# Help Newbie doesn't want to be ripped off again



## mindo (Sep 7, 2009)

Hi I am almost certainly going to get a bearded dragon but I am new to reptile keeping.

I had a bad experience when I tried to keep marine fish by basically being ripped off by the fish shop and given bad advice and sold tons of expensive and unnecessary equipment and I don't want this to happen again.

Because of this I thought I would go through what I have been advised to get for my new setup and see if it is sound advice as I don't want to be taken advantage of again.

The setup kit the shop sells includes

120x60x60cm viv £144.95 
ceramic holder £19.95
100w ceramic £24.95
guard £19.95
2x60w bulb £5
2x bulb holder £3.90
mat sat £30.99
90cm 10.0UVB strip light £36.99
starter unit £22.99
2x woodchip £6
thermometer £3.95
Nutrobal £7.95

I am not worried about trawling the net just to save a couple of pounds but does that sound about right.

the viv is more expensive than the vivexotic ones but they are made by the shop and look nicer.

Also I went to two reptile shops and one said to get a 4ft and the other one said a 4ft was too big if I started with a small berdie and he wouldn't be able to find the food and 3ft was plenty!!! who is right????????

Sorry for the long post just don't want to dive in and get the wrong stuff


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## Meko (Apr 29, 2007)

mindo said:


> Hi I am almost certainly going to get a bearded dragon but I am new to reptile keeping.
> 
> I had a bad experience when I tried to keep marine fish by basically being ripped off by the fish shop and given bad advice and sold tons of expensive and unnecessary equipment and I don't want this to happen again.
> 
> ...


you can pick up a 4ft viv from one of the viv builders on here for between £70 and £90 depending on where you are.



> ceramic holder £19.95


ouch - under a tenner, get the holder and cable from Maplins and stick a plug on.



> 100w ceramic £24.95
> guard £19.95
> 2x60w bulb £5
> 2x bulb holder £3.90


say what??? 2 bulbs and a ceramic??
2 100watt spot bulbs for a quid from Asda - use one of them in the ceramic bulb holder.



> mat sat £30.99


a mat stat but no heat mat? 
with their 3 bulbs you'd need 3 dimming stats. Get 1 dimming stat, possibly about £35 and use the one 100watt bulb on it.



> 90cm 10.0UVB strip light £36.99


i hope they'll hug and kiss you when they're screwing you.. Should cost around half of that for a 36inch



> starter unit £22.99


Arcadia starters are about £17



> 2x woodchip £6


and a dead beardie possibly.. get some tiles from B&Q or smash paving slabs or use newspaper / lino etc



> thermometer £3.95


Better to get a couple of digital ones off eBay.. hot end and cool end. 



> Nutrobal £7.95


Possibly about right but you'll also need calcium such as Calypso as well.




> Also I went to two reptile shops and one said to get a 4ft and the other one said a 4ft was too big if I started with a small berdie and he wouldn't be able to find the food and 3ft was plenty!!! who is right????????


i put a baby in a 6x2x2 an he was fine, i just chilled the food to slow it down


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## jools (Apr 4, 2009)

Welcome to the forum! Good advice from Meko.


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## spatte88 (Jun 29, 2009)

Yep i agree! Zoo Med calcium dust with D3 is good for dusting the livefood with as it sticks to them like mad!!!


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## weeble (Sep 29, 2007)

If you say where you are then someone could recomend a good shop near you.

These are the kind of thing you want to look at...

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/lizards/367044-reptile-shop-starter-kits.html


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## Art_Gekko (Aug 9, 2009)

When I had my baby beardie in a 4ft viv I just sectioned it off so he only had access to 2/3rds of it until he got used to such a large space as previously he had been in a 2ft viv shared with lots and lots of his siblings!


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## mindo (Sep 7, 2009)

Im in Milton Keynes, any shop recommendations welcome!


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## 39761 (Sep 3, 2009)

welcome to the forum.

why dont you have a look in the *Lizard Classifieds* on here


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## Tarn~Totty (May 4, 2009)

:welcome:

Good idea from Luke there...you might find someone near you selling a complete set up with beardie, more of a reasonable price too : victory:


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## jarvis and charlie (Mar 27, 2009)

wtf what shop is that go with what meko said dont think you need a 100watt we use a 60 watt sub use kitchen towel , living rain forest in rhyl are the cheepest for striplight arcadia 12% we have just built our first viv its great but cost us loads look at the classifieds as said above for a deal on the viv


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## woolerc01 (Jan 4, 2009)

That seems a very high price for the viv. The heat mat and ceramic bulb seem a bit on the high side as well.
Not sure where you are but I'm selling a 4ft viv for £50, only 7 months old


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## mindo (Sep 7, 2009)

Thanks for the replie guys, confirmed that shop as a no-go then!

I'm currently split between getting a second hand viv from someone on here, or building one from scratch -- decisions decisions!!!

Wooler whereabouts are you? im in Milton Keynes, you got any pix of the Viv you are selling?


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## Paul B (Apr 16, 2008)

Good grief. 
we do a complete beardie set up for £250.00 including the Dragon.

4ft vivexotic 119
3ft repti10 27
bulb holder (you dont really need ceramic ones) 6
bulb (75w spot) 6
thermometers 2 8
starter Arcadia 23 
Dragon. 3-4 months 65

Dimmer stats come in at about £50.00 (habistsat) if the customer is not capable of adjusting the wattage and or height of the basking spot to attain the correct temps.

WE recommend paper towels for the substrate or lino or repticarpet.

Play sand if they want a particulate substrate when the dragon gets to 12".

Sectioning off the viv for a while is a good idea while the baby gets accustomed to the surroundings.

P


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## Paul B (Apr 16, 2008)

raw materials to make a 4x2x2 are approx

£40.00 for the melamine (beech). 2 x 8ft x 2ft lengths will make the back too.
£6 for the runners
£10 for the glass
£ 6 for the vents 

With a dragon viv i leave a 10mm gap at the top of the viv at the back for extra ventilation. 

So if you can pick one up for £70 ready made...go for it.


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## 39761 (Sep 3, 2009)

mate there is a lot of good help on here for you and a lot of good deal's


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## Daveyboy (Dec 27, 2007)

Hi 
hope this helps we sell our beadies and set up at £220 including the beardie

this includes
36" vivExotic viv
basking kit (bulb, holder, flex and plug)
dimming thermostat
30" repti glo tube
arcadia starter
thermometer
sand
exo terra water bowl
exo terra hide 
and your beardie.

Hope this helps

I know alot of people will moan about the sand substarte but sand is what they are on in the wild and what we keep all ours on with no problems.


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## haunted-havoc (Aug 6, 2009)

so glad you came here first! you nearly got RIPPED OFF!

congratulations on having a brain, unfortunately most people dont and take shops advice as gospel!


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## mindo (Sep 7, 2009)

Thanks for everyones help with this...yesterday we took delivery of our AWESOME LOOKING Jeff Pollitt Viv....YAY!!!:2thumb::2thumb::2thumb::2thumb:

Off to 888 reptiles tomorrow to hopefully pick up everything else we need!

Just to make sure i'm not going mad...just sanity check this for me someone please!!

Substrate: Repti-Carpet / Lino

Strip Light: 12% (pref) UV 90cm (in a 110cm Viv) with Starter Unit on Timer

Basking Bulb: 60/100 Watt with Dimming thermometer thingy (stat?)

Thermometers, digital/gun

Climbing bits and bobs

Is that all I need in the Viv itself or have I missed something stoopid? :lol2:


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## jools (Apr 4, 2009)

Hi, just water bowl (small) and food bowl. Did the viv come with a bulb holder for the basking bulb? If not use one made out of ceramic, not plastic. You might want to add a reflector for the uv - it increases the output and means you can put it higher in the viv - but not essential. Calcium and Nutrobal. You might also want to get a Kricket Keeper or similar to put your livefood in.
And the most important thing - A BEARDIE. Good luck and enjoy.


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## Pagananaka (Jul 3, 2009)

*Hi and welcome*

great advice. as i have said before (dim and distant past) am building mine, probably costs more but this way costs are defrayed over time and hubby wont be shocked. which he was when I priced up a set up.
Would have been quicker and would have had my beardy by now. But well must be kind to the old man :Na_Na_Na_Na:
Will be making notes and ticking things off the list, good idea tho coming on here first..:2thumb:

envious of everyone on here and especially those picking up their beardies

:flrt:


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## robbo1985 (Oct 2, 2009)

spatte88 said:


> Yep i agree! Zoo Med calcium dust with D3 is good for dusting the livefood with as it sticks to them like mad!!!


can this be used on 1 feed every day without using the zoo medscalcium with out d3?


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