Reptile keepers seem to have it so much easier than fishkeepers. Instead of spending thousands of dollars on huge acryclic tanks and stands strong enough to hold back tons of water, all a lizard keepers needs to make a monster tank is some two by fours, nails, some rusted up window screen, a sheet of plywood and some straightened out saran wrap or scrap glass for a viewing panel and they can have a one thousand "gallon" monster tank for $100 dollars or so. That also doesnt include the hours of water changes a week or the hundreds of dollars on enormous canister filters or water test kits. They also get to pickup and use right away any cracked aquarium on craigslist for whatever they want. Even the uv lighting or heat pads they need is cheaper than your average fluval light or tank heater. It is starting to seem like reptiles may be the more interesting way to go right now given the expenses. You also dont have to worry about tanks exploding one day and turning your living room into a swimming pool.
Reptile Keepers Have It Made
- Thread starter Supergeorge123
- Start date
I would still keep fish just not in anything more than a twenty gallon. I have never seen a reptile keeper really experiment with all of the different things they have the ability to do fairly easily. There isnt really a "king of diy" for reptiles.
I don’t see the relevance of this post to be honest. It seems obvious “why” it’s so much cheaper.
There doesn’t need to be. A dollarama/Walmart plastic organizing shelf is enough for them to breed most reptiles. Why would you spend unnecessary amounts of money for no reason?
I think all the difficulties you are describing are what make the hobby so appealing to me. Sure, reptiles are much, much less work. But where's the fun in that? I enjoy creating and caring for the entire ecosystem. In an aquarium you have all sorts of biological processes going on. In saltwater in particular, I enjoy how even the sand is crawling with tiny worms and creatures that you don't even know are there, and they all serve their own purpose, have a niche in an ecosystem. Comparing herp care to aquarium care, to me is apples to oranges.
That is what i am getting at though. You could create a fully planted monster terrarium with a whole ecosystem going on filled with all kinds of species of invertebrates and other creatures. All of the skills from aquariums could be carried over to create something completely different from just a tank with a gecko and some paper towels.
Yeah, that is a part of the reptile hobby, people create really amazing scaped terrariums and paludariums. I think that is awesome in it's own way, a far cry from the plywood boxes you describe in your first post.
Really both fish keeping and keeping reptiles can be simple or complicated.
Both hobbies can be done cheaply or expensively.
It just depends on what the individual keeper likes, wants, can afford, ect.
My sister would say the best, easiest, cheapest way to go is to have no pets at all
Both hobbies can be done cheaply or expensively.
It just depends on what the individual keeper likes, wants, can afford, ect.
My sister would say the best, easiest, cheapest way to go is to have no pets at all
Exactly it can all be as elaborate or as simple as you want in both hobbies. Ive done both reptiles and amphibians and fresh and saltwater. Ive bred cornsnakes, african cichlids, clown fish, and by accident dart frogs. Saltwater by far is the most time consuming ,elaborate , and expensive and really needs to be to be done right. As for fresh water you can keep it in a tote filtered by a tote set up with a pump and some mechanical and biological filter media if you want. As for reptiles they still have specific needs like heating and lighting. Snakes are easier then lizards. Then yes you can skimp on the enclosure and furnishing but then its boring like a plain glass box with nothing but water and a fish but its still possible.