Hi everyone! This will be a rather long post so I apologise but I think its an important one. I am working on a simple yearly budget for reptile costs and a rough plan for potential vet bills as well. I want this to be a resource for people considering a reptile as their pet so they can see very roughly what to expect when purchasing and keeping their reptiles.
I would also like some help with reviewing my rough estimations for the veterinary costs of common problems based off of others experiences.This won't be 100% accurate since costs can fluctuate jurastically but it will mostly be used as a reminder for saving in case of extreme circumstances. If you feel my rough estimates for vet bill savings and yearly costs are not sufficient please drop an experience you've had and how it has differed from what I have written. Thanks!
I encourage everyone to make their own budgets based off of their own jobs and location costs, because they are seriously so useful.
*Most costs will be rounded up around $100.00 or to the nearest thousand just to compensate for unexpected fluff costs that vets and taxes oh so love to add. I am also rounding because no matter how much money you think you need for these costs, you will usually need more.
So far based from my own purchasing, I have calculated the starting reptile costs for two reptiles; a Leopard Gecko and a Cornsnake. Please dont forget that costs can be more or less depending on where you live.
An initial basic setup
Comprised of a 120g breeder tank, a lid, lid clamps, reptisoil & playsand substrate mix, hides, moss, coco shavings, thermometer/hydrometer, basking bulb & lamp, UVB bulb & lamp, plants, driftwood, water bowl, spray bottle, tongs and gram scale is around:
$500.00-$100.00+ (reptile not uncluded)
*Driftwood and tanks are expensive and can add alot of unexpected costs.
Most appliances die out every 6-12 months. Bug costs for Geckos are not factored due to how insanely different they can be.
Corn Snake/Leopard Gecko Yearly costs breakdown:
Reptisoil substrate: $60.00-80.00
Adult Mice: $50.00-$70.00
New flowers and plants: $15.00-20.00
New UVB bulbs: $70.00-140.00
New basking bulb: $10.00-15.00
Therm/hydrometer batteries (I use govee): $6.00
The total is roughly: $200.00-$300.00 yearly.
That's around $4.00-6.00 weekly or $12.00-25.00 monthly to cover yearly replacement costs.
If you want to save $1,000 yearly for medical issues then plan to save around $25.00-$30.00 total weekly
(this number includes the yearly costs for the reptiles. More saved is always better!)
These costs should be BARE MINIMUM. If you cannot afford to save these costs or you do not have external forces helping you save I would HIGHLY encourage you to reconsider a reptile. This is something I will not argue with you on, if you cannot afford these costs + what I am about to show you DO NOT GET A REPTILE!
VERY Rough Vet Costs
Most of these costs CAN be avoided with proper care, HOWEVER this doesn't mean that fluke cases cant apply.
General checkup costs are NOT included:
Common Respiratory infections: $100.00-$1,000+
Mouthrot: $100.00- $1,000+
Scale-rot: $15.00 - $1,000 +
Blocked femor pores on Leopard Gecko: 30.00-$75.00+
Blocked intestines: $300.00 to $6,500 + (Ultrasound = $300.00-600.00 + blood tests $300.00 + surgeries around $5,000.00)
Blocked glands in mouth: non surgery = $50.00 -150.00 +
So in other words, they're alot...