. Without it she would have been in real trouble.


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## spend_day (Apr 10, 2008)

i just bung a few quid away every month got around £150 at the moment altho thats about to shrink as i have a sick anole :|


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## Dextersdad (Mar 28, 2008)

spend_day said:


> i just bung a few quid away every month got around £150 at the moment altho thats about to shrink as i have a sick anole :|


Exactly, what if someone decides to have a monthly pot, is only 4 months into it and treatment costs 300 quid? They are screwed.


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## Sid.lola (Jan 10, 2008)

Dextersdad said:


> Exactly, what if someone decides to have a monthly pot, is only 4 months into it and treatment costs 300 quid? They are screwed.


 

PT!!!! :flrt:

How you holding up?


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## Dextersdad (Mar 28, 2008)

Sid.lola said:


> PT!!!! :flrt:
> 
> How you holding up?


Yo!

I'm good thanks. Day 16 so I've broken the back of this trip! You?


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## tommyjacobs (Nov 26, 2008)

thanks everyone for your comments i was asking for a friend of mine im sure he will be happy with all the comments and will probly look into it


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## Sid.lola (Jan 10, 2008)

Dextersdad said:


> Yo!
> 
> I'm good thanks. Day 16 so I've broken the back of this trip! You?


not bad thanks babes. Boy is home today for the next five weeks - I may end up murdering him. lol


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## Dextersdad (Mar 28, 2008)

Sid.lola said:


> not bad thanks babes. Boy is home today for the next five weeks - I may end up murdering him. lol


Ah ha good news then eh! Come off it you love him being there. I got me a wee plan for Xmas but I can say no more until after the day.


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## chondro13 (Aug 18, 2008)

spend_day said:


> i just bung a few quid away every month got around £150 at the moment altho thats about to shrink as i have a sick anole :|



thats fair enough but what if your breeding reps worth say £500 each and one of them dies? could you afford to replace immediately? if not your breeding plans may be screwed!

after all that even if you arent a breeder or anything, i consider £76 a year well worth it to cover 4 animals with a collective value of £920 + !! : victory:


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## Stella71 (Jun 27, 2008)

chondro13 said:


> Exotic Direct - Insurance for Birds, Mammals and Reptiles
> 
> only worthwhile if you have animals of value 100 - 2200 pounds but well worth it in my opinion. will be insuring 5 of my pets once i get my next GTP. hope that helps!


would not recommend it, only if you have a reptile which is too expensive (but for loving owners a pet cannot be measured in money). they told me they do not insure females breeding problems i.e overdue eggs. something which happens quite a lot. this would be something I would try to get covered. blood count etc also, but it would not be covered.
Plus they told me (if I would insure up to 3 pets for 85 per year) that would cover 1000 pounds. if 2 animals become ill that would be 500 per animal and the first 35 per animal would be on my costs. well the best advise is to put money aside each month. I had to pay round £1.100 for a complicated surgery and unfortunately the loss of my female iguana. meaning even with insurance I would have paid the same amount.

some thinking user said once before: read the small prints as there is the devil in the detail.


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## Dextersdad (Mar 28, 2008)

Stella71 said:


> . well the best advise is to put money aside each month. I had to pay round £1.100 for a complicated surgery


Not everyone can afford to put aside the sort of money a month so as to pay for huge vets bills if they come in (such as the one above) but small monthly installmesnts to rep insurance have your rep covered immediately.

I'm not talking about breeding as I know this is not covered as I have explained further back, also it should not only be for expesive reps as even a cheap to buy one can cost A LOT to have vets care for. 

Without insurance you get your typical people coming on here asking for advice and then when people say go to the vets they say stuff like "I can't afford it this month" or "There's not enough money in the pot".


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## Stella71 (Jun 27, 2008)

Dextersdad said:


> Not everyone can afford to put aside the sort of money a month so as to pay for huge vets bills if they come in (such as the one above) but small monthly installmesnts to rep insurance have your rep covered immediately.
> 
> I'm not talking about breeding as I know this is not covered as I have explained further back, also it should not only be for expesive reps as even a cheap to buy one can cost A LOT to have vets care for.
> 
> Without insurance you get your typical people coming on here asking for advice and then when people say go to the vets they say stuff like "I can't afford it this month" or "There's not enough money in the pot".


I do agree, about the lack of money thing. but I would be fuming if I would insure my pet and it will not be covered. I wanted to insure my animals but when I heard what is not covered I decided against it. Blood counts etc every year should be a must to be covered - but unfortunately it is not with this special exotic pet insurance :-(


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## awh (Aug 20, 2008)

why not talk to your vet and see if you can set up a direct debit fund 

mine does i pay £15.00p a month so i know when i need to see the vet that there is some money in the kitty at the vets to help towards the bills


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## Tigerlily1 (Apr 4, 2016)

I agree, I don't think there is any point in reptile insurance unless they are worth £100 or more. I couldn't do it anyway as I couldn't bear to put a price on my crestie!


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